Sell a Retail, Restaurant or Brand Business

Retail, restaurant and brand M&A in 2026

Good businesses still sell well. Average ones are taking longer.

Prices for small businesses rose this year even as deal counts slipped. Buyers are paying for clean, profitable operations and passing on the rest.

The median small business sold for $350,000 in Q3 2026

That is up 17% from a year earlier, while 2,132 businesses changed hands, down 7%. About 27% of owners planning a sale said conditions have them thinking about selling sooner.

Source: Business Wire via Finviz, BizBuySell Q3 2026 Insight Report, Oct 2026

Restaurant sales fell 11.7% in Q2, but turnkey demand jumped

The national restaurant median sale price dropped to $205,000, yet the average multiple paid rose to 2.41. Buyer interest in open and operating restaurants grew 400% from January to June.

Source: Franchising.com, We Sell Restaurants first half 2026 resale report, Aug 2026

Ecommerce reached 17.1% of US retail sales

Online sales hit $340.2 billion in Q2 2026, up 12.2% from a year earlier. Even so, Flippa's average ecommerce profit multiple slipped to 1.55x in the first half of 2026.

Sources: beBOLD, US Census Q2 2026 ecommerce sales, Sep 2026, Flippa, Amazon FBA valuation multiples in 2026, updated Oct 2026

Consumer deal counts fell, and strategic buyers lead

US consumer M&A dropped to 679 completed deals in Q2 2026, down 19% from Q1. Strategic buyers made about 65% of those deals, and private equity about 35%.

Source: Houlihan Capital, Q2 2026 consumer industry update (PitchBook data)

What buyers are looking for

What a retail, restaurant or brand buyer checks first.

SBA buyers and brand acquirers care about different things, yet their first asks overlap. I gather these store and brand files before marketing.

Gross margin by category

Margin by product line, SKU or menu category, and how it moved over three years. Buyers want to see that price increases kept up with costs.

Sales that tie to the books

POS, Shopify or Amazon Seller Central reports that reconcile to your P&L, bank deposits and tax returns. Unreported cash is income a buyer cannot pay for.

Inventory

A current count at cost, turns by category and how much is slow or dead stock. Buyers will ask how inventory is counted and whether it is in the price.

The lease

Remaining term, renewal options, rent increases and the assignment clause. For a store or restaurant, location and lease often decide the sale.

Licenses and permits

Liquor license type and transfer path, health department permits, tobacco and lottery permits. A state agency must approve many transfers, which adds time.

Channel and customer mix

Share of sales from your store, website, Amazon, wholesale accounts and your top customers. Heavy reliance on one channel or retailer lowers the multiple.

What moves a store or brand's price

What pushes your price down	What pushes your price up
Sales that depend on the owner behind the counter or in the kitchen	A manager and trained staff who run the day without you
Cash sales that do not match the tax return	POS and platform reports that reconcile to the P&L and bank deposits
One channel, one retailer or one hero SKU drives most profit	Profit spread across channels, customers and several proven products
A retail and consumer lease with under five years left and no renewal option	A long lease with options and an assignment clause the landlord accepts
Aging, slow moving inventory carried at full value	Lean inventory with healthy turns and a clean count
Paid ads buy most of the online traffic	Organic demand, a registered trademark and repeat customers

Who is buying

Chains, franchisees, brands and first time owners are all buying.

Regional chains buy stores near their footprint. Multi unit franchisees buy restaurants in blocks. Brand owners buy niche products with loyal customers. Individuals with SBA loans buy many single stores.

Buyer type	What they pay for	Active examples
Regional store chainsStrategic	Stores and small chains that extend their footprint into a nearby market, with good locations and trained staff.	Spec's (Lee's Discount Liquors), Casey's (Pak A Sak), HOM Furniture (Hennen Furniture), Furniture Mart USA (Becker Furniture)
Multi unit restaurant franchiseesStrategic, often sponsor backed	Blocks of franchised or company units with steady sales they can run on their own systems.	KBP Brands (78 Sonic units), Op Burgers, backed by Alexandrite Management (69 Red Robin units), Ghai Restaurants (Taco Bell)
Franchisors buying back unitsStrategic	Large, well run franchise territories in core markets, often when a longtime owner retires.	Dutch Bros (29 Phoenix East Valley shops)
Consumer brand acquirersStrategic	Brands with loyal customers, a clear niche and room to grow through their distribution and supply chain.	PepsiCo (poppi), Celsius (Alani Nu), Wacoal (Glamorise), SanMar (BELLA+CANVAS), Selkirk Sport (Bread & Butter Pickleball)

Recent store, restaurant and brand deals.

