NAICS sector 44-45 · 7,590 financed acquisitions
$8.2bnCapital deployed
Retail Trade
Since FY2019, 7,590 businesses in this sector were bought using an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan, together carrying $8.2bn of bank debt. The median deal was financed with $688,250 over 10 years at 7.50%.
Volume and price
What businesses in retail trade financed by an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan actually cost, and how many of them there were.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level extract, change-of-ownership approvals, FY2019 onward. Data as of 30 June 2026. n = 7,590 financed acquisitions.
| Size band | Acquisitions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $250k | 1,365 | 18.0% |
| $250k to $500k | 1,558 | 20.5% |
| $500k to $1M | 1,924 | 25.3% |
| $1M to $2M | 1,596 | 21.0% |
| $2M to $3.5M | 704 | 9.3% |
| $3.5M to $5M | 310 | 4.1% |
| $5M and above | 133 | 1.8% |
| All | 7,590 | 100.0% |
The 7(a) programme caps a single loan at $5M, so the top band is a ceiling of the instrument, not of the market. Deals above it are financed conventionally and do not appear in this file at all.
How the paper was structured
Loan terms here are not spread smoothly. They spike at exactly ten years and again at exactly twenty-five, with very little in between. Those two points are the programme's maturity ceilings, and which one applies depends on what secures the loan, so a term running past ten years indicates real property was financed alongside the business.
| Term | What it indicates | Acquisitions | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 years | Shorter than the goodwill maximum | 732 | 9.6% |
| Exactly 10 years | The standard goodwill-only note | 4,190 | 55.2% |
| 10 to 20 years | Mixed collateral | 657 | 8.7% |
| 20 years and over | Real property financed with the business | 2,011 | 26.5% |
55.2% of loans here run exactly ten years and 26.5% run twenty years or more. n = 7,590 loans with a recorded term.
What happened next
Two outcomes are visible in the file: approvals that never funded, and funded loans that later charged off. Both are facts about deals, not forecasts.
The charge-off share is cumulative as of 30 June 2026 for loans approved in FY2019-FY2021. Those loans are five to seven years into terms that are usually ten years, so the figure is a floor and the lifetime rate will be higher. It is not comparable to a rate computed over a fully matured cohort, and the site does not publish one for later years for that reason.
By fiscal year
* FY2026 is incomplete. The extract closes 30 June 2026, nine months into a fiscal year that ends 30 September, and some FY2026 approvals have not yet disbursed. Do not read the last column as a decline.
Industry groups inside this sector
A sector median hides a lot. These are the four-digit groups within it that clear the reporting floor on their own.
| Industry group | Acquisitions | Capital | Median loan | Median rate | Median term | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4453 Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers | 1,442 | $1.4bn | $676,100 | 7.75% | 10 years | 11.0% |
| 4451 Grocery and Convenience Retailers | 823 | $683M | $546,000 | 7.50% | 10 years | 9.8% |
| 4571 Gasoline Stations | 624 | $1.3bn | $1,650,000 | 9.00% | 25 years | 11.7% |
| 4471 Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores | 540 | $821M | $1,219,300 | 5.75% | 25 years | 12.9% |
