SBA 7(a) Liquor Store Feasibility Study in Georgia

Georgia's liquor store loans are huge by retail standards. Between FY2017 and FY2026 the 7(a) program approved 435 of them for $930.1 million, with the state at rank 5 nationally and the class at 5 of 39 inside Georgia. The median is $1.7 million, a striking 3.83x what liquor borrowers under 7(a) hold at median nationwide, with $700,000 to $3.4 million bounding the middle half. Franchising is almost nonexistent at 0.46%. These borrowers are mostly independent owners buying stores, often with the building, at prices the national pattern does not match.

One bank dominates

Metro City Bank holds 169 of the loans, worth $501.0 million, over half the cell's dollars. First Community Bank holds 18 worth $33.6 million, Commonwealth Business Bank 14 worth $37.6 million, PromiseOne Bank 12 worth $27.4 million, and The Huntington National Bank 12 worth $13.9 million. SBA's figures describe loans a lender holds or held, and they do not judge any lender's practices. By county, FULTON has 74 loans, DEKALB 50, COBB 36, GWINNETT 28 and FORSYTH 25, so the lending is metropolitan Atlanta and its suburbs. FY2021 stands out with 72 loans and $173.3 million.

Low loss floors

Approvals dated FY2017 to FY2024 saw at least 11.3% cancelled, and the wider count gives the very same 11.3%. The FY2017 to FY2021 Georgia cohort holds 208 funded loans; 1.9% at least are charged off now, and 0.00% had been by year five. Those are floors from a short history; loans that are still open can fail later, and large notes can fail in large amounts.

What a Georgia liquor store study must show

Size changes the questions. A $1.7 million note requires a study to prove that store revenue, not just real estate value, supports the debt, so it should present several years of sales, gross margin by category and a realistic view of customer traffic. It must examine local licensing, hours and distance rules, competition from nearby stores and grocery sales where permitted, and the trade area's growth. Because many Georgia loans appear to include property, the appraisal should separate land and building from the business. Debt service coverage should hold if volume slips. SBA sets program rules and limits; none are repeated on this page.