Selling or buying a retail business
The lease, the location and the inventory decide most of the price.
If you own one
Thinking about selling your retail business?
Retail sells on three things owners tend to think about last: the lease, the location and the honest value of the inventory. A strong business in a lease with two years left is worth much less than the same business with ten, because the buyer is underwriting the location as much as the operation. If you own the real estate, that is a separate and often very valuable conversation.
What raises the price
- A long lease with renewal options, assignable to a buyer
- Inventory that turns, valued honestly rather than at original cost
- An online or wholesale channel alongside the storefront
- Staff who can open, close and run the floor without the owner
- A customer list, loyalty programme or repeat base you can actually demonstrate
What a buyer will discount
- A short lease, or a landlord who will not assign it
- Aged inventory carried at cost
- Foot traffic dependent on an anchor tenant that could leave
- The owner as the reason people shop there
None of this is a reason to wait. Most of these are fixable, and knowing which ones apply to you is exactly what a valuation is for.
What is my retail business worth?
Nine questions, an indicative range on screen, and a scorecard showing which value drivers you already have and which are costing you money. No cost, no obligation, and nothing is published.
Get a free valuationPrefer to talk it through first? Use the form below — it reaches a person, not a queue.
If you want to buy one
Looking to acquire a retail business?
Assess the lease before the P&L. Then look at inventory turns, whether the business has any online revenue, and how much of the customer draw is the owner standing behind the counter.
Not sure you are ready to compete? Take the readiness check — two minutes, and it tells you exactly what sellers compare buyers on.
Get told before it is listed
Most good businesses in this sector are placed with a prepared buyer before they are ever publicly advertised. Buyers on file hear first. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Register what you are looking forStart the conversation
Tell us which one you are
Whether you own a retail business or want to buy one, this is the same first step: a short, confidential conversation with a person who has done this before.
- Read personally — never a shared inbox or an auto-responder
- Confidential. We do not contact your employees, customers or competitors
- No cost and no obligation to do anything with the answer
- You can leave anything blank and fill it in later
Handled with care and discretion
Everything you send is treated as confidential. It is read by the person you addressed it to, used only to respond to you, and never sold, shared with foreign entities or used for unsolicited marketing. We do not contact your employees, customers, suppliers or competitors.
Want it in writing first? Say so and we will send a non-disclosure agreement for signature before anything specific is discussed. Plenty of owners prefer that, and nobody is offended by being asked.
Submitting this form does not create a legally binding agreement, an engagement, or a confidentiality obligation on its own — it starts a conversation. Anything binding is a document both sides sign.
Questions owners actually ask
Retail: the questions we get
How much is my store worth if I were to sell it?
The starting point is earnings, adjusted for what a new owner would actually pay themselves — then the lease, the inventory and the location either add to that or take from it. The valuation is complimentary, confidential and specific to your store.
How do I sell my retail business without customers or staff knowing?
The business is marketed as a blind profile — no name, no address, no photographs of the storefront. Buyers sign a confidentiality agreement and are qualified before they learn which business it is.
Should I sell the building with the business?
Often the two sell to different buyers at different prices, and a sale-leaseback can produce a better overall result. It is worth modelling both before you commit.
Related business types
Also in retail, restaurant & consumer
Start with a number, not a decision
A complimentary, confidential valuation tells you what your retail business would be worth today and what is holding it back. Whether you act on it is entirely up to you.