Liquor Store Feasibility Study in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area

Memphis liquor stores: a high local weight and all 7(a)

All 25 liquor store loans in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area are 7(a) loans, with none in 504, and none is franchised (0.00%). The class takes sixth place, 6 of 39, locally, the area is 39 of 426 nationally, and a 2.12x location quotient says liquor stores weigh more than twice as much here as in the national book. The $416,000 median is 0.92x the nationwide median. Together the approvals of FY2017 to FY2026 reach $14.9 million.

Range, county and holder

A span from $231,000 to $885,000 holds the middle half of loans. Shelby County, TN carries 14 of the 25. FY2017 prints with 5 loans and $1.2 million. Every other year is hidden, because small counts are suppressed. For The Huntington National Bank, the holder record shows 6 loans and $3.3 million, a record of custody only. By dollars per loan, that block runs well above the Memphis median.

Blank rates

Memphis lacks cancellation or charge-off floors, since only 25 approvals exist, and no clean record is implied.

What a purely working-capital program implies

With no 504 loans, the pattern is one of business acquisition, inventory and leasehold fit-out, not property purchase. A lender reading such a file relies on cash flow, the permit and the lease. A borrower who plans to buy the building would be stepping outside this record and should expect more questions. The area spans three states, so licensing rules belong in the study for the state where the store stands.

What a Memphis-area liquor store study must show

Sales should be built by product category with margins checked against comparable stores, then tested against traffic, neighbors and the distance to competing shops. The permit is a gating item: its class, transfer rules and timing belong in the schedule. Budget security, shrinkage and staffing for opening hours, and price the first stock order apart from fit-out. A lease that outlasts the loan with renewal options protects the improvements. The lender's test is payment coverage on cautious sales, and since the building is usually rented the appraisal depends on the business and its permit.