Liquor Store Feasibility Study in Ohio

Small loans in a thin Ohio class

Liquor stores are a small corner of Ohio's SBA lending. The location quotient is 0.36x, the class ranks 17 of 39 among Ohio's classes, and the state's 124 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $41.6 million, place it 15 of 53 nationally. The Ohio median is only $119,300, or 0.27x the national liquor store median, with Ohio's quartile marks at $50,000 and $420,250. None of Ohio's three tested gauges for liquor stores, size, cancellation or loss, clears our screen; given how far under the national median the Ohio figure falls, the test result suggests small loans are a trait of Ohio SBA lending in general rather than of liquor retail.

One lender holds most of the visible book. The Huntington National Bank carries 55 Ohio liquor store loans under 7(a), worth $7.3 million, an average size that points to working capital, inventory and small store purchases. First Financial Bank holds 9 worth $3.3 million and Telhio Credit Union Inc 8 worth $867,200. SBA 504 financed only 5 approvals; SBA 7(a) the other 119. Franchise loans are 0.81% of the count, so nearly every Ohio borrower here runs an independent store.

Cancellation is the main event

Ohio liquor store deals fail mostly before funding. Cancellation reached 13.6% of FY2017 through FY2024 approvals, rising to 14.5% when undisbursed commitments join the count, which can reflect permit transfers, landlord consents or seller terms that did not come together. Losses after funding are rare and late: of 69 Ohio liquor loans paid out across FY2017 to FY2021, a 1.4% floor went to charge-off, none of it within five years, where the figure is 0.00%. Volume has slipped, from 23 approvals in FY2018 to 11 in FY2025 and 3 in FY2026.

What an Ohio liquor store study must test

Franklin County leads with 25 approvals, followed by Cuyahoga and Hamilton at 16 each and Trumbull at 7. A feasibility study for an Ohio store has to confirm first which permits the location holds or can obtain and transfer, since the permit is much of the business. Demand testing means counting competing stores and carryout outlets in the trade area and checking which categories the store may sell under state rules. Opening inventory, security, coolers and any build-out set the cost side. Debt service has to be covered from category-level gross margin after rent and payroll, not from sales alone. Where the purchase includes the building, the appraisal must separate real estate from the business and the permit. No coding caveat or shared industry code applies to Ohio liquor stores, so the counts above stand as filed.