34 
BULLETIN 1442, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 12. — Individual retail -meat markets with annual sales volumes 
$14,000 
thaw 
Class of service 
Total 
number of 
stores 
Number 
of stalls in 
public 
markets 
Number 
of straight 
meat mar- 
kets not in 
public 
markets 
Number of stores 
operated at a — 
Profit 
Loss 
9 
3 
1 
3 
2 
3 
6 
3 
Unlimited-delivery 
1 
1 
Total 
13 
10 
3 
3 
10; 
The primary consideration in deciding whether these small stores 
were to be included was whether the conditions under which they 
operated were such that there was a possibility that the proprietors 
would make a profit above wage allowance, equal to the usual wage 
for cutters in the locality where each store was situated. It was 
noted that of the 13 stores, only 3 were able to show a profit and 
these were stalls in public markets. The 3 stores operated outside 
public markets were conducted at a loss when proprietor wages 
were considered as an expense of the business. 
Of the three markets operated at a profit, two showed very high 
gross margins for stores in their class — 27.09 and 33.84 per cent 
of net sales. This enabled them to meet the high expense which 
they incurred. In the remaining store which showed a profit, 
refrigeration expense was materially lower because of a central 
refrigeration plant, no advertising expense was incurred, equipment 
investment was very small in amount, so that the amount of expense 
in addition to wages was at a minimum and the proprietor received 
a profit above an estimated wage. 
Of the 10 loss stores, 6 showed verjr high percentages of loss 
when proprietor wages were estimated. Nine of these 10 loss stores 
operated at very high gross margin percentages when compared 
with other stores in the same area. 
Total returns to the proprietors of businesses under $14,000 were 
included in Table 11. One proprietor realized a total return of" 
$2,000 from his business, 3 between $1,800 and $1,900, 2 between 
$1,600 and $1,700, 1 slightly over $1,500, 1 a little less than $1,300, 
1 just over $1,100, 1 a little over $800, 2 between $700^ and $800, and. 
1 suffered an actual loss of $548 without the inclusion of a small 
interest charge on the small amount of capital invested in the 
business. 
Consideration of these factors led to the elimination of these small 
operators from the main portion of the study, since it was felt that, 
no satisfactory and equitable method of establishing a wage for 
proprietors of these small businesses had been devised.. 
SALES PER EMPLOYEE 
Salaries and wage expense in individual retail meat shops for 
1923 was found to be approximately two-thirds of total- expense.. 
A special effort was made to analyze in detail the wage item and 
utilization of employees' time. Data were collected showing the 
