Mintmead Funding, a small-business funding service in Louisville, Kentucky, explains grocery store and liquor store financing for Jefferson County owners: loans for stock, coolers and shelving, how to get a loan for a grocery store, liquor store funding and loans, and the county's figures for both kinds of store.
At a glance
- Grocery stores, Jefferson County, KY
213 employers (CBP 2023)
- Liquor stores
186 employers (CBP 2023)
- Grocery stores under 5 employees
56.3% (CBP 2023)
- Liquor stores under 5 employees
75.3% (CBP 2023)
Grocery store business loan around Louisville, KY
A grocery store spends on three things that fit three structures. Stock that sells in days or weeks fits inventory financing or a line drawn per order. Walk-in coolers, reach-in cases, freezers, shelving and checkout systems fit equipment financing, with the equipment as collateral. A remodel, an expansion or buying another store fits a term loan.
A partner reads sales history, supplier invoices, the lease and the store's bank statements. Spoilage and shrink matter in grocery; if you track them, include the figures.
Grocers and liquor stores in Jefferson County, KY
Grocery stores counted 213 employer establishments in Jefferson County in 2023, with 6,121 employees; 56.3% had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 4451). Beer, wine and liquor stores counted 186, 75.3% of them under five employees (NAICS 445310). By our sum of the two codes, that is 399 employer stores.
By our arithmetic, grocery stores averaged about 28.7 employees each and liquor stores about 4.6, a reminder that a supermarket and a corner store sit in the same grocery code. ZIP 40207 held 9 grocery and 9 liquor employers (ZBP 2023).
How to get a loan for a grocery store? A short answer for Louisville, KY
- Name the cost: an order of stock, a cooler, a remodel or a purchase.
- Gather sales history by month, supplier invoices and bank statements.
- For equipment, get the vendor's quote with model numbers.
- Compare written offers by total dollars and payment schedule.
Small business loan for a liquor store
A liquor store's costs are stock, much of it bought by the case, coolers and shelving, security systems and the license itself. Stock fits a line or inventory financing; coolers and security fit equipment financing. The license is a different question, covered in the article on liquor store financing in Louisville, KY.
Liquor store funding: a Louisville, KY primer
Liquor stores with employees averaged about $23,120 in payroll per employee in Jefferson County in 2023, by our arithmetic from County Business Patterns. A store that small funds stock and equipment on its own records, so bank statements, sales history and the lease carry the request.
Illustration only, invented figures: a store replaces a walk-in cooler for $28,000, financed at 11.5% over 48 months. Our arithmetic: a payment of about $730 a month, about $35,064 over the term.
Liquor store loans for owners in Jefferson County, KY
Buying an existing liquor store brings the stock, the fixtures, the lease and the customers. A partner reviews the seller's sales and tax records, the inventory count at closing and the buyer's experience. Whether the license moves with the sale is a legal question to settle before the funding question.
Grocery wages and owner-run receipts in Jefferson County, KY
Jefferson County's 213 grocery employers paid $194.0 million in payroll in 2023 (County Business Patterns), about $31,695 per employee by our arithmetic. ZIP 40207 held 9 of them, about 4.2% of the county count.
Nonemployer Statistics 2024 counts 153 grocery and convenience retailers without paid employees in the county under NAICS 2022 code 4451, a broader group than the employer grocery code, with $26.1 million in receipts: about $170,863 each by our arithmetic. That program is separate from the employer count and is not added to it.
Opening stock for a Louisville, KY neighborhood grocery: invented case
Illustration only, invented figures: a new store needs $60,000 of opening stock, $35,000 of coolers and freezers and $15,000 of shelving and checkout systems. The $50,000 of equipment financed at 11% over 60 months costs about $1,087 a month by our arithmetic. The invented $60,000 of stock is a different cost: a line drawn for that amount and paid down from sales as it turns, then drawn again for the next order.
- Price the opening order with the supplier's invoice, not an estimate.
- Get cooler and freezer quotes with model numbers and installation lines.
- Show the lease and the date the store can open.
Liquor store loan: what Louisville, KY owners weigh
- How the payment fits the store's slowest month.
- Whether the inventory count at closing is part of the price.
- What secures the loan: stock, equipment or business assets.
- Whether a personal guarantee is part of the offer.
Grocery and liquor stores sit inside the broader retail store business loans page; a line of credit explains draws for stock, and the industries hub lists every store type.
By Mintmead Funding · Updated