SBA 7(a) Grocery Store Feasibility Study in Louisiana

Larger than grocers elsewhere, no lender listed

Grocers in Louisiana drew 26 approvals across FY2017 to FY2026 totaling $21.6 million. The median of $377,150 reaches 1.22x of grocers elsewhere, a higher ticket, with half of the loans from $277,225 to $779,400. No lender table prints for the cell. Louisiana is 29 among states by count and groceries hold 14 of 39 within the state, while franchise brands appear in 3.8%.

Parishes

Jefferson has 5 loans, Lafayette has 4, Orleans has 3, and Caddo, Pointe Coupee and Washington have 2 each; several others have single loans. Annual counts never climbed high; the largest dollar total, $5.3 million, came in FY2024 on 2 loans, with $4.7 million on 4 loans in FY2018 behind it. FY2020 had no approvals.

Blanks

Both cancellation and charge-off are not reported for the cell, as the early cohorts are too small. Without them, the page can describe size and place but not credit performance, and a lender should treat grocery in Louisiana as a class whose outcomes must be established from the borrower's own store history, including past sales, shrink and the results of any prior location.

What a Louisiana grocery study must test

Thin margins define grocery, and the plan should prove it in figures, from sales for each square foot to gross margin by department, shrink and payroll. It should define the format, such as a neighborhood market, a specialty store or a store serving a food desert, and the population and incomes in the trade area. Louisiana shoppers have strong preferences for local products and prepared foods, and the study can show how those lines raise margin. Competing supermarkets and discount chains must be mapped, with a plan for how a small store differs. Supplier terms and wholesale relationships matter, and so does the cost of refrigeration, which should be priced from bids with the electricity it uses. Hurricane exposure and insurance cost belong in the budget. A median of $377,150 suggests that many loans buy a store or fixtures, and an acquisition needs earnings rebuilt from tax returns. Payments must be covered through a weak month, and the plan should keep a working-capital reserve for supplier timing, since grocers pay vendors before shoppers pay the till.