ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 453 



Carolina distributor-dealers handle mostly round fish, shucked oysters and 

 beheaded shrimp. There are indications of a preference for sealed tin pints 

 of oysters as a standard package, and a general dislike for or distrust of 

 frozen seafoods. Most of their purchases are by description written or 

 telephoned. 



Capital requirement of distributor-dealers is substantial, not only for 

 plants, trucks, and other fixed assets, but also for substantial amounts of 

 working capital. From 80 to 90 per cent of the North Carolina distributor- 

 dealers' sales are to retailers (fish markets and grocery stores); most of 

 the remaining 20 to 10 per cent are to commercial buyers, restaurants, 

 cafeterias, hotels, schools, hospitals, and other institutions. Most of the 

 sales of these distributor-dealers are within a radius of 100 miles but 

 especially for certain particular items often much more remote. Much of 

 the sales effort of distributor-dealers is exerted by telephone call because 

 of its speed and economy. 



Personal salesmen are employed to some extent, though the expense of 

 personal selling has tended in recent years to minimize it. A frequently used 

 and convenient device is the weekly price quotation, to which is usually 

 attached a business reply card for the customer's use. This method is em- 

 ployed effectively for hotel dining rooms, restaurants, institutions, and the 

 like. 



In the post-war period, 1946-47, the distributor-dealers in North Carolina 

 were not in full agreement on the need and future for quick frozen packaged 

 goods. Some of them hold that quick freezing is impracticable because (i) 

 there is not a large enough volume of seafood, and (2) there is not year- 

 round operation. Other dealers are enthusiastic and have installed freezing 

 facilities of their own. These hope to see more and more retailers install 

 frozen food cabinets. At the time of this Survey, however, no distributor 

 was financing freezer cabinets for his retail customers. 



Only a few of the distributor-dealers in North Carolina operate their 

 own retail fish markets. While distributor-dealers ordinarily do not do 

 manufacturing operations, they do a certain amount of dressing and clean- 

 ing of fish for commercial and institutional buyers, i.e., restaurants, hotels, 

 hospitals, etc. 



Distributor-dealers' prices are thought of in terms of dollar mark-up 

 per box, rather than in per cent of the buying or selling price. It is universal 

 practice in North Carolina to add a fixed or nearly fixed identical number of 

 dollars per box, regardless of the cost of the fish. Thus, whether the loo-lb. 

 box of fish costs $6.00 or $20.00, the distributor-dealer will add from $2.00 

 to $5.00 for his initial mark-up. His direct cost may be from $2.00 to $3.50 

 per box, representing the wooden box, ice, labor, and transportation; if this 



