Do you want to start a supermarket business by buying a franchise? If YES, here are 6 best supermarket franchise opportunities for sale and their cost. A supermarket is known as a self-service shop that offers a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, and these merchandise are organized into sections and shelves.
The typical supermarket is larger and has a wider selection than most grocery stores, but it is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. The supermarket typically has aisles for meat, fresh produce, dairy, and baked goods. Shelf space is also reserved for canned and packaged goods and for various non-food items such as kitchenware, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies.
Some supermarkets also sell other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), medicine, and clothes, and some sell a much wider range of non-food products. This goes to show that a typical supermarket can stock just about anything.
Supermarkets tend to focus on convenience as they basically stock a lot of products under one roof. For this reason, the supermarket business is a very financial intensive business. To be able to break into this industry after spending such huge amount of money to set up the business, you would need to get the franchise of a successful supermarket company to propel your business along.
You should note however that because of the financially intensive nature of the supermarket business, not a lot of supermarkets offer franchise. Be that as it may, here are a few successful supermarkets in the United States that offer franchise.
6 Best Supermarket Business Franchise Opportunities for Sale and Their Cost
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7-Eleven
7-Eleven offers a tried and true business model in the supermarket industry, the latest technology, an easy application process and lots of room to grow. And of course, there’s more cash flow. The company has its origins in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, USA, when an employee of Southland Ice Company, Joe C. Thompson started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice dock.
The original location of this store was an improvised storefront at Southland Ice Company, an ice-manufacturing plant owned by John Jefferson Green. Although small grocery stores and general merchandisers were present in the immediate area, the manager of the ice plant, Joe C. Thompson discovered that selling “convenience items” such as bread and milk was popular due to the ice’s natural ability to preserve the items.
This significantly cut back on people’s need to travel long distances to the grocery stores for basic items. Joe C. Thompson eventually bought the Southland Ice Company and turned it into the Southland Corporation which oversaw several locations which opened up in the Dallas area.
Initially, these stores were open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., hours that seemed strange back then, hence the name. The company began to use the 7-Eleven name in 1946. By 1952, 7-Eleven opened its 100th store. It was incorporated as the The Southland Corporation in 1961.
Financial Information
- Cash Investment: $100,000
- Net Worth: $700,000
- Franchise Fee: $75,000 – $600,000
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Save A Lot Food Stores
Save A Lot Food Stores is the nation’s leading hard discount supermarket chain designed for independent retailers. The business model of this retail chain is focused on empowering their Retail Partners with the tools to succeed. Save-A-Lot Retail Partners have a leg up in the grocery industry through more effective store layouts, exclusive private label products, cost savings via the buying power of over 1,250 stores, and the efficiencies of low operating overhead.
Save A Lot offers a full program that equips independent retailers with an innovative store format designed to give the owner a competitive advantage in the market.
Their dynamic format allows you, as a Save A Lot Retail Partner, to own and operate a turn-key grocery business. Save A Lot’s corporate operations include a full support organization to ensure their Retail Partners can fully leverage the benefits of scale that being part of a large national brand provides.
Financial Information
- Cash Investment: $300,000
- Net Worth: $1,000,000
- Total Investment: $750,000 – $1,500,000
3. Metal Supermarkets
Metal Supermarkets is a Canadian franchise that primarily focuses on selling small quantity metals, cut to the customer’s desired size. Metal Supermarkets is the largest franchise in the small quantity metals industry and the only one with international reach.
Metal Supermarkets are passionately committed to offering entrepreneurial-minded business people the opportunity to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves. Your franchise investment guarantees you will have the equipment, inventory, and marketing campaigns you need to secure sales from the first day you join hands with them. This head start is one of many reasons why the Metal Supermarkets is one of the most stable opportunities to invest in.
With established franchises around the world, the company has a firm handle on financing for their franchisees. They have built strong relationships with key lenders, including approval through the Franchise Registry for business administration (SBA) financing, and lenders will be impressed when you join their franchise network, knowing full well that Metal Supermarket franchises are a top-of-the-line investment.
Financial Information
- Franchisee Fee – $39,500 for initial location
- $25,000 for 2nd location
- $15,000 for each additional location
- Inventory – $40,000 – $70,000
- Equipment – $35,000 – $55,000
- Furniture & Fixtures – $40,000 – $70,000
- Opening Marketing – $20,000 – $25,000
- Working Capital – $70,000 – $90,000
Qualified U.S. military Veterans may be able to take advantage of our participation in VetFran. They offer qualified veterans a $5,000 reduction off the initial franchise fee.
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GNC Franchising
In 1935, David Shakarian started a health-food store in Pittsburgh called Lackzoom. It specialized in yogurt (which his father had helped introduce to the U.S.), but also carried health-food products such as honey and grains. Beginning with $35 in receipts his first day, Shakarian expanded to six Pittsburgh-area stores in five years.
As more people became interested in natural foods and better nutrition, Shakarian opened stores in other states and changed the company’s name to General Nutrition Centers (GNC). GNC also began producing its own vitamin and mineral supplements, foods, drinks and cosmetics. They started franchising in 1988. With company and franchised stores throughout the U.S. and worldwide, GNC now focuses on vitamins and nutritional supplements.
GNC Franchising offers in-house financing to cover only accounts receivable, and the company has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover
franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory and payroll.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $188,187 – $467,983
- Net-worth Requirement: $330,000 – $1,000,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $130,000 – $1,000,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $40,000 – $40,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6%
- Ad Royalty Fee: 3%
5. Circle K
The Circle K convenience store chain got its start in 1951, when Fred Hervey bought three Kay’s Food Stores in El Paso, Texas. The company began franchising in 1999. Circle K is one of the largest convenience store chains in the United States, and has store locations worldwide.
Circle K stores offer everything needed by customers on the go, including a beverage fountain, coffee bar, frozen and refrigerated foods, packaged and dry goods and other groceries, and some locations offer gasoline. The Circle K store chain is owned and operated by Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian convenience store holding company that also owns On the Run stores.
Circle K convenience stores are located mostly in the Southern, Western, Southwestern and Midwestern United States. With its many locations around the world and its full service of food and other items, Circle K is synonymous with convenience.
Circle K offers in-house financing to cover only their equipment, and the company has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover only
equipment too.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $186,500 – $1,924,500
- Net-worth Requirement: $500,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $100,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $25,000 – $25,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 3-7.5%
- Ad Royalty Fee: 1.5%
- Veteran Incentives – 10% off franchise fee
6. ampm
The first ampm location opened in Southern California in 1978. There are now hundreds of combination gas station and convenience stores across the U.S., offering nearly 2,200 different hot and cold snack food and drink items. ampm is still seeking new franchise units in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington. The company offers in-house financing to cover startup costs and equipment.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $430,698 – $10,073,895
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $800,000 – $1,200,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $40,000 – $70,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 2-14%
- Ad Royalty Fee: 5.5%
- Veteran Incentives: 50% off franchise fee