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Industry · SBA lending record

SBA loans for all other general merchandise retailers

1,067 SBA 7(a) loans since 2010. What they were for, how big, how long, and how often they went wrong.

Loans made
1,067
2010 onward
Typical loan
$100k
median approved
Typical term
10 yr
8.4%
all industries 5.7%

How this industry compares

defaulted within 7 years
All Other General Merchandise Retailers
8.4%
Typical industry
5.3%
All industries
5.7%

Default rate is not a judgement on the industry. It tells you how a lender will price your risk, and how much cushion you should build in.

When borrowers got into trouble

share of failures by year
Year 1
3%
Year 2
17%
Year 3
57%
Year 4
17%
Year 5
7%

Trouble rarely arrives in year one. It arrives when the opening cash is gone — which is an argument for borrowing more working capital, not less.

What this means for your application

A typical loan here runs $100k over 10 years. If you are asking for far more than that, expect harder questions and a longer file. If far less, check which lenders will even take it — many won't go below $150,000.

Find lenders by smallest loan → Check the numbers work →

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, NAICS 455 Released 2026-06-30 Loans 1,067

SBA 504 lending in All Other General Merchandise Retailers

504 FOIA record

Where a 7(a) loan covers working capital and general use, the 504 program funds the owner-occupied property and heavy equipment side — a bank first mortgage plus a fixed-rate second through a Certified Development Company. Here is the 504 record for all other general merchandise retailers.

504 loans since 2010
152
$171.9M in SBA seconds
Median project
$1.7M
bank first + 504 second
Default rate
too few seasoned

CDCs funding all other general merchandise retailers most

Most 504 loans for all other general merchandise retailers are in California, Florida, New Jersey, Minnesota.

Match with a CDC → How 504 works →

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