32 



BULLETIN 1109, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



certain the amount of the charges entailed by a second wholesaler, 

 for it is not possible to learn the percentage of berries handled in this 

 manner. However, it is believed that an allowance of 12^ cents a 

 barrel on all cranberries marketed would cover the charges of "other 

 wholesalers" for that portion of the product that is handled by a 

 second or third wholesale agency. 



RETAIL MARGINS AND PRICES. 



Inquiry was made concerning the prices at which cranberries sold 

 to the consumer during October, November, and December, 1920, 

 Reports from 293 merchants in 26 States were collected showing that 

 the retail price during these three months ranged from below 15 cents 

 a pound in a few cases to above 30 cents a pound. 



Table 7. — Retail price of cranberries as reported in 26 States by retailers. 





ound. 



Number and percentage of retailers selling at specified prices. 



Range of retail prices per j 



October. 



November. 



December. 





Number 



of 



firms. 



Number 



of firms 



reporting. 



Number 



of 



firms. 



Number 



of firms 



reporting. 



Number 



of 



firms. 



Niunber 



of firms 



reporting. 



Below 15 cents 



25 



134 

 89 

 26 



8 



Per cent. 

 9 



47 



32 



9 



3 



15 

 117 

 121 



30 



8 



Per cent. 



5 

 40 

 42 

 10 



3 



8 



74 



125 



67 



19 



Per cent. 

 3 



15 cents to 19 cents 



25 



20 cents to 24 cents 



43 



25 cents to 30 cents. . . 



23 



Above 30 cents - 



6 









Total retailers 



282 



100 



291 



100 



293 



100 





..(cents).. 





Weighted average price.. 



17.3 



18 



5 



20.4 



It will be noticed that on the whole the weighted average retail 

 price advanced 3.1 cents from October to December. The wholesale 

 price advanced during the same period approximately 5^ cents a 

 pound. This lag in the retail price is due largely to the fact that the 

 retailer establishes his selling price on the basis of the wholesale 

 price of cranberries at the beginning of the season but fails to advance 

 the price as rapidly as the wholesale price advances. Furthermore, 

 chain stores, cash-and-carry, and similar stores follow the practice of 

 pushing cranberries as a leader on a very narrow margin during the 

 Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. Such practices com- 

 pel all stores to maintain low prices during this period in order to 

 meet competition. Since chain and cash-and-carry stores are more 

 numerous in the larger cities, this probably accounts for the fact that 

 the retail price of cranberries was lowest in these places. 



Of the total number of 282 retailers in 26 States, 8 reported han- 

 dling margins below 10 per cent of the selling price, 6 reported margins 

 of 10 to 14 per cent, 37 reported 15 to 19 per cent, 107 reported 20 



