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Marion, Williamson County

Marion Convenience Store for Sale

A convenience store in Marion is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Carbondale — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide convenience stores playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Marion file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.

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Marion market

Selling a convenience store in Marion

A convenience store in Marion is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Carbondale — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide convenience stores playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Marion file.

Marion is Williamson County’s I-57 commercial city — regional retail, the Illinois Centre corridor, and hospital orbit for the southern coal counties, not SIU’s Carbondale and not Herrin’s older Main Street.

Interchange and medical-campus licenses differ from a downtown shop. Southern Illinois operators and a few St. Louis buyers shop here. Heartland/SIH-adjacent professional books are a different file from a Route 13 restaurant. Herrin is the next town, not this city’s clone.

Marion has about 17,593 residents in Williamson County, inside the Carbondale-Marion area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Carbondale, Herrin, Benton, West Frankfort. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Carbondale is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Planning facts

Typical multiple
2x–3.5x SDE
Typical timeline
5–10 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Williamson County
Population
17,593
Metro
Carbondale-Marion
Nearby comps
Carbondale, Herrin, Benton, West Frankfort
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
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Williamson County demand

Southern Illinois demand

Downstate and southern Illinois businesses are thinner on platform buyers and thicker on neighboring operators. Seller financing and a clean lease do more work than a headline multiple.

CBS-1 still applies. Local clerks and landlords set the real calendar.

Marion demand for convenience stores is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 17,593 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.

Convenience Store in Marion

What a Marion buyer will underwrite on this convenience store

Retail in Marion is lease, parking, and any local-control license — not a holiday week. Buyers already compare this corner to Carbondale, Herrin, Benton. Inventory must be salable goods.

Convenience Stores statewide typically plan around 2x–3.5x SDE and a 5–10 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Marion shop. Buyers here usually argue lottery revenue, atm revenue, fuel sales (if applicable), lease terms, inside sales mix.

Closing clock for this Marion file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: Illinois Lottery retailer contracts, tobacco retailer licenses, food permits, and SNAP authorization are account-by-account — they do not ride automatically with the lease. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Marion application of it.

Marion is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Carbondale, Herrin, Benton, not a platform that needs $2 million of earnings to pay for diligence. SBA 7(a) and seller financing usually matter more here than a headline multiple.

Buyer pool

Who buys a convenience store in Marion

Southern Illinois operators and a few St. Louis buyers. Marion retail/interchange vs. Herrin small-city books.

Illustration: a no-fuel neighborhood convenience store in Aurora with lottery, tobacco, and a small food program, owner-worked doubles, and a five-year lease. Not a closed sale.

A convenience store whose customers already sit in Carbondale, Herrin, Benton, West Frankfort is a larger business than one that stops at the Marion city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.

SDE recast

How a buyer will read the books on this Marion convenience store

C-store recasts on inside gross profit, not top-line rings that are mostly cigarettes and lottery pass-through. Add back owner hours, then isolate lottery commissions, ATM surcharge, and any fuel if the pumps are a different deal. Inventory shrink and family labor on the register are the usual fiction. A 2x–3.5x SDE band assumes a buyer can staff two shifts without the seller sleeping in the back.

Illustration only — not a quote for any Marion shop. A convenience store whose tax return shows $114,000 of net profit is not worth $114,000 × a rumor multiple.

Add back the owner’s $50,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $13,500 of discretionary benefits, $15,500 of accepted one-time cost, and $12,500 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $30,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.

Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $175,000. At the planning range 2.0x–3.5x, enterprise value is $350,000 to $612,500. Mid-range 2.75x is $481,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Marion buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.

At 2.75 times $175,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $481,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.

SDE line items

  1. Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
  2. + Interest expense
  3. + Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
  4. + Depreciation and amortization
  5. + Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
  6. + Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
  7. + Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
  8. − Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
  9. = Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Marion convenience store — not a quote
Net profit$114,000
Owner W-2$50,000
Benefits$13,500
One-time$15,500
Personal$12,500
Replacement labor (subtract)−$30,000
Recast SDE$175,000
Planning EV at 2.75x$481,250

Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for convenience stores. Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.

Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—

Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.

Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.

$
1x 3.0x 8x
Estimated Value Range — to —

This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.

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Williamson County closing

Licenses and closing steps for a Marion sale

Williamson (Marion, Herrin) uses state CBS-1. I-57 interchange and medical-campus (Heartland, SIH orbit) licenses differ.

Illinois Lottery retailer contracts, tobacco retailer licenses, food permits, and SNAP authorization are account-by-account — they do not ride automatically with the lease. Packaged liquor, if any, is municipal plus ILCC. A store without fuel still has health-department and tobacco clocks. Chicago and home-rule towns add their own business-license transfers.

Labor and lease

What has to keep working on Monday after close in Marion

For a convenience store in Marion, the first labor question is: True inside gross after pass-through categories.

I-57. Regional medical and retail hub for the southern coal counties.

More commercial density than most southern counties. Still not a PE default.

Diligence

What a serious convenience store buyer will open

Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: True inside gross after pass-through categories; License and lottery accounts a buyer can keep; Lease term versus hours that require the seller; Foodservice or other high-margin mix; Location that is not dependent on one factory shift change.

Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Marion business: Category-level inside margin after cigarette and lottery pass-through; Lottery, tobacco, SNAP, and (if any) liquor license transfer path; Lease, hours, and whether the seller works nights; Inventory quality, out-of-dates, and shrink; Security incidents and cash-handling controls; Vendor concentration (McLane, local dairy, fountain contracts).

Buyer tool

SBA payment sketch for a Marion convenience store buyer

Most Illinois owner-operator acquisitions use SBA 7(a). This is a payment sketch, not an approval.

SBA 7(a) loans are the most common financing for business acquisitions. Estimate your monthly payment and required down payment based on the purchase price.

$
%
%
yrs
Down Payment Required —
Loan Amount —
Est. Monthly Payment —

This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only. Actual SBA loan terms depend on your credit profile, the specific lender, and current market conditions. Contact us to connect with SBA-approved lenders in Illinois.

Sale steps

How to prepare a Marion convenience store for sale

  1. Recast this Marion convenience store. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Marion buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
  2. Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this convenience store pull a permit or see a patient in Marion, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
  3. Tell the truth about the Marion trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the Marion limit.
  4. Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Williamson County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
  5. Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
  6. Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois convenience stores hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Marion file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
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Related Marion and convenience stores pages

Questions

Questions about convenience stores in Marion

Answers for owners and buyers in Williamson County, including local closing steps.

Service Area

Convenience Store Brokerage Near Marion

We serve convenience stores owners and buyers across Williamson County and the surrounding region.

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