Buying a gas station or convenience store in Southwest Florida

• Strong inside sales compared with fuel, including food or coffee that brings people in on its own.
• A corner with easy access on a road people use every day, near homes, work sites or a highway exit.
• Tanks, lines and pumps in good condition, with clean inspection records from DEP and FDACS.
• A supply agreement you can live with: a reasonable remaining term, volume minimums you can hit, and no big payback if it ends.
• Register records that split sales by category and match supplier invoices and tax returns.
• A manager and core staff who have stayed for years and can run the store when you're not there.
• Pumps with current card readers and the required anti-skimming protection.

• Environmental condition. Get a Phase I environmental site assessment (a review of the site's records and history), with testing if it flags risk, plus DEP inspection reports, tank ages, leak detection records and any spill reports.
• The supply agreement. Can you take it over, what volumes does it require, and what would leaving early cost?
• Security rules. Stores selling alcohol or tobacco that open any time from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. generally need cameras, a drop safe, a silent alarm, a lit lot and clear windows (sections 812.171 and 812.173).
• Generator wiring. Stations built or substantially renovated since July 2006, and larger ones near an interstate or evacuation route, must be prewired for a generator (section 526.143).
• The seller's unpaid taxes. Buying more than half of a business or its assets can make you liable for the seller's unpaid state taxes, up to the greater of the price or the business's value (section 213.758). Get a Department of Revenue certificate of compliance before closing, and ask your attorney about also holding back part of the price.

• How much of your profit comes from fuel, and how much from inside the store?
• How old are the tanks and lines, and has the site ever had a reported leak or cleanup?
• What does your fuel supply agreement require, and how long does it have left?
• What's selling more inside, and what's selling less?
• How did the store do in the last hurricane, and does it have a generator hookup?
• Who works overnight, and how long have your main people been with you?
• Have you had any problems with skimmers, robberies or sales to minors?

This region covers Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties on the Gulf coast and Hendry, Glades and DeSoto inland: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton, LaBelle, Clewiston, Moore Haven and Arcadia. The coastal economy runs on people who choose to live or spend the winter here: retirees, seasonal residents, and the construction, real estate, health care, financial and home services that follow them. Tourism, golf and boating add to it.

Inland, the economy is agricultural: sugarcane around Clewiston, citrus, cattle and vegetables, with Immokalee in Collier County a center for farm work. The building trades, pool, landscaping and pest control companies, property managers, medical and dental practices, and marine businesses tend to do well along the coast.

This is one of Florida's most seasonal markets. From roughly January through April, restaurants, shops and service companies run at full speed. Summers are slower, so look at monthly revenue, not only the yearly total. The coast has taken two major hurricanes in recent years: Ian came ashore at Cayo Costa in Lee County in September 2022, and Milton at Siesta Key in Sarasota County in October 2024. Rebuilding brought a wave of work for contractors that won't last forever, so ask how much recent revenue came from storm repairs. Insurance costs and flood zones weigh on every property.

Housing costs near the coast make hiring hard, especially around Naples. New communities east of Interstate 75 in Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Manatee keep service companies busy.