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_ PRICES AND QUALITY OF CREAMERY BUTTER. ET 
chases are made by a single buyer who is an expert judge of butter. 
By centralizing their purchasing they also obtain the advantage of 
reduced prices on account of larger purchases. (See Table 5, p. 18.) 
GROCERY STORES. 
i 
For the purpose of these comparative studies all stores which main- 
tain regularly a telephone order department and a daily delivery 
service and which were not units of a chain store system were classi- 
fied as “ grocery stores.” Another important characteristic of this 
class of stores is the fact that they usually carry many of their cus- 
tomers on monthly or biweekly credit accounts. In most cities the 
bulk of all retail sales of butter is made by stores of this type. It 
is noteworthy that the average selling price of independent grocery 
stores was higher than that of retail chain store systems. (See 
Table 5, p. 18.) 
= 
CHAIN STORES. 
The greater portion of the butter supply of Philadelphia is sold 
through chain stores. These stores do not generally maintain a tele- 
phone service, and practically all sales are for cash. The distinctive 
characteristic of the chain-store system is the fact that the purchas- 
ing of all supplies is centralized; and thus “the system” has the 
advantage of having its supplies selected by expert judges of quality 
and reduced prices for large bulk purchases. The investigation 
showed that in Philadelphia this class of stores obtained Extras at 
an average of 2 cents below the prevailing prices paid by other 
classes of retailers. (See Table 5, p. 19.) 
WAGON RETAILERS. 
Retail hucksters or wagon peddlers who specialize in selling dairy 
products and eggs handle an extremely small percentage of the 
butter supply of any city. Special mention of this class of retailers 
is made because a few creameries have been able to obtain an ex- 
ceptionally good price for a good grade of butter supplied in ac- 
cordance with the regular demands of the customers served by them. 
Because of the comparatively small amount of their purchases, wagon 
retailers generally can not buy as cheaply as chain-store operators. 
(See Table 5, p. 19.) 
DAIRY AND FRUIT STORES. 
In New York and Boston a considerable number of small dairy 
stores are operated by fluid milk distributing concerns which also 
sell manufactured dairy products, eggs, honey, and other delicacies. 
In Chicago and other cities fruit stores also sell considerable quanti- 
ties of butter. These two types of stores are classed together for the 
