532 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



production and the grower's profit, and the cost of picking, hauling, 

 and packing. 



There are several classes of retailers engaged hi the fruit business; 

 the fancy fruit store, the high-class grocery store, the average grocery 

 store, the chain store, the fruit stand, and the fruit vender. The 

 present retail system is largely the result of the demands of the con- 

 sumers which each class serves. A retailer's overhead charge includes 

 store rents, salaries and wages of employees, interest on capital, cost 

 of purchasing, re-sorting, displaying, storage, and delivering goods, 

 taking of orders, telephone, light, heat, and other store expenses, 

 losses from decay and deterioration, taxes, insurance, and other 

 necessary expenses. Most of the expenses are also included in the 

 jobber's overhead costs. Where the fruit is sold from pushcarts and 

 street stands, some of the expenses are eliminated or are reduced. In 

 the fancy fruit stores and in the large grocery stores which cater to the 

 well-to-do, these overhead charges are naturally larger. They make 

 up the cost of the service which the consumer demands, and the cost 

 of the fruit is only one of the factors in the consumer's price. The 

 simpler the service, the less .the overhead cost, and, in those cases, 

 the consumer pays primarily for the fruit with only a comparatively 

 small overhead charge added for service and profit. 



The retail distributing business is a vital link in the chain between 

 the producer and the consumer. The desire for fruit is awakened by 

 suggestion, by seeing attractive displays of fresh, luscious fruit in the 

 windows of the store, on the counters, or in other forms of display. 

 It is stimulated by the attractive fruit stands and by the pushcarts 

 laden with golden oranges, by advertising in the magazines, the news- 

 papers, street cars, and other advertising mediums. It is promoted by 

 prices which bring the fruit within the reach of the average consumer. 

 The retail dealer, more than any other factor, creates this appetite 

 appeal, because he comes in direct contact with the consumer, and he 

 stimulates or retards it by charging reasonable or exorbitant prices. 



The retail dealer must therefore know how to make artistic fruit 

 displays if he is to catch and sustain the interest of the consumer. 

 The fruit must always be fresh in appearance, free from decay and 

 appetizing in every way, and the price must be reasonable. If the 

 appeal to the consumer's appetite is not strong and continuous, the 

 retailer does not increase the consumption. If the price is not reason- 

 able, it cannot be purchased by the average consumer. If the sales 

 are not rapid, the fruit wilts, loses color, decays, and is a drag on the 



