Guide · Opening a shop
How to start a convenience store that locals rely on.
A convenience store lives on habit: the same customers, several times a week, for milk, bread, snacks, a newspaper or a bottle of wine. This guide covers what to sort out before the doors open, with UK rules first and notes for US owners.
In short
To start a convenience store, choose a site with steady foot traffic, write a business plan covering rent, stock and cash flow, and set up supply through a wholesaler or cash and carry. Register as a food business with your council. In England and Wales, selling alcohol needs a premises licence and a personal licence holder, and tobacco sellers need track and trace IDs.
A corner shop or convenience store is one of the most familiar small businesses on any high street or housing estate. The model is simple: a tight range of everyday essentials, long opening hours and a location people pass every day. Making it pay is harder, because margins on staples are thin and the big supermarket chains run small-format stores too.
Most of the work happens before you open: finding the right site, applying for licences that take time to come through, choosing suppliers and setting up the systems that will run the till and the stockroom. This guide takes each step in order. Rules change, so treat it as a starting point and check the details with your council.
Start with a convenience store business plan
A business plan tests the idea on paper before you sign a lease. Lenders may ask for one, but its real job is to show whether the numbers work. Cover:
- Customers: who passes the door and when. Commuters, families, students and night-shift workers want different things at different hours.
- Competition: every shop within a short walk, including supermarket express stores, and what each does well.
- Range and opening hours: what you will sell and when you will be open, which drives staffing costs.
- Start-up costs: lease deposit and legal fees, shop fit, shelving, chillers and freezers, signage, the till and your first stock order, licences and a cash reserve.
- Running costs: rent, business rates, wages, energy (chillers run day and night), insurance, card fees and waste collection.
- Sales forecast and break-even: a low, expected and high estimate, and the weekly takings you need to cover all costs.
Buying an existing shop gives you a trading history to check. Ask for at least a year of sales and expense figures, read the lease carefully and agree how the stock will be valued on handover. Our guide on how to do a stock take explains how that count works.
Choosing a location
Location decides more of a convenience store's takings than anything you do inside it. Visit a possible site at different times of day and on different days, and count the people who walk past. Look for housing close by, somewhere to stop briefly by car, good visibility from the street and room for a wholesaler's van to unload.
Check how much storage there is, because a small stockroom means more frequent deliveries. If the unit was not a shop before, ask the council's planning team whether you need permission for the change of use or for signage, and ask what business rates apply and whether any relief is available.
Licences and registrations in the UK
There is no single licence for opening a shop; you need the right permission for each thing you sell. The main ones for a convenience store are:
- Food business registration. Register with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading. It is free. Register a food business on GOV.UK.
- Alcohol (England and Wales). You need a premises licence from your council, and you must name a designated premises supervisor who holds a personal licence. Every sale of alcohol must be authorised by a personal licence holder. To get a personal licence you must be 18 or over and hold a licensing qualification, such as the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders. Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate systems.
- Tobacco track and trace. To sell tobacco you need an economic operator ID for the business and a facility ID for each shop, from the UK ID issuer. The IDs are free, and your wholesaler can request them for you, but it is your responsibility to have them. Selling and storing tobacco products.
- Tobacco age of sale. From 1 January 2027 it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, and you must display a notice at each point of sale saying so. Since 29 October 2026, giving tobacco away free or selling it at substantial discounts has been banned. Selling tobacco products: GOV.UK guidance.
- Vapes. Vaping and nicotine products have their own rules; read selling vaping and nicotine products.
- Scotland. Shops that sell tobacco or vapes to the public must join the Register of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product Retailers.
The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 also allows for a new licensing scheme for tobacco and vape retailers, and councils expect the details and dates to be confirmed later. Rules on alcohol, tobacco and planning also vary locally, so speak to your council's licensing team before you sign a lease. Facts on this page were checked on GOV.UK on 5 November 2026.
