456 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



resistance arises; when a retailer is forced to carry a complete assortment, 

 the article which costs the retailer 123/^ cents and is marked up to 25 cents 

 is still within the reach of many, but the article which costs 35 cents if 

 marked up to 70 cents will not sell. Hence, runs the argument, the mark-up 

 should be high percentagewise on the low cost varieties and less on the 

 costlier ones. One distributor-dealer thinks that the retailer should set his 

 selling price at twice his cost up to i2>^ cents per pound, but when the 

 cost reaches 25 or 30 cents he should add 10 cents per pound. 



The number of cents mark-up added by retail fish markets usually ranges 

 from 9 to 15 cents. Two markets add 10 cents to all fish. Almost all markets 

 reduce prices when speedy clearance is imperative. A few markets try to 

 keep retail prices in even nickels, which means that selling prices change 

 at longer intervals than their buying prices. A fish costing 12 cents is 

 priced at 25 cents. Even if the cost price rises to 17 cents, the 25 cent 

 selling price is continued up to a cost of 18 or 19 cents, when a selling price 

 of 30 cents is established. 



Typical examples of the price structure of North Carolina species of fish 

 are shown in the following table: 



TABLE 34 



Sample Prices in North Carolina Retail Fish Markets. 

 October-November, 1946 



Cost 

 price 



Selling 

 price 



Mark-up 



in 



cents 



Per cent 



on selling 



price 



b. Independent Retail Grocery Stores operating fish counters sell about 

 90 to 95 per cent of their fish to domestic household trade. In 1939 there 

 were in North Carolina 3,754 combination (groceries-meats) food stores; 



