MARGINS, EXPENSES, AND PROFITS IN RETAILING MEAT 
47 
Table 17. — Margins, expenses, and profits in semiwholesale straight meat mar- 
kets, 1923-1924 
[Amounts expressed in percentage of net sales] 
markets l 
8 markets J 
Item 
1 One market included in the group of 9 stores was operated at a loss in 1923 and at a profit in 1924. This 
store was not included in the tabulation of the 8 stores. 
2 Interest on investment not included as an expense. 
3 Included in salaries and wages. 
* Included in other expense. 
One of these 9 markets operated at a loss in 1923 and at a profit 
in 1924. The variation in margin for this store between the two 
years was 8 per cent, so that it was thought best to eliminate it 
from further consideration. Final comparison was made between 
8 stores, whose operations were similar for both years. This group 
of 8 includes 6 stores operated at a profit for both years and 2 
operated at a loss for both years. The loss stores showed a 
slightly lower gross margin percentage than the profit stores, which 
was similar to the differences observed in the analysis of individual 
retail meat markets. 
An inspection of the expenses of these wholesale markets indicated 
that their average gross margin for the two years was about 14 
per cent of sales, These markets were all of the delivery type, so 
that an approximate comparison may be made with the unlimited- 
delivery group of individual retail stores. (Table 4.) It will be 
noted that the gross margin percentage was approximately 10 per 
cent lower in the semiwholesale group than in the individual retail 
unlimited-delivery group. Delivery expense percentage was also 
lower. Wage expense in the semiwholesale group for 1923 was 
7.83 per cent of net sales, and in the individual retail unlimited- 
delivery group 13.41 per cent. Kent, wrappings, ice and refrigera- 
tion, light and power, depreciation, and other expenses, all ex- 
pressed as percentages of net sales, were much lower in the semi- 
wholesale stores than in the unlimited-delivery group. The average 
rate of profit in the semiwholesale group for 1923 was 3.04 per cent 
of net sales, whereas in the unlimited-delivery retail group it was 
3.23 per cent of net sales. 
Comparisons made between these two groups were considered 
only as approximations, since the group of semiwholesale stores was 
few in number and was not to be regarded as representative of the 
entire group of such operators. The figures from semiwholesale 
markets must be regarded as. composite averages of the retail and 
