2 BULLETIlSr 1044, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTTJEE. 



ticularly important to farmers, since much farm produce is highly 

 perishable and necessarily must have a rapid turnover if waste is to 

 be avoided. The retailer is the final outlet, and if he must charge a 

 high price for his goods, because of his heavy operating expense, he 

 blocks the channels of trade and causes a slowing down in the flow 

 along the entire distribution system, all the way back to the producer. 

 Therefore, any method that will reduce the cost of retail-store opera- 

 tion, or make the retailer more efficient, is of importance to the grower 

 of perishable farm products as well as to the consumer. It will in- 

 crease the grower's outlet because of the reduced cost of the produce 

 to the consumer. 



Since a large percentage of the farm products distributed are sold 

 through grocery stores, it has been considered advisable to study the 

 methods, cost of operation, and possibilities of some of the new types 

 of such stores in order to determine whether there is a probability 

 that. costs of retail distribution of foodstuffs, including farm prod- 

 ucts, can be materially lowered in the immediate future. 



During most of the period between 1900 and 1910 there was an in- 

 creasing demand for service. Competition forced dealers to add one 

 service after another until the system became overburdened. With 

 the marked increases in prices after the outbreak of the World War 

 there came a reaction. Consumers had to give more thought to the 

 buying of foodstuffs, and prices, rather than convenience and service, 

 became the all-important consideration. An increasingly large part 

 of the public came to realize that under the more common methods 

 of retailing, the cost of service, though advertised as free, was neces- 

 sarily included in the price of merchandise, whether or not the cus- 

 tomer availed himself of such service. 



As a result of this growing recognition that a cost is necessarily 

 attached to service, several types of so-called nonservice grocery 

 stores have come into existence. Of these the self-service store has 

 been the most radical development, since it has come closest to the 

 complete elimination of service. This type of store is generally 

 believed to have originated on the Pacific coast, but its development 

 probably was simultaneous in several parts of the countr}^ 



In this bulletin the " service " stores referred to are of the " cash 

 and carry " type. They are used in comparison with " self-service," 

 because they approach the latter most nearly in cost of operation and 

 service rendered to customers. If comparison were made with the 

 "credit and delivery" type of store, the differences would be much 

 greater. 



SELF-SERVICE. 



Self-service means, of course, to serve one's self. The use of the 

 phrase in connection with the retail distribution of merchandise 

 applies to those retail establishments so constructed and operated 