| 4441 Building Material and Supplies Dealers | 446 | $488M | $768,350 | 7.31% | 10 years | 8.0% |
| 4452 Specialty Food Retailers | 382 | $238M | $352,700 | 7.75% | 10 years | 11.4% |
| 4461 Pharmacies and Drug Stores | 313 | $413M | $1,035,000 | 6.00% | 10 years | 9.0% |
| 4413 Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Retailers | 263 | $248M | $665,000 | 7.25% | 10 years | 7.7% |
| 4561 Health and Personal Care Retailers | 261 | $341M | $986,000 | 9.75% | 10 years | 8.4% |
| 4599 Other Miscellaneous Retailers | 206 | $196M | $566,100 | 9.50% | 10 years | 7.2% |
| 4591 Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument Retailers | 201 | $162M | $450,000 | 9.50% | 10 years | 7.8% |
| 4539 All Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers (except Tobacco Stores) | 194 | $137M | $373,400 | 6.00% | 10 years | 6.7% |
| 4491 Furniture and Home Furnishings Retailers | 182 | $187M | $601,300 | 9.50% | 10 years | 8.1% |
| 4442 Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Retailers | 162 | $152M | $576,500 | 7.64% | 10 years | 6.4% |
| 4511 Sporting Goods Stores | 155 | $93.9M | $331,000 | 6.00% | 10 years | 4.3% |
| 4481 Other Clothing Stores | 121 | $53.2M | $250,000 | 6.25% | 10 years | 9.0% |
| 4412 Other Motor Vehicle Dealers | 121 | $199M | $1,420,000 | 6.50% | 10 years | 13.6% |
| 4411 Automobile Dealers | 116 | $297M | $2,499,200 | 7.00% | 12.8 years | 14.7% |
| 4581 Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers | 111 | $77.6M | $440,000 | 9.50% | 10 years | 5.1% |
| 4422 All Other Home Furnishings Stores | 100 | $82.3M | $540,150 | 6.00% | 10 years | 11.5% |
| 4593 Florists | 94 | $38.9M | $246,000 | 9.25% | 10 years | 3.1% |
| 4541 Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses | 90 | $108M | $757,700 | 6.00% | 10 years | 8.2% |
| 4594 Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Retailers | 73 | $45.8M | $453,000 | 8.59% | 10 years | 6.4% |
| 4532 Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores | 72 | $37.1M | $303,600 | 6.25% | 10 years | 6.5% |
| 4543 Other Direct Selling Establishments | 63 | $45.1M | $461,500 | 5.75% | 10 years | 17.1% |
| 4531 Florists | 57 | $25.4M | $200,000 | 5.50% | 10 years | 9.5% |
| 4552 Warehouse Clubs, Supercenters, and Other General Merchandise Retailers | 55 | $51.5M | $400,000 | 9.25% | 10 years | 8.3% |
| 4431 Electronics Stores | 44 | $29.5M | $361,750 | 6.00% | 10 years | 0.0% |
| 4421 Furniture Stores | 44 | $52.1M | $555,000 | 6.00% | 10 years | 6.4% |
| 4492 Electronics and Appliance Retailers | 37 | $32.4M | $633,000 | 8.50% | 10 years | 7.5% |
| 4583 Jewelry, Luggage, and Leather Goods Retailers | 37 | $22.0M | $405,000 | 9.50% | 10 years | 7.5% |
| 4595 Used Merchandise Retailers | 25 | $17.1M | $466,500 | 10.00% | 10 years | 3.8% |
Where this sector changes hands
States with enough deals in this sector to report on their own.
| State | Acquisitions | Capital | Median loan | Median rate | Median term | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA California | 1,144 | $1.2bn | $630,250 | 7.50% | 10 years | 9.5% |
| TX Texas | 604 | $816M | $1,000,000 | 7.50% | 17 years | 9.2% |
| WA Washington | 422 | $659M | $1,179,500 | 8.00% | 20 years | 10.0% |
| CO Colorado | 401 | $365M | $657,000 | 7.75% | 10 years | 8.2% |
| FL Florida | 353 | $421M | $750,000 | 7.75% | 10 years | 10.4% |
| MI Michigan | 296 | $290M | $751,750 | 8.00% | 13 years | 8.4% |
| NY New York | 292 | $258M | $550,000 | 7.75% | 10 years | 11.2% |
| MN Minnesota | 291 | $195M | $434,000 | 6.75% | 10 years | 7.3% |
