Opening a Convenience Store in Pennsylvania: Licenses & Permits

Pennsylvania is the state where alcohol rules change the building most. To sell beer, a convenience store has to hold a restaurant license, which means at least 400 sq ft of licensed space and seating for 30 people. Wine adds a dedicated sales area and a staffed register. Below is who issues what, and how each rule shapes the store you design.

Licenses and permits at a glance

Fuel tanks: DEP and Labor and Industry

Two agencies approve the fuel system:

• DEP notice: notify DEP at least 30 days before installing a tank, piping, a replacement or additional dispenser, or a full system (25 Pa. Code §245.421). The work needs a DEP-certified installer.
• Labor and Industry approval: under the Combustible and Flammable Liquids Act, apply to L&I before installing, replacing or moving any tank, pump or dispenser. Installation must finish within one year of approval. Call the inspector three days before the safety inspection, which produces the permit.
• Registration: register within 30 days of installation. The registration form is also the operating permit application, and no product may go in the tank until it's registered. DEP charges $50 per tank per year.
• Operators: Class A, B and C operators are required. Class A and B take DEP-approved courses, and Class C gets site-specific training with a yearly briefing.
• Insurance fund: the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund (USTIF), run by the Insurance Department, is funded by a per-gallon delivery fee and a tank capacity fee.

Beer: the restaurant license

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) licenses alcohol, and the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement enforces it. Convenience stores sell beer to go under a restaurant (R) liquor license. Under the Liquor Code:

• Space and seating: the licensed area must be at least 400 sq ft inside a building, with tables and chairs (bar seats count) for at least 30 people.
• Food business: the business must be principally a food business, with a current health license.
• Beer to go: limited to 192 fluid ounces per sale.
• Quota: R and E licenses are capped at one per 3,000 county residents, so licenses are scarce and often bought from an existing holder. No license can be issued or transferred into a municipality that voted dry.
• Eating place (E) licenses: need 300 sq ft, 30 seats and a working kitchen, but cover beer only and can't get a Wine Expanded Permit. PLCB charges $30,000 to convert an E to an R.

Fuel areas: the PLCB can't license an area where fuel is sold, but it can approve an interior connection between the licensed area and the fuel-sales area.

Distances: the PLCB may refuse a license within 300 feet of a church, hospital, charitable institution, school or public playground, or within 200 feet of another licensee.

Wine and ready-to-drink cocktails

• Wine Expanded Permit (WEP): allows wine to go, up to 3 liters per transaction, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday (Sundays need a Sunday sales permit). It costs $2,000 to apply plus 2% of PLCB wine purchases each year, and requires RAMP certification.
• Sale point: wine is sold only in a designated area, at a designated register staffed by a RAMP-trained cashier 18 or older. No self-checkout. An ID scanner is required for anyone who appears under 35. Wine can be stored in a separate locked area closed to the public.
• Ready-to-drink cocktails: since September 16, 2024, stores eligible for a WEP can get a permit to sell spirits-based cocktails of 0.5% to 12.5% alcohol, in containers up to 16 ounces, up to 192 ounces per transaction.
• Bottled spirits: sold only in state stores.

Tobacco and vapor

The Department of Revenue issues a cigarette dealer license and a tobacco products retailer license (which covers e-cigarettes) through myPATH, each $25 per location and renewed yearly. Philadelphia also requires a city tobacco retailer permit.

Act 57 of 2025 created an ENDS directory: nicotine e-cigarettes must come from manufacturers certified by the Attorney General. The Attorney General began enforcing it against retail sales on October 19, 2026, and unlisted products can be seized. Since February 20, 2026, retailers may buy tobacco products only from licensed wholesalers.

Food: Agriculture or the county

The Department of Agriculture licenses retail food facilities, except in Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, where the county health department does. For Agriculture:

• Plan review is required. Submit plans at least 60 days before you begin selling food. The department answers within 15 business days, and review is free.
• License fee: $241 for a new license, or $103 for an owner-operated store with fewer than 50 seats.
• Opening inspection: required before you operate.

Sales tax, fuel pumps and lottery

• Sales tax: get a Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax License through myPATH. There is no fee.
• Fuel pumps: the Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures Division inspects fuel dispensers every year.
• Lottery: apply online with the Pennsylvania Lottery. It runs a credit check, a State Police background check, a tax clearance and an ADA accessibility check of the store.

What this means for your store design

• Design a 30-seat licensed area if you want beer. That's at least 400 sq ft inside the building with tables and chairs, run as a food business. It changes the store's size, the kitchen and the restrooms. See the kitchen floor plan and food service build-outs.
• Draw the line around the licensed area. Fuel sales must stay outside it, with any interior connection approved by PLCB.
• Plan a wine area and a dedicated register. Wine needs its own sales area, a staffed register with no self-checkout, and optional locked storage.
• Budget for a license purchase. R licenses are quota-limited, so price an existing license into the project. See convenience store startup costs.
• Make the store accessible. The Lottery checks ADA access, and so do building inspectors.

Local approvals

Your municipality also controls zoning, building permits, fire inspections and signs. Our construction checklist covers the local steps.

For Pennsylvania store design, see convenience store design in Pennsylvania and walk-in cooler services in Pennsylvania.

Sources

• Pennsylvania DEP, storage tank registration and UST operator pages; 25 Pa. Code §§245.41, 245.421 and 245.436.
• Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, flammable and combustible liquids.
• Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Wine Expanded Permits, ready-to-drink cocktails and Act 39 summary; Pennsylvania Liquor Code (47 P.S.).
• Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, tobacco products licensing and Act 57 of 2025 requirements; Pennsylvania Attorney General, ENDS directory enforcement (October 2026).
• Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, retail food facilities and weights and measures.
• Pennsylvania Lottery, becoming a retailer.

This page summarizes official sources as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Fees and rules change, so confirm each one with the agency before you apply.