Store, restaurant and brand deals made public in 2025 and 2026. Most single store sales are never announced, so read this as a buyer map.

Date	Buyer	Target	Type	Value
Aug 2026	Casey's General Stores	Pak A Sak24 convenience stores in West Texas	Strategic	Undisclosed
Jun 2026	SanMar	BELLA+CANVASApparel blanks brand started in a garage in 1992	Strategic	Undisclosed
Jun 2026	Op Burgers and Kuber	86 Red Robin restaurants69 units in eight states and 17 in Oregon and Washington; refranchising	Franchisee	$72.5M ($62.5M and $10M)
Jun 2026	Spec's Wines, Spirits & Finer Foods	Lee's Discount Liquors23 liquor stores in Nevada; buyer runs 220 stores	Strategic	Undisclosed

Show all 15 deals

Date	Buyer	Target	Type	Value
May 2026	Selkirk Sport	Bread & Butter PickleballDirect to consumer paddle brand; founder family keeps product and creative	Strategic	Undisclosed
May 2026	Dutch Bros	Phoenix East Valley franchise29 coffee shops in Arizona; longtime owner retiring	Franchisor buyback	Undisclosed
Apr 2026	Wacoal International	Glamorise FoundationsNew York innerwear brand founded 1921, sells mainly online	Strategic	Undisclosed
Feb 2026	KBP Brands	78 Sonic restaurantsOhio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia	Franchisee	Undisclosed
Nov 2025	HOM Furniture	Hennen FurnitureSt. Cloud, Minnesota; family owned since 1967; brand kept	Strategic	Undisclosed
Oct 2025	Nexxus Capital	Five Amazon brandsBought from an aggregator; more than $18M combined revenue	Financial	Undisclosed (all cash)
Jun 2025	Two local entrepreneurs	High Country Furniture & DesignWestern North Carolina; second generation family retailer	Individual buyers	Undisclosed
May 2025	PepsiCo	poppiPrebiotic soda brand started at farmers' markets in Austin	Strategic	$1.95B
May 2025	Stack Athletics and Chaifetz Group	Vulcan PickleballPickleball paddle and ball businesses; rebrand planned	Strategic	Undisclosed
Apr 2025	Celsius Holdings	Alani NuWellness and energy drink brand	Strategic	$1.8B
Feb 2025	Furniture Mart USA	Becker FurnitureSeven Twin Cities stores; family owned for more than 45 years	Strategic	Undisclosed

Industry valuation estimator

What is your retail, restaurant or consumer brand worth?

Owner run stores, restaurants and small online brands sell on SDE. Chains and brands with a management team sell on adjusted EBITDA.

Annual owner earnings: SDE, or adjusted EBITDA if you have a paid manager ($) How concentrated your sales areYour lease or locationYour role in the day to daySales over the last 12 months

Estimated value range

Enter your earnings

Illustrative only, not a valuation.

Get a real valuation from Max

Published ranges for this industry

Liquor stores sold from 2021 to 2025: median 2.85x SDE, upper quartile 4.00x, and a 2025 average of 3.41x (BizBuySell)
Convenience stores sold from 2021 to 2025: median 1.82x SDE, upper quartile 2.77x (BizBuySell)
Restaurants sold from 2021 to 2025: median 1.85x SDE, middle half 1.34x to 2.53x (BizBuySell)
Furniture and furnishings stores sold from 2021 to 2025: median 2.36x SDE, upper quartile 2.94x (BizBuySell)

Bands begin with the retail and consumer multiples above. Concentration, lease, your role and growth move them by amounts I chose. Treat it as a first look.

Store and brand sale mistakes

Where store, restaurant and brand owners lose money in a sale.

Shops, restaurants and online brands hit the same snags. Give yourself a year or two and most are fixable.

Running cash off the books

Buyers and lenders only pay for income they can verify. Sales that never reach the tax return add nothing to your price.

