Liquor Store Feasibility Study in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about liquor store lending in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Milwaukee-Waukesha: liquor store lending

For Milwaukee-Waukesha, from FY2017 through FY2026, SBA approved 36 liquor store loans, carrying $29.2 million in gross approvals. In Milwaukee-Waukesha, liquor store lending is placed 9 of 39 when the classes are lined up, and Milwaukee-Waukesha stands at 25 of 426 against every metro and micro area on liquor store loans. Milwaukee-Waukesha's location quotient is 0.90x, below the national share. Milwaukee-Waukesha stands apart on size: median $730,000. The inner half of Milwaukee-Waukesha loans spans $220,575 to $1.1 million, and the median is a 1.62x multiple of the national class median. The location quotient of 0.90x says there is nothing unusual in how many liquor store loans exist here; what stands out is how large they run. The weight of this record falls on loan size, and the median ratio of 1.62x is the figure to carry into any underwriting conversation.

Loan Analytics holds back the program counts in Milwaukee-Waukesha, 7(a) as well as 504, because each is a small group. The Milwaukee-Waukesha franchise rate is held back. In Milwaukee-Waukesha, no holder hits five loans. Milwaukee-Waukesha therefore identifies no lender. County by county: Milwaukee County, WI has 29 loans.

Milwaukee-Waukesha: years, floors and limits

In FY2026, a full fiscal year, Milwaukee-Waukesha shows 0 loans and $0. Milwaukee-Waukesha's withheld years are: FY2017 to FY2025. The years held back for Milwaukee-Waukesha do not mean none. Milwaukee-Waukesha's cancellation rate: not given, below 30 loans in all. A charge-off rate for Milwaukee-Waukesha: held back, fewer than 30 loans in the cohort. Milwaukee-Waukesha's minimum is Loan Analytics' own. Milwaukee-Waukesha's FY2017 to FY2021 group is under it. Milwaukee-Waukesha is drawn on the 2023 July list. Milwaukee-Waukesha takes in a loan only by its county. Milwaukee-Waukesha drops unmatched loans.

Milwaukee-Waukesha: what to test

A Milwaukee-Waukesha liquor store study has to start from the size signal. A borrower planning near the middle of $220,575 to $1.1 million should show why the project needs that much capital, whether through the building, the fixtures or the stock. The study should test the catchment of the address, the licensing position and the hours the store may trade, then show payment coverage at sales a cautious reader would accept. An appraiser will want the premises valued apart from the business, so the income shown has to hold up on both sides of that split.

SBA liquor store loans in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY202636
Gross dollars approved$29.2 million
Median loan$730,000
Middle half of loans, from$220,575
Middle half of loans, to$1.1 million
SBA 7(a) loanswithheld
SBA 504 loanswithheld
Franchise share of loanswithheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for liquor store loans25 of 426
Rank of liquor store among the classes in this area9 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)0.90x
Median loan against the national median for the class1.62x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)withheld
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 liquor store loans approved in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area, by fiscal year

00.20.40.60.81FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2026: 0
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY2017withheldwithheld
FY2018withheldwithheld
FY2019withheldwithheld
FY2020withheldwithheld
FY2021withheldwithheld
FY2022withheldwithheld
FY2023withheldwithheld
FY2024withheldwithheld
FY2025withheldwithheld
FY20260$0

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
Milwaukee County, WI29

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-33340-C37.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a liquor store project in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 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.

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