Liquor Store Feasibility Study in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area

Liquor stores across three counties

Liquor stores are an unusually small piece of SBA lending across Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: the location quotient is 0.17x, and the class ranks 20 of 39 inside the metro. That light weight, together with a median loan of $225,000 that is 0.50x the national median, is the pattern the figures show, though we do not label either distinctive. The area still ranks 28 of 426 for liquor store loans, and it holds 32 loans worth $15.4 million for FY2017 to FY2026. The central half starts as low as $50,000, reaching $500,000 at the top.

Counties, brands and holders

Franchise affiliation is 0.00%, and the stores are independent. Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County have 11 loans each and Broward County 10. TD Bank, National Association holds 6 7(a) loans, together worth $250,000, and Newtek Bank, National Association holds 5 worth $1.5 million, in SBA's reporting. These are statements about who holds the loans, not about their lending. Splitting the 32 loans between SBA programs would rest on a count too thin to print, so the page leaves it out.

Years of lending

FY2021 is a finished year with no loans: 0 loans and $0. FY2025 shows 8 loans and $5.9 million, and FY2026, which is also a finished fiscal year, has 7 loans and $4.5 million. The remaining years, FY2017 to FY2020 and FY2022 to FY2024, have too few loans to display and are not zero. Neither outcome rate prints for the Miami area, because Loan Analytics' own rule wants 30 loans and the FY2017 to FY2021 cohort across Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward falls under that.

Testing a Miami-area liquor store

What drives a package store is margin and inventory turns; the study therefore measures the gross margin that the planned assortment supports, the stock the loan must carry, and sales per square foot within the store's catchment. The study also has to show the license position for the premises and how it fits the opening timeline. Run debt service coverage through a slow opening year, using the planned blend of owner labor and paid staff. The lender's collateral view will weigh stock and any real estate, so both should be sized separately. A loan counts in this metro by project county under the July 2023 delineation.