| GA Georgia | 268 | $479M | $1,121,500 | 7.25% | 12.5 years | 12.7% |
| IL Illinois | 233 | $276M | $836,000 | 7.50% | 10.5 years | 14.3% |
| WI Wisconsin | 225 | $233M | $746,800 | 6.75% | 10 years | 8.9% |
| PA Pennsylvania | 224 | $184M | $529,700 | 7.75% | 10 years | 9.7% |
| OH Ohio | 206 | $184M | $601,950 | 8.00% | 10 years | 10.0% |
| NC North Carolina | 182 | $200M | $825,950 | 7.50% | 10 years | 9.9% |
| NJ New Jersey | 176 | $212M | $815,650 | 8.25% | 10 years | 14.6% |
| MA Massachusetts | 142 | $96.7M | $422,250 | 6.75% | 10 years | 9.6% |
| MO Missouri | 137 | $128M | $648,000 | 8.00% | 10 years | 13.8% |
| IN Indiana | 132 | $121M | $534,500 | 7.50% | 10 years | 5.7% |
| AZ Arizona | 126 | $143M | $712,100 | 7.75% | 10 years | 11.9% |
| OR Oregon | 119 | $172M | $934,000 | 7.75% | 10 years | 9.8% |
| MD Maryland | 106 | $109M | $705,000 | 8.00% | 10 years | 10.9% |
| UT Utah | 91 | $88.2M | $575,000 | 7.50% | 10 years | 9.0% |
| OK Oklahoma | 90 | $79.2M | $707,500 | 6.79% | 12.6 years | 10.0% |
| SC South Carolina | 88 | $96.5M | $742,500 | 7.50% | 10 years | 8.3% |
| VA Virginia | 85 | $92.1M | $566,300 | 7.25% | 10 years | 16.7% |
| KS Kansas | 81 | $72.3M | $513,800 | 6.95% | 10 years | 8.0% |
| IA Iowa | 75 | $39.8M | $202,500 | 6.50% | 10 years | 5.1% |
| ID Idaho | 73 | $69.5M | $758,600 | 7.75% | 10 years | 6.4% |
| KY Kentucky | 69 | $51.3M | $405,900 | 7.05% | 10 years | 2.8% |
| CT Connecticut | 69 | $57.2M | $414,000 | 7.50% | 10 years | 4.2% |
Concentration
| State | Acquisitions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| CA California | 1,144 | 15.1% |
| TX Texas | 604 | 8.0% |
| WA Washington | 422 | 5.6% |
| CO Colorado | 401 | 5.3% |
| FL Florida | 353 | 4.7% |
| MI Michigan | 296 | 3.9% |
| NY New York | 292 | 3.8% |
| MN Minnesota | 291 | 3.8% |
| GA Georgia | 268 | 3.5% |
| IL Illinois | 233 | 3.1% |
| WI Wisconsin | 225 | 3.0% |
| PA Pennsylvania | 224 | 3.0% |
| Lender | Acquisitions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Live Oak Banking Company | 468 | 6.2% |
| Hanmi Bank | 370 | 4.9% |
| The Huntington National Bank | 264 | 3.5% |
| Open Bank | 207 | 2.7% |
| Celtic Bank Corporation | 200 | 2.6% |
| Metro City Bank | 180 | 2.4% |
| Byline Bank | 172 | 2.3% |
| Commonwealth Business Bank | 167 | 2.2% |
| Bank of Hope | 127 | 1.7% |
| First Financial Bank | 119 | 1.6% |
A lender without a link wrote fewer acquisition loans than the reporting floor and has no page of its own. Shares are of the 7,590 financed acquisitions in this sector.
What to read next
If you are selling
Thinking about selling
The figures above describe retail trade businesses at the size the 7(a) programme reaches. They describe a market, not your business. FIH advises owners of privately held companies on sale processes, and the first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
If you are buying
Register what you are looking for
FIH is an advisory firm that generally acts for sellers, so registering here does not make you a client and no business is listed or offered for sale on this site. It records what you buy, where, at what price you can transact and how a purchase would be funded. It is free, it commits you to nothing, and no deal flow is promised in return.
Figures on this page are SBA loan amounts, not sale prices. Nothing on this site is an offer, a solicitation, a valuation of any business, or investment advice, and no statement here promises a transaction, a price or a result.