Gas Station Financing in Milledgeville, GA: Beer and Grocery Stock, a Biscuit Hot Case and a Cappuccino Machine

A station store reorders beer, energy drinks, snacks and grocery lines in larger runs than a corner shop might. In this invented case the store places a $6,857 order and expects it to sell through in about 26 days.

Option one, invented: an inventory financing draw of $6,857 at a 13.75% annual rate, simple interest, paid off on day 26, costs $67.16 in interest.

Option two, invented: a four-month loan of $6,857 at a 15.2% annual rate has a fixed payment of $1,768.88, and its four payments carry $218.52 of interest. The loan costs more in this invented case; it fits a store that would rather know the payment than track a draw.

The 26 days in this invented case are the store's own estimate. Beer and many grocery items carry dates, so an order that takes longer to sell through keeps the draw open longer, and each added day adds interest. The four-month loan costs the same in that case, but the store still has to sell the stock before the dates run out.

A breakfast counter can turn a station store into a morning stop. A heated biscuit hot case and a refrigerated sandwich case are freestanding units that plug in, so they can go on a term loan or an equipment request.

Invented example: the two cases cost $10,285, financed over 42 months at an 11.7% annual rate. Spread over the invented 42 months, the two cases cost $299.61 a month and $12,583.62 across all payments, $2,298.62 of it interest.

A new outlet or circuit for the cases is property work outside this site, and so is any counter built around them.

A cappuccino machine and a row of airpot brewers can anchor a coffee counter. The machines are equipment; the water line and drain they connect to are plumbing work on the building and stay outside this site.

Invented example: the cappuccino machine and four airpot brewers cost $7,394, financed over 30 months at a 12.45% annual rate. Thirty invented payments of $288.08 come to $8,642.40, so the coffee counter carries $1,248.40 of interest.

A freestanding drop safe and a security camera kit for the store can join a request like this one as equipment. Mounting cameras on the building and running cable through the walls is property work.

A station store that takes much of its sales in cash counts bills and coins at every shift change. A countertop currency counter and a coin sorter are freestanding units that plug into an ordinary outlet, so they can go on an equipment request on their own or alongside the drop safe above.

Illustration only, invented figures: the two units come to $3,265, financed over 18 months at a 13.35% annual rate. That invented schedule asks $201.16 a month; across all 18 invented months it comes to $3,620.88, with $355.88 going to interest. Paying from the store's own cash avoids that invented interest; the owner weighs it against keeping the cash on hand.

Before funding a stock order, a partner may ask the store for some of these:

• Store sales reports split by department, such as beer, grocery, snacks and prepared food
• Recent supplier invoices for the lines being ordered
• Business bank statements for the store account
• The lease or ownership papers for the station property, if the partner asks for them

The owner's personal credit may be part of the review as well. A call to Blackdale is not a commitment to take any offer.

Convenience stores with employees numbered 16 in Baldwin County, GA for 2023, and 15 of them had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023). Their combined annual payroll was $702,000 (same source).

Gasoline stations are a separate Census code: 25 employer establishments in the county for 2023, 10 of them with fewer than five employees. That is a much smaller share of small employers than among the convenience stores.

At ZIP 31061 addresses, ZIP Code Business Patterns listed gasoline stations at 25 and convenience stores at 17 for 2023.

Nonemployer Statistics, which counts businesses without paid employees, put convenience retailers in the county at 14 for 2024. The trade pages and the Milledgeville, GA page cover the other sectors.