Coffee Shop Feasibility Study in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about coffee shop and snack bar lending in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Spokane-Spokane Valley: coffee shop lending

Within Spokane-Spokane Valley, over FY2017 to FY2026, SBA recorded 29 coffee shop loans, worth $5.3 million of gross dollars approved. In Spokane-Spokane Valley, coffee shop lending ranks 3 of 39 across the area's classes. By contrast, Spokane-Spokane Valley lands at 49 of 612 across metro and micro areas by coffee shop loan count. Spokane-Spokane Valley's location quotient is 1.68x: more weight than nationally. A typical Spokane-Spokane Valley loan, measured by the median, is $175,000. The central half of Spokane-Spokane Valley loans lies between $50,000 and $300,000, and the median is a 0.73x multiple of the national class median. Spokane-Spokane Valley coffee loans are small, a $175,000 median at 0.73x with the inner half spanning $50,000 up to $300,000, yet the class sits at 3 of 39 in the area's table with a 1.68x location quotient. All 29 loans are SBA 7(a) in Spokane County. RiverBank (WA) holds 10 of them, worth $2.4 million.

Split by program in Spokane-Spokane Valley, 29 of the 29 loans are SBA 7(a) and none are SBA 504. A Spokane-Spokane Valley franchise figure is withheld. In the Spokane-Spokane Valley holder tables 10 SBA 7(a) loans worth $2.4 million are held by RiverBank (WA). Spokane-Spokane Valley's lender entries record current holders only. Spokane-Spokane Valley applicants gain no evidence of bank requirements from them. The whole count of 29 sits in Spokane County, WA.

Spokane-Spokane Valley: years, floors and limits

For Spokane-Spokane Valley, only some years can be read: FY2018 shows 5 loans totalling $537,000. In FY2021, Spokane-Spokane Valley records 0 loans and $0. These Spokane-Spokane Valley years are held back: FY2017, FY2019, FY2020 and FY2022 to FY2026. Spokane-Spokane Valley's withheld years differ from none. The Spokane-Spokane Valley cancellation rate: not given, under 30 loans. The Spokane-Spokane Valley charge-off rate: withheld, fewer than 30 loans in all. Spokane-Spokane Valley's floor is ours, not SBA's. Spokane-Spokane Valley's FY2017 to FY2021 group is short. Spokane-Spokane Valley follows the July 2023 list. Spokane-Spokane Valley admits a loan only by its county. Spokane-Spokane Valley drops unmatched loans.

Spokane-Spokane Valley: what to test

In Spokane, a coffee shop study should count the foot or vehicle traffic past the site during the hours the shop opens, name the cafes already in reach and test the ticket size and cups per hour that the forecast needs. A loan near $175,000 usually pays for a fit-out and equipment, which must be weighed against the lease term. Show a slow opening quarter paid for, and keep sales records or a documented projection for the appraiser.

SBA coffee shop and snack bar loans in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	29
Gross dollars approved	$5.3 million
Median loan	$175,000
Middle half of loans, from	$50,000
Middle half of loans, to	$300,000
SBA 7(a) loans	29
SBA 504 loans	0
Franchise share of loans	withheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for coffee shop and snack bar loans	49 of 612
Rank of coffee shop and snack bar among the classes in this area	3 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.68x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.73x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA coffee shop and snack bar loans approved in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	5	$537,000
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	0	$0
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	withheld	withheld
FY2026	withheld	withheld

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
RiverBank (WA)	10	$2.4 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Spokane County, WA	29

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-44060-C39.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a coffee shop and snack bar project in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Daniel Smith, MAI

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