54 BULLETIN 1442, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
SUMMARY 
Between the years 1923 and 1924 there were no significant changes 
in the percentage relations of gross margins and expenses to net 
sales in retail meat markets. 
In percentages of net sales, gross margin, expenses, and profits 
during the year 1923 for the individual retail meat stores studied in 
Chicago, Cleveland, and New York agreed closely with those of mar- 
kets in 10 other cities located in the northeastern and central sections 
of the country. 
When gross margins, expenses, and profits in individual retail meat 
markets for the years 1919 and 1923 were related to a common base 
(1913), it was found that the absolute cost of retailing meat had 
changed only slightly. Slight increases in gross margin and total 
expense in relation to net sales were found. As these increases 
usually amounted to less than 0.5 per cent of sales in terms of 1913 
dollars, there seemed to be evidence that the cost of retailing in the 
two years had remained practically constant. The percentage 
fluctuations which had been observed in gross margins, expenses, 
and profits between the years 1919 and 1923 were thus due to 
decreases in the general level of retail meat prices, rather than to 
changes in meat retailers' actual operating costs. 
Of a total of 142 individual retail meat markets, 76 or 53.5 per 
cent of the total number returned to their proprietors as wages, 
interest, and profit less than $3,500 for the year 1923. 
Gross margin and total expense percentages in relation to net 
sales were greater in credit and delivery retail stores than in retail 
stores of the cash-and-carry type. 
Loss stores showed higher expense and lower gross margin per- 
centages in terms of net sales than profit stores. 
Increasing inefficiency in retail management was indicated by 
increases in expense and decreases in gross margin in relation to 
sales as the tendency toward loss became more evident. 
The number of employees in retail stores operated at a loss was 
greater on the average than in profit stores of similar volumes of sale. 
Eetail stores with the larger average annual sales per employee 
were operated at lower expense ratios. Increasing sales per em- 
ployee and efficient utilization of employees' time were effective 
means of reducing total expense. 
No very pronounced relation was indicated between average annual 
sales per employee and total sales volumes of retail markets. Effi- 
cient proprietors of some of the smaller, as well as proprietors of 
larger retail stores were thus able to obtain a low percentage operat- 
ing cost through increased sales per employee, which implies 
efficient utilization of employees' time. 
Large sales volumes in individual retail meat markets did not 
always result in a low total expense in percentage of net sales, 
while increased average sales per employee showed a very definite 
tendency toward decrease in the percentage relation of gross margin 
and total expense to net sales. 
Delivery cost as a percentage of delivered sales amounted to about 
5 per cent. 
