Liquor Store Feasibility Study in Missouri

Missouri liquor stores: a big state with a light footprint

Missouri has 60 liquor store loans from FY2017 to FY2026, with $31.8 million approved. The state ranks 21 of 53 for the class, but liquor stores rank only 15 of 39 among the classes financed in Missouri, and the location quotient of 0.54x shows the share of such loans is little more than half the national share. Put simply, Missouri produces fewer SBA liquor store loans than its size predicts. The median loan of $318,400 comes to 0.71x the national figure for liquor stores, while the bulk of the file reaches from $150,000 up to $727,125.

Lenders, program mix and the franchise question

The file contains 52 SBA 7(a) loans beside 8 from the 504 program, with a franchise share of 3.3%. Two lenders reach 5 or more loans: Regent Bank, with 9 loans and $7.2 million, and The Bank of Houston, with 7 loans and $8.4 million. The dollars per loan at both are large, around what a store with real estate or a substantial inventory purchase would need. That is a signal for a borrower: a liquor store in Missouri is frequently financed as an acquisition of an operating business, with the building bundled in, and not as a small leased shop. Lenders who see this class tend to want the license, the lease and the seller's records in order before they commit.

Missouri liquor approvals show a 19.6% cancellation floor over FY2017 to FY2024, and counting undisbursed loans changes nothing, leaving a ceiling of 19.6%. That is a high share of liquor store approvals that never closed, and it likely reflects the licensing step: a state and local alcohol license transfer can fail or take longer than the loan commitment. A borrower should therefore treat the license as the critical path item. Missouri has no printable charge-off rate, because its seasoned loans number below 30; nothing should be read into that.

What a Missouri study must test

Jackson County has 11 loans and Saint Louis County 9, with Greene at 6 and Jasper at 4, so activity runs through Kansas City, Saint Louis and Springfield. A study should test demand with traffic counts, competing outlets, the mix between package liquor and other goods, and local rules on hours and licensing. Cost must include inventory, which is a large share of what a liquor store borrows, and the lease or purchase of the site. Coverage of the debt service must stand up to thin margins and to shrinkage. An appraiser should say what part of the value is real estate. The yearly record shows 9 loans and $9.3 million in FY2021 and 9 loans in FY2024, but only 1 loan in FY2026, a drop worth explaining in any package.