Your first C-store: a buyer checklist

First-time buyers rarely lose money on the store they bought. They lose it on the store they bought too fast, before they knew what the fuel contract said, what the tanks had been through or how much of the profit lived inside the building. This checklist runs in four stages. Do them in order and you will walk away from the wrong deals early, when walking away is cheap.

Stage 1: Before you look

Know your money

• Decide how much cash you can put in and still have reserves after closing. A store needs working capital for fuel loads, inventory and payroll on day one.
• Talk to a lender before you shop, not after. If you plan to use SBA financing, read SBA loans for C-store buyers so you know the down payment and what will be checked.
• Decide whether you want to buy the real estate or only the business on a lease. That choice changes your price, your loan and your risk. See business only, or the land too?

Be honest about experience

Lenders and fuel suppliers both ask who will run the store. If you have not worked a register, ordered fuel or managed a crew, plan for how you will learn, or who you will hire or partner with who already has.

Pick the kind of store

A rural store on a highway, a neighborhood store with a strong inside business and a busy intersection site with heavy fuel volume are different businesses. Fuel is the traffic driver, but not where most of the profit is. NACS reported in an Apr. 15, 2026 release that in 2025 fuel was 65.0% of convenience store sales dollars but only 38.8% of gross profit dollars. A store with weak inside sales has to sell a lot of gallons to make the same money.

Stage 2: When you find one

Numbers to verify

Ask for three years of tax returns and P&Ls, monthly fuel gallons, and inside sales by category. Then check that they agree with each other.

• Gallons. NACS says the typical convenience store sells about 1.5 million gallons a year (NACS explainer, Feb. 4, 2025). Treat that as a rough national reference, not a target for any one store.
• Fuel margin. OPIS reported average gross rack-to-retail gasoline margins of nearly 40 cents a gallon in 2025, roughly flat with 39.7 cents in 2024 (OPIS Oil Express, Jan. 5, 2026). That is a national gross average. Your store's margin depends on its supply contract and its competition.
• What is left after costs. NACS's same explainer shows how a 35-cent gross margin falls to about 13 cents net after operating costs, using a 2020 average. Card fees alone ran 8.4 cents a gallon in 2023, per NACS data. Ask the seller for actual card processing statements.
• Inside sales. Look for categories that drive margin, like food, and whether they are growing or shrinking.

If the seller tells you the store makes more than the returns show, price it off the returns. Your lender will. Our guide on how buyers price a C-store goes further.

Site visit questions

Go more than once, at different times of day.

• How many fueling positions work today, and how often are dispensers down?
• How old are the tanks and lines, and are they double-walled?
• What does the competition charge, and how close are they?
• How does traffic get in and out, and from which directions?
• What is the condition of the roof, coolers, HVAC, canopy and paving?
• Who works here, and who is staying?

Do not question employees on your own. Go through the seller or broker so the sale stays quiet.

Stage 3: Under contract

This is where most of the risk gets found or missed. Make sure your contract gives you enough time for each of these.

• Environmental. Order a Phase I early so there is room for a Phase II if one is needed. Collect the tank records, state registration and any release history. In Texas, check the store's TCEQ registration and current delivery certificate. See underground tanks and environmental checks.
• Fuel supply agreement. Read the whole thing: term left, volume minimums, whether it can be assigned to you, and any incentive money that gets clawed back. See the fuel supply agreement.
• Inspections. Building, equipment, coolers, dispensers, point-of-sale system. Get repair quotes for anything you find.
• Licenses and permits. Tobacco, alcohol, food, lottery, weights and measures, tank registration. Some cannot be transferred and must be applied for new. Find out how long each takes.
• Lender. Keep the appraisal, environmental and business documents moving. A lender waiting on paperwork is the most common reason closing dates slip.
• The lease, if you are not buying the land. Term, options, rent increases, who pays for tanks and paving, and the landlord's consent.
• Price allocation. Agree with the seller how the price splits between real estate, equipment, inventory and goodwill. It affects both sides' taxes. Ask your CPA before you sign.

Stage 4: The first week

• Count fuel in every tank at closing, with the seller or their representative present, and agree on the number in writing. Same for inside inventory.
• Confirm the fuel supplier has you set up for deliveries, and that your state delivery certificate and registration are in order before the first drop.
• Meet every employee. Tell them who you are, what is staying the same, and when they get paid.
• Change every password and code, and get the safe combination changed.
• Call each vendor and route driver. Confirm accounts, delivery days and who is authorized to sign for deliveries.
• Set up the release detection log and inspection schedule in your name, starting on day one.
• Check that insurance, including tank coverage, is bound and in your name.

Where we come in

We help buyers find stores that fit their money and experience, and we read the deal with them before they commit. Start at Buy, and talk to us about financing at Finance.

This checklist is general. Have your attorney review the contract, your CPA review the numbers and taxes, and an environmental consultant review the site before you close.

Talk to an advisor