Liquor Store Feasibility Study in Indiana

Indiana liquor stores borrow above the national midpoint

Indiana stands out for the size of its liquor store loans. The median approval of $554,600 is 1.23x what liquor stores borrow at the national midpoint, and our screen marks that Indiana median as distinct from both Indiana's SBA record across all classes and liquor stores nationwide. In volume terms the class is modest in Indiana: the location quotient is 0.69x, the class places 12 of 39 in the state, and 94 approvals worth $82.3 million over FY2017 to FY2026 put Indiana 16 of 53.

Many lenders, few repeat names

No Indiana lender dominates. KeyBank National Association, Merchants Bank of Indiana and First Bank Richmond hold 7 loans each, worth $10.5 million, $8.7 million and $3.0 million, and Byline Bank and First Merchants Bank hold 6 apiece. Indiana's liquor loans went 86 through 7(a) and 8 through 504, and franchising barely appears at 1.1%. The middle half of approvals sits between $321,550 and $1.1 million. Marion County holds 41 loans, with Lake at 8 and Hamilton at 6. FY2026 brought 14 loans and $20.9 million, the strongest year for dollars in the series, after only 3 loans in FY2025.

What Indiana's floors say

Repayment has been clean: Indiana has not charged off a single one of its 49 package-store loans from the FY2017 to FY2021 disbursement years; the loss rate reads 0.00%, and the five-year version also reads 0.00%, a floor while those loans stay open. Indiana cancelled at least 10.4% of its FY2017 to FY2024 liquor approvals, 11.7% with undisbursed loans included. For a borrower, the larger median means a bigger payment, and the purchase price has to be justified by sales the seller can document.

An Indiana liquor store study has to verify the store's sales and margins from records, test the trade area for competing package stores and for grocery and pharmacy alcohol sales, and check how any change in permits or local rules would affect the store. Cost covers purchase price, inventory and any building work. Coverage of a loan near $554,600 should hold on documented, not projected, margins. The appraisal must split real estate from business value; a lender will look at the building and the business separately. No coding caveat applies to liquor stores in our map.