Notes for opening a convenience store in the US
In the US, most licences come from your state, county or city rather than the federal government, and the rules vary a great deal from place to place. Expect to need a general business licence, a sales tax permit from your state if it charges sales tax, and a food permit from the local or state health department. A liquor licence comes from your state's alcohol control agency, and availability and conditions differ widely.
For tobacco, many states and cities require their own retailer licence. The federal minimum age is 21, and retailers must check photo ID for anyone under 30 (FDA: Tobacco 21). If you want to accept SNAP benefits, you must be authorised by the US Department of Agriculture before you take them.
Choosing your range and first stock order
A convenience store earns its name by always having the basics. Build the range around milk and dairy, bread, chilled food, soft drinks, crisps and confectionery, store-cupboard groceries, household essentials and, if you are licensed, beer, wine and spirits. Add what your area asks for, such as international foods, hot drinks to go or a bigger chilled section near offices.
Start with the best-selling sizes and brands rather than every variety. If you stock price-marked packs, which carry a price printed by the manufacturer, set your till price to match. Buy short-life lines in small, frequent orders and watch which lines sell in the first weeks. Our guide to managing inventory explains reorder points and dead stock.
Suppliers, wholesalers and cash and carry
- Cash and carry: you visit the depot, choose stock, pay and take it away. It is flexible and good for topping up, but it costs you time and transport.
- Delivered wholesale: you order online or by phone and the wholesaler delivers on set days, usually with a minimum order value.
- Symbol groups: some wholesalers run branded fascias that independent shops can join, offering signage, promotions and buying terms in return for commitments on what you buy. Compare the terms carefully.
- Direct suppliers: bread, milk, newspapers and local produce often come direct, sometimes daily.
Compare prices, delivery days, order cut-off times and credit terms; most suppliers offer credit only after you have traded with them for a while. Record each supplier once in Parties and each order or cash and carry trip in Purchase, so stock and cost prices update together.
Setting up the till and back office
A convenience store till has to be fast. Barcode scanning keeps the queue moving at busy times, low-stock alerts warn you before milk or bread runs out, and a stock level linked to every sale tells you what to buy on the next wholesale run. Many corner shops also let trusted regulars settle up on a Friday; the Due List keeps those tabs out of a notebook.
Because POS2026 works in a web browser, you can start on the laptop or tablet already behind your counter, and family members or staff can use it in more than 47 languages. It is not a card processor, so choose your card machine provider separately. See the convenience store POS page for how the modules fit a corner shop, and our guide on how to cash up a till for the end-of-day routine.
Questions
Common questions.
Straight answers for shop owners, based on what POS2026 actually does.
How much does it cost to open a convenience store?
It varies too much to give one figure: buying an existing shop, taking a lease on an empty unit and fitting out from scratch all cost very different amounts. Price up the lease, shop fit, chillers, first stock order, licences and a cash reserve for your own site before you commit.
Do I need a licence to open a corner shop in the UK?
Not for the shop itself, but for what you sell. You must register as a food business with your council, you need a premises licence and a personal licence holder to sell alcohol in England and Wales, and you need track and trace IDs to sell tobacco. Check local rules with your council.
Should I buy an existing convenience store or start a new one?
An existing shop comes with customers and a trading record you can check, but you pay for that goodwill and inherit its lease and layout. A new shop costs less to take on but takes time to build trade. Ask for real sales and expense figures before buying.
Is a convenience store a profitable business?
It can be, but margins on many staples are thin, so profit depends on location, a range that sells, tight control of waste and theft, and costs kept in check. Track gross margin and running costs from the first month.
What POS system does a convenience store need?
One with fast barcode checkout, stock levels that update with every sale, low-stock alerts, supplier purchases and a way to track customer tabs. POS2026 does all of these in a web browser; you keep your own card machine.
Open with your till, stock and suppliers in one place.
Set up your range, suppliers and customer tabs before opening day, and try it free first.
