What should I check before buying a fruit and produce store?
Before buying a fruit and produce store, check how sales move across the seasons, the condition of the walk-in coolers and display refrigeration, the lease and the foot traffic outside the door, and who does the early-morning buying. Then ask whether staff could carry the routine on without the current owner.
A produce store runs on a daily rhythm that a spreadsheet only partly shows. Stock arrives early, spoils quickly and sells with the weather and the calendar. Once you have found a store you like, the checks are different from those for a shop that sells boxed goods. Walk through it at several hours of the day, then use the points below to organize your questions and your document requests.
How sales move through the year
Ask for monthly sales over at least two full years, not only the annual total. Produce sales often rise and fall with local harvests, holidays and tourism, so a strong summer can hide a thin winter. Compare each month with the same month a year earlier, and ask the owner to explain the swings. A buyer who knows the slow months can plan cash for them.
Coolers, display units and equipment
Ask for the age and service history of the walk-in cooler, the display cases and any misting or ice equipment. A failed compressor in a hot week can wipe out a full stock. Consider having a refrigeration technician look at the units, and find out which pieces are owned and which are rented or financed.
The lease and the location
Read the lease for its remaining term, renewal rights and whether the landlord must consent to a new tenant. Spend time outside the store, watching who walks past and who stops. Your lawyer can review the lease, and the page on checking a fish market shows a similar approach for another perishable trade.
Who does the early-morning buying
In many produce stores the owner picks the stock before opening. That skill, and the relationships behind it, may not be written down anywhere. Ask who buys, how long they have done it and whether staff could do it after a handover. If the answer is only the owner, ask what training period the seller would offer.
- Monthly sales for at least two full years
- Age, service history and ownership of the refrigeration
- Lease term, renewal rights and landlord consent
- Who buys the stock, and what staff can do without the owner
Related reading
12 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
Buying
- Expert answerHow do I find a fruit and produce store for sale?
- Expert answerWhat should I check before buying a fish market or seafood store?
- Expert answerHow do I find a fish market or seafood store for sale?
- Expert answerWhat should I check before buying a healthy fast food franchise?
- GuideBuying an Orchard in Canada
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- Expert answerHow do I judge produce spoilage at a juice bar I want to buy?
- Expert answerHow do I check which suppliers a farm market stand buys resale produce from?
Selling
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat is inventory
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernment13 terms you need to understand before signing your commercial real estate lease
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