Buying a liquor store in Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay has 26 established liquor stores by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 77% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Liquor stores in Tampa Bay come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $84,000 a year
- Price about
- $197,000
- Your cash
- $28,000
- Could pay you
- up to $48,000 a year
- Earns about
- $131,000 a year
- Price about
- $308,000
- Your cash
- $43,000
- Could pay you
- up to $76,000 a year
- Earns about
- $145,000 a year
- Price about
- $341,000
- Your cash
- $48,000
- Could pay you
- up to $84,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 2.4 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 6 |
| 20 to 29 years | 17 |
| 30 to 39 years | 1 |
| 40 years or more | 2 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 7 |
| $1M to $2M | 5 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Hillsborough | 11 |
| Pinellas | 7 |
| Other counties | 8 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Tampa | 7 |
What the best liquor stores have in common
- Steady sales all year, not just at the holidays, or a winter peak that shows up clearly in several years of records.
- A clean, current inventory and a point-of-sale system that tracks every bottle, so you can see what sells and what sits.
- A visible location with parking, plus a long lease or the building itself.
- A record of paying distributors on time.
- Staff who check IDs every time, and no violations for sales to minors on the license.
- A reason to choose it over the supermarket next door: a deep wine or craft spirits selection, staff who know the products, delivery or a loyal neighborhood following.
- Little loss to theft and breakage, shown by regular counts that match the books.
What to check before you buy
- The license's share of the price. Ask a beverage license attorney or broker what quota licenses in that county have sold for lately.
- Distributor credit. Distributors may give a store credit only until the tenth day after the week of the sale. If a store pays late, every distributor can cut it off until it pays (section 561.42). Confirm the seller is paid up, and have cash to pay for stock almost as fast as it sells.
- Inventory at closing. Count it with the seller, pay the seller's cost, and leave out damaged or out-of-date stock.
- 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 its value (section 213.758). Get a Department of Revenue certificate of compliance before closing, and ask your attorney about holding back part of the price.
- The license history with ABT. A license won in a drawing less than three years ago carries a much larger transfer fee (section 561.32).
Questions to ask the owner
- How did you get the license, and has it ever had a violation or a lien?
- Which brands and types of drinks make you the most money, and how much stock hasn't moved in six months?
- What do sales look like month by month, and how much comes from the holidays or winter?
- Which distributors do you buy from, and has any of them ever put you on cash only?
- How long have your manager and clerks been with you, and how do they handle ID checks?
- How long is left on the lease, and would the landlord sign a new one with me?
- What do your regulars come to you for that the supermarket liquor stores don't offer?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a liquor store in Florida.
Owning a company in Tampa Bay
The local economy
Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.
Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.
What's different about owning a company here
Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.
The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.