MARGINS, EXPENSES, AND PROFITS IN RETAILING MEAT 19 
fore, able to occupy sites in residential and other relatively low-rent 
districts. The service stores' appeal to customers was made not so 
much through convenience and accessibility as through the services 
of credit and delivery which they extended. 
With the exception of the loss group in the limited-delivery class, 
rent percentages were higher in loss stores than in profit stores. 
It would seem clear, under these circumstances, that loss stores were 
attempting to occupy spaces which were poorly chosen, in so far as 
trade was concerned, or which were located in districts where rents 
were too high for meat markets. 
When rent expense was analyzed with respect to volumes of 
sales, it was noted that the combined profit-and-loss group in the 
carry and limited-delivery classes indicated a tendency toward a 
higher rent percentage in relation to sales as the volume of net 
sales increased. This condition was not unexpected, since in order 
to obtain larger volumes of business it was necessary to occupy 
the favorable locations, which commanded higher rental values. 
In the unlimited-delivery class a very definite tendency toward 
decrease in the rent percentage was observed as volume of net sales 
increased. This was due to the fact that the unlimited-delivery 
stores were not usually located in the higher-rent districts and be- 
cause they offered credit and delivery service rather than accessi- 