Cost: A lower multiple on lower verified earnings

Letting the lease run short

A store or restaurant without enough lease term is hard to finance. The landlord gains leverage the closer you get to expiration.

Cost: Lost SBA buyers or a forced retail and consumer rent increase

Carrying dead inventory at full value

Buyers will not pay cost for product that has not moved in a year. Clearing it before a sale keeps the conversation on earnings.

Cost: Price cuts at the closing count

Leaning on one channel

An Amazon account, one big retailer or one hero product can disappear. Buyers price that risk into every offer.

Cost: A lower multiple or an earnout in place of cash

Leaving the license transfer too late

Liquor, tobacco and food permits often need agency approval before closing. Starting late stretches the timeline and tests the buyer's patience.

Cost: Delayed closings and buyers who walk

Owning the trademark informally

A brand without a registered trademark or Brand Registry is harder to transfer. Flippa lists both as factors that raise value.

Cost: Fewer buyers and a weaker price

FAQ

What store, restaurant and brand owners ask me before they sell.

Who is buying retail and restaurant businesses right now?

Regional chains like Spec's and Casey's are buying stores near their markets. Multi unit franchisees like KBP Brands are buying restaurants in blocks. Individuals with SBA loans buy many single stores and restaurants.

What multiple will my liquor store sell for?

BizBuySell data on 1,076 liquor store sales from 2021 to 2025 shows a median of 2.85x SDE. The upper quartile reached 4.00x, and the 2025 average was 3.41x. Location, lease and margin move you within that range.

What is a convenience store worth?

BizBuySell shows a median of 1.82x SDE for convenience stores sold from 2021 to 2025, with the upper quartile at 2.77x. The median sale price was $210,000.

What do restaurants sell for in 2026?

BizBuySell data puts the restaurant median at 1.85x SDE from 2021 to 2025. In the first half of 2026, the average multiple paid rose to 2.41 while the median sale price fell to $205,000.

How are Amazon and Shopify brands valued?

BizBuySell shows ecommerce businesses selling at a median of 3.28x SDE from 2021 to 2025. Flippa reports a lower 1.55x average profit multiple for its marketplace in early 2026. Clean account health, trademarks and organic demand push toward the top.

Does Amazon or Shopify get a higher multiple?

Flippa says neither channel automatically commands a higher multiple. Buyers care more about durable revenue, account health and spreading profit across several products.

Is inventory included in the price?

It depends on the deal, and it should be settled in the letter of intent. Buyers will ask for a current count at cost and will push back on slow moving stock.

How much does a buyer need to put down with an SBA loan?

Since June 2025, an SBA buyer of a whole store or brand puts in at least 10% equity. A seller note helps meet that only if it is on full standby.

Terms buyers will use

SDE: Store or brand profit plus owner pay, perks and one time costs. Most retail and food service sales under a few million use it.
Adjusted EBITDA: Operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, recast as if a paid manager ran the stores.
Gross margin: Sales minus the cost of the goods sold, as a share of sales. The first number a retail buyer checks.
Inventory turns: How many times a year your inventory sells through. Higher turns mean less cash tied up on shelves.
Prime cost: Food and beverage cost plus labor cost, as a share of restaurant sales. Buyers use it to judge how well a kitchen is run.
Four wall EBITDA: The profit of a single store or restaurant before corporate overhead. Used to compare locations in a chain.
Refranchising: When a franchisor sells company owned units to franchisees, often in blocks of dozens of locations.
Brand Registry: Amazon's program that confirms a seller owns a registered trademark and protects the listings.
Account health: Amazon's measure of a seller's policy compliance and performance. Suspensions in the history lower value.
PPC: Pay per click advertising. Buyers check how much of an online brand's sales depend on paid ads.
SKU: Stock keeping unit, one distinct product. Buyers like profit spread across many SKUs, not one.
Assignment clause: The lease term that says whether and how the landlord must approve passing the lease to a buyer.
Seller note: Part of the price the seller lends the buyer, repaid over time. SBA rules limit how it can count toward equity.
Earnout: Part of a retail and consumer price paid later, only if agreed targets are hit after closing.

Let's talk

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Sources (28)

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How to sell a store, restaurant or consumer brand