ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 455 



others tend to treat each transaction as an isolated case for individual 

 consideration in the manner of a "horse trading" type of business. 



Excess merchandise is cleared out by marking down the prices; on the 

 whole, buying prices tend to change more frequently than selling prices. 



Retail Outlets are of three principal kinds: (i) Retail fish markets; 

 (2) Independent grocery stores; (3) Chain food stores. 



a. Retail Fish Markets in North Carolina depend on distributor-dealers 

 in the State or in Virginia for most of their seafoods — Wilmington, New 

 Bern, Morehead City, Elizabeth City, Charlotte, etc., and Norfolk or 

 Hampton, Virginia. There were in 1939 in North Carolina 206 retail fish 

 (seafood) markets whose sales were $676,000.'^ Sometimes these markets 

 are supplied by the local wholesaler, and truckers are counted on heavily 

 in eastern and central parts of North Carolina. 



Finfish are almost always bought in the round, shrimp beheaded, and 

 oysters in gallon cans. Some frozen fillets are purchased in 5- and lo-pound 

 packages, but small branded quick frozen packages are not stocked to any 

 great extent as they are not in great demand from consumers. An occasional 

 market buys shellfish in the shell. 



Household consumers account for 85 to 90 per cent of sales of retail 

 fish markets; the remainder is to commercial and institutional consumers. 

 Sales by retail fish markets are largely on Fridays and Saturdays by custom 

 and tradition rather than by religious requirements. 



In general, the impression received in this Survey was that retail fish 

 markets are more active and aggressive merchandisers of fish than their 

 competitors in independent retail grocery stores. Quality and condition of 

 merchandise is better protected, displays and arrangement are better. Open 

 displays rather than closed cabinets are used and personal salesmanship 

 is generally good. 



At the time of this inquiry, the movement to install facilities for handling 

 small quick frozen packages in retail fish markets was gaining momentum. 

 Some of these markets own freezer cabinets and stock medium priced brands. 

 Fresh fish purchased whole is dressed at no extra cost. 



In pricing, retail fish markets, like the distributor-dealers, wholesalers, 

 and truckers add a constant rather than a percentage mark-up to the 

 products dealt in. In the course of a year the margin must be sufficient to 

 cover cost and profit, but in the manner of arriving at the mark-up, the fish 

 trade, whether of truckers, distributor-dealers, wholesalers or retail markets, 

 differs from nearly all other merchandising trades. 



It is perhaps worth while to recite here the reasons given by wholesale 

 and retail dealers for this practice in arriving at prices. It was said that 

 when the retail price rises to 50 cents per pound or higher for fish, strong 



7. U. S. Census of Retail Trade. 



