48 BULLETIN 1442, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
wholesale phases of each business, and of no significance in a study 
limited to the cost of retailing meats, since margin and expense 
percentages could not be determined separately for the retail portions 
of these businesses. 
COMBINATION STORES 
Numerically, combination stores were found to be important in the 
distribution of meats, but difficulties of a somewhat similar nature 
to those met in the semi wholesale group were encountered in study- 
ing costs of retailing in this group of stores. Records of purchases 
and sales of meats and groceries were so infrequently kept separate 
that, in many instances where otherwise fair records were available, 
it was impossible to determine separate gross margins for meat and 
for groceries. Lacking this, it was impossible to determine a profit 
or loss figure or to draw any conclusions concerning the relative 
profitableness of the two or more departments of each of these com- 
bination businesses. 
Proprietors of combination stores should recognize the fact that 
knowledge of the comparative profits received from the different 
departments of the business would be of very great value in the 
conduct of their businesses. 
In most instances observed during the course of the survey, and 
this applied to the smaller stores particularly, no attempts were 
made to keep separate any sales and purchase information for meats 
and groceries. A few stores were found where there seemed to be 
a possibility of dividing expenses between meats and groceries, but 
the data so collected were too limited to present in table form. 
Data were obtained from 14 combination stores and profit and 
loss statements were prepared for the meat departments of these 
14 stores. Eleven stores of the group were credit and delivery stores 
of varying volumes. In so far as these very limited data applied, 
6 of a total of 8 stores with meat sales below $41,000 showed losses. 
The other 2 stores showed profit percentages of slightly over 1 per 
cent.- The larger combination stores, 3 in number, exhibited a ten- 
dency toward decreasing margin and expense percentages as volumes 
of sales increased. Margin percentages for the entire 11 combina- 
tion stores were about the same as those in individual retail markets 
of the unlimited-delivery class in the sections of the country in which 
these combination stores were located. 
In the meat departments of the three carry combination stores 
located in the central section of the country, margin and expense 
percentages were practically the same as those of carry straight meat 
markets in the same section. Kates of profit were similar to those 
in carry straight meat markets. 
It was observed in a very limited number of cases that where the 
volume of meat sales was below $41,000, the grocery department 
made the profit for the business. In a single instance, it was ob- 
served that when the volumes of both departments became large in 
amount it was the meat department which carried the business and 
enabled it to show a profit. In this particular case, the margin on 
groceries was lower than the average percentage margin determined 
for stores of similar sales volumes and the margin on meats was 
higher than in straight meat markets of about the same sales volumes 
of meats. 
