What permits do you need to open a retail store in Franklin County?

Liquor Permits — State Division of Liquor Control (Franklin County)

Ohio liquor permits are issued by the state Division of Liquor Control and are recorded at the state layer; this record carries no fee. A restaurant, coffee shop or retail store planning to sell alcohol should apply to the state Division of Liquor Control. The Franklin County Board of Elections, whose Election Info page is cited here, administers the county's elections, including any local-option questions placed on a precinct ballot; it does not issue permits. Before budgeting, confirm current permit classes and fees with the Division of Liquor Control directly.

Permanent Food Facility License (FCPH)

Franklin County Public Health licenses 'any business that sells food' outside Columbus and Worthington — restaurants, coffee shops, grocery and retail stores selling food, gas stations, schools and daycares, hospitals and care facilities — through its Food Safety Program, at 280 E. Broad St., Columbus. This is the single biggest jurisdictional trap in Franklin County: Columbus Public Health, an independent CITY agency and not a Franklin County office, states on its own page that 'Inspections are done to verify the safety of Columbus' food supply for all people who live, work or visit the cities of Columbus and Worthington' — so a restaurant, coffee shop, retail food seller or food-serving childcare center physically located in Columbus or Worthington is licensed by CPH, not FCPH, and this record does not apply to it. Everywhere else in Franklin County, FCPH is the licensor. The fee figures above come from FCPH's own state-mandated FY2023 Certification of Cost Analysis filing, the most recent one available, and represent calculated maximum fees that track FY2023's actual collected revenue closely (for example, Level 1 facilities under 25,000 sq ft calculated at $216.00 against roughly $218 actually collected) rather than a simple published current-year table. The license framework itself — the risk-level classification and the food code it enforces — is Ohio's state Uniform Food Safety Code (ORC Chapter 3717, OAC Chapter 3701-21), administered locally by whichever board of health has jurisdiction, not a Franklin-County-specific invention. A childcare center serving meals on-site needs this license (or CPH's equivalent) in addition to any state childcare licensing.

Vendor's License

The fee doubled from $25 to $50 on 9 April 2025 under House Bill 366, and the Department's own older PDF guidance still prints $25 — check the date on anything you read. One license per fixed location, so a second shop means a second $50. The license number is keyed to the county, but the fee is statutory and identical in all eighty-eight; the county auditor is a filing channel, not a separate charge. It is not only for goods: certain taxable services, including landscaping, building maintenance and janitorial work, private security and dry cleaning, need one too. An out-of-state seller with economic nexus registers free.

Shared with other businesses in Franklin County

• Vendor's License (County Vendor's License) — Franklin County Auditor, Licensing Section, $50 one-time, per fixed place of business ($25 to the state Organized Crime Commission Fund, $25 to the Franklin County general fund), standing registration, no renewal required — the Franklin County Auditor's own page states 'There is no annual renewal fee for either license'. Also required for restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks, salons and barbers, auto repair shops and fitness studios; what it involves is set out on the coffee shops page.
• Transient Vendor's License — Ohio Department of Taxation, $50 one-time, valid statewide, no renewal — stays in effect until cancelled. Also required for food trucks; what it involves is set out on the food trucks page.