How much does the Owner of a Grocery Store Make

How Much Does the Owner of a Grocery Store Make? 

According to a 2018 industry report, convenience stores each generate more than $616 billion in sales averaging $4 million. After a rough estimate, I’ve found that the average salary of a grocery store owner ranges from $50,000 – $200, 0000. 

However, the salary depends on the size and volume of products the grocery store sells. The profitability margin ranges from one to three percent. 

Many readers often ask how much store managers from big chains like Walmart and Costco earn. We’ll discuss that in the following sections. You’ll also learn some tips to increase the profit margin of your store. 

Grocery Store Owners Salary – Comparison with Other Franchises

A grocery store owner can make up to $70,000 per year, and it could be more. You’d have to consider the location, market, and size of the store to generate money.

As the owner of one, remember that all the profits are yours. This includes the salaries of employees. But this can be a disadvantage because you are responsible for all the risks and losses. 

Partnering with other franchises could ensure you get brand recognition. For example, Save A Lot Food stores is specifically favorable for independent retailers. 

Most partner supermarket franchises offer a competitive advantage for owners to get a head start in their business. The only problem is the profit split, which will see you earning less compared to owning the business solely.

Franchises are more costly, starting at $100,000 – $500,000. They will also require you have liquid cash requirements, Net-worth requirements, and ongoing royalty fees. If you add all this up, then a grocery store owner will be earning less compared to a fully owned business. 

Indeed.com reported that grocery store owners get an average of $96,198 per year in the United States. The recent pandemic has significantly increased the price to $146,071 per year since March 2020. This new development will be seasonal, so grocery stores should expect a sales decline when things get back to normal. 

The advantage of working with a grocery store outlet program is increased sales due to brand popularity. Depending on the franchise, there are some conditions like the budget that has to be met and agreement on profit splits. 

If you want to be independent and you still look for initiatives to make good sales without the backing of a franchise, then that might be a convenient option for many. 

Are grocery stores profitable? 

What you should know is that grocery stores have small margins from two to three percent in profits. This means that they have to sell a lot of products to make up a sizeable income. Location, size, and income determine how profitable the store is going to be. 

You also have to consider other expenses like the rent, municipal tax, Insurance, maintenance, employees, and power bill. If you can settle all these expenses, you can expect almost 20% in profit. 

The big players like Amazon, Walmart, and Kroger invest so much in buying bulk prices that the average consumer can’t put up to compete. 

How to ensure the profit of a grocery store

Target Household items. They have good profit margins of about 15%-20%. You can also capitalize on face wash products as they have up to 30-35% margins. Ensure that you buy products directly from suppliers in bulk to sell at a wholesale price. 

You should also focus on increasing sales by scaling your business and investing more in the store. That way, it’s easy to earn more than $45,000 even with a profit margin of 2 to 3%. Additionally, by cutting the cost of packaging, you will be profitable. 

Big chains store manager salary scale

The big chains earn more than $4 million per year, according to this report. If a single retail store makes that amount, imagine what the combined franchise will make. 

While they sit on a lot of cash, it doesn’t mean working in the store will make you a millionaire overnight. Managers do not earn more than $200,000 per year. We are going to some of the salary scales of popular chain franchises in the United States from Walmart, Kroger 

Walmart Store Manager Salaries 

As seen on indeed.com 

  • Actual range of base pay – $32,903 – $194,446 (average $100,076)
  • Cash bonus – $42k to $141k (average $71,943)
  • Stock bonus –$1k to $16k (average $1,321)
  • Profit-Sharing – $1k to $26k (average $3,531)
  • Commission-Sharing – $1 to $204 (average $102)

Remember that these figures are reported by store managers and it’s an estimate, not the actual figure earned/year. Use the information with discretion. 

Kroger Store Manager Salaries 

  • Actual range of base pay – $31k – $122k (average $81,000)
  • Cash bonus – $1k to $41k (average $20,000)
  • Stock bonus –$110 to $16k (average $5,000)
  • Profit-Sharing – $1k to $26k (average $2,578)
  • Commission-Sharing – $7 to $7k (average $6,946)

Conclusion 

Finally, If you have plans on opening a grocery store – You should know that it comes with a lot of responsibilities, and cash upfront. It’s a marginal business and you have to try as much as possible to get profitable margins at about 2-3% to be profitable. 

There are a lot of expenses associated with opening a store that ranges from employees, labor costs, insurance, etc. 

As I’ve recommended, adding household items and beauty products have higher margins at about 10% or more if you are buying in bulk from the supplier. 

A grocery owner can make good cash from $60,000 – $300,000 depending on the many factors mentioned in the article. Sure, you won’t be a millionaire in a year, it takes dedication and work, if you are ready for the challenge then it’s worth it.

Wish to hear good reports from you when you open your store. Cheers! 

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