26 
to the entire business rather than to the portion of the business which 
was directly responsible for the incurring of the expense. 
MARGINS, EXPENSES, AND PROFITS BY SECTIONS 
For the purpose of determining any variation in margins, expenses, 
and profits which might exist between various sections of the country, 
the cities from which retail meat market cost of operation data were 
procured were grouped as follows: (1) Northeast section, New 
Haven and Bridgeport, Conn., Binghamton, N. Y., Baltimore, Md., 
and Washington, 1). C; (2) central section, Minneapolis and St. 
Paul, Minn., Lincoln, Nebr., Denver, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo. ; 
(3) south section, Birmingham, Ala., Jacksonville, Fla., and New 
Orleans, La. ; and (4) Pacific coast section, Seattle, Wash., and San 
Francisco, Calif. 
Gross margins, profits, and the more important expenses expressed 
as percentages of net sales in carry stores and unlimited-delivery 
stores for these four sections of the country are shown in Table 7. 
The limited-delivery class was not used because of the few stores 
included in the data from the cities of each of these four sections. 
There are also shown for the same groups of cities profit store per- 
centages for each of these two types of markets. The profit stores 
were presented because it was believed that they more nearly 
approached a proper representation of the differences between the 
four sections. This belief was based primarily upon the fact that 
the proportion of loss stores varied in the group of stores from which 
data were collected in each of the sections. Wide variations, which 
thus might have been introduced by abnormal fluctuations in margin 
and expense percentages occasioned by the errors of management 
policies in loss stores, were thus eliminated. Comparison was thus 
based on data from only those stores in which the operation had 
apparently been conducted in an efficient and competent manner. 
Table 7. — Gross margins, expenses, and profits in individual retail carry and 
unlimited-delivery markets oy sections of the country, 1923 
[Amounts expressed as percentages of net sales] 
|Num 
Section and store ber 
groups of 
stores 
All carry stores: 
Northeast 
Central. 
South 
Pacific coast - 
All unlimited-de- 
livery stores: 
Northeast 
Central 
South 
Pacific coast - 
Profit carry stores 
Northeast 
Central 
South 
Pacific coast.. 
Profit unlimited- 
delivery stores: 
Northeast 
Central 
South ... 
Pacific coast . 
Cost 
of 
goods 
80.39 
76.35 
76.32 
74. 63 
76.95 
76.66 
75.05 
73. 25 
79.46 
76.35 
77.36 
74.82 
76.04 
74.80 
73.73 
73.22 
Gross 
mar- 
gin 
19.61 
23.65 
23.68 
25.37 
23.04 
23.34 
24.94 
25.75 
20.54 
23.65 
22.64 
25.18 
25.20 
26.27 
26.78 
Profit 
2.21 
4.32 
3.07 
3.27 
4.36 
1.19 
2.55 
4.42 
3.83 
4.32 
3.96 
5.15 
5.61 
4.27 
4.12 
4.85 
Total 
ex- 
pense 
(9 
17.40 
19.33 
20.61 
22.10 
18. 68 
22.15 
22.39 
22.33 
16.71 
19.33 
18.68 
20.03 
18.35 
20.93 
22.15 
21.93 
Sala- 
ries 
and 
wages 
12.56 
12.29 
12.14 
13.35 
12.76 
13.47 
12.76 
14.84 
11.55 
12.29 
11.56 
12.77 
12.58 
13.01 
12.88 
14.51 
Rent 
1.55 
2.25 
3.05 
3. 50 
1.29 
1.92 
2.82 
1.91 
1.74 
2.26 
2.35 
2.63 
1.21 
1.57 
2.78 
1.92 
Wrap- 
pings 
0.92 
1.09 
.99 
1.28 
.92 
1.09 
1.02 
1.21 
Refrig- 
eration 
0.91 
1.08 
2.01 
.95 
.77 
1.11 
1.53 
.74 
1.03 
1.07 
1.59 
.95 
.71 
1.09 
1.40 
.75 
Light 
and 
power 
0.32 
.26 
.49 
.23 
2\i 
De- 
pre- 
cia- 
tion 
0.26 
.47 
.52 
.63 
Other 
ex- 
pense 2 
0.88 
1.89 
1.41 
2.16 
2.60 
3.76 
3.38 
3.36 
.92 
1.89 
1.28 
1.62 
2.56 
3.65 
3.23 
1.92 
Interest on investment not included as an expense. 2 Includes all delivery expense other than wages. 
