Richmond Branded Gas Stations & C-Stores Package, Wayne County Indiana

$3.7M

Revenue

$500K

SDE

5.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a package of branded gas stations with attached convenience stores located in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. The stations sit on high-traffic neighborhood streets in densely populated residential areas and run out of roughly 2,000 square foot standalone buildings. The business pulls in about $180,000 to $185,000 per month in merchandise sales at high margins, plus 50,000 to 60,000 gallons of monthly fuel volume, layered with ancillary income from lottery, ATM, air pump, cigarettes, and vendor rebates and commissions.

The asking price of $2,600,000 includes both the operating businesses and the real estate, with inventory of roughly $120,000 sold separately on top. Reported gross revenue is $3,700,000 with owner cash flow of $500,000 after a manager salary, putting the deal at about 5.2x cash flow. The seller cites downsizing as the reason for selling and is willing to assist with financing for a qualified buyer.

This is a classic owner-operator convenience retail play: thin fuel margins subsidized by high-margin in-store sales and vice-related revenue streams like lottery and tobacco. It suits a hands-on operator or family willing to work the counter and control shrink, not a passive investor. The inclusion of real estate is the key value anchor here, because owning the dirt under a gas station changes the risk profile and the true return math versus a leased site.

Why we like it

Cash flow of $500,000 on $3,700,000 in revenue is credible for a multi-store convenience package, and the manager salary is already baked into that number, so the earnings should survive absentee-style oversight if run tightly. Fuel is a loss-leader that drives high-margin in-store traffic, which is where the real money sits.
The real estate is included in the asking price, which means a chunk of the $2,600,000 is hard collateral rather than pure goodwill. That materially reduces downside and makes SBA or seller financing far easier to underwrite than a leased-site convenience deal.
Fuel, tobacco, lottery, and convenience staples are genuinely recession-resistant. People buy gas, cigarettes, snacks, and scratch-offs in good times and bad, and gas stations often see stable or higher in-store spend when consumers trade down from restaurants.
Multiple ancillary streams (ATM fees, air pump, vendor rebates, lottery commissions) diversify the income beyond fuel and give a hands-on operator several small levers to pull. These high-margin add-ons are exactly what separate a mediocre store from a strong one.

How to improve it

Audit fuel margin capture and jobber contract terms in the first 30 days. Many independent stations leave 3 to 8 cents per gallon on the table through poor pricing discipline or unfavorable supply agreements, and on 50,000 to 60,000 gallons a month that difference is real money.
Rework the in-store merchandising mix toward high-margin categories: prepared food, coffee, cold beverages, and private-label snacks. In-store gross profit is the engine of convenience economics, and adding a fresh-food or foodservice profit center in the noted extra space could lift store-level margin meaningfully.
Install or renegotiate the ATM, air pump, and vending relationships to own more of the ancillary economics. Buyers frequently discover these are on legacy third-party splits that can be flipped to owner-operated or better commission structures within 90 days.
Implement a real point-of-sale and inventory system if one is not already in place to attack shrink. Cash-heavy convenience businesses with lottery and tobacco are prime targets for internal theft, and tightening controls often adds tens of thousands to the bottom line.
Extend hours and optimize staffing schedules against traffic data. If the stores are not running 24 hours in a high-traffic area, the incremental late-night fuel and impulse sales may more than cover the added labor.
Add or expand tobacco, vape, and lottery displays and negotiate scan-data rebate programs with tobacco manufacturers. These rebate and buy-down programs are frequently underutilized by small operators and can add a five-figure annual tailwind.
Evaluate adding car wash, propane exchange, or additional profit centers noted as feasible in the extra building capacity. Each bolt-on carries high incremental margin because the fixed real estate cost is already covered.

Diligence notes

Reconcile the revenue figures, which are inconsistent in the listing (gross sales stated as both $3,700,000 and exceeding $2,900,000). Pull three years of fuel and merchandise sales reports separately, along with fuel gallons and margins, because gas stations are notoriously easy to misstate when fuel and inside sales are blended.
Verify the number of locations in this package and whether each is separately titled, since the listing switches between singular and plural. Confirm the real estate is truly included at the $2,600,000 price and get independent appraisals on each parcel plus environmental Phase I and II reports on all underground storage tanks.
Scrutinize the underground storage tanks for age, compliance, and remediation liability. Leaking or aging tanks are the single biggest hidden cost in a gas station deal and can run into six figures, so confirm tank test results, insurance, and any open environmental claims before closing.
Confirm the branded fuel supply agreements, remaining terms, volume commitments, and image-upgrade obligations. Branded contracts often carry required capital investments and penalties, and you need to know what commitments transfer to you as buyer.
Validate the $500,000 cash flow with tax returns and bank statements rather than seller-prepared numbers, and confirm the manager salary add-back is real and that the business does not actually require the owner working the counter. Also verify lottery, ATM, and rebate income with third-party statements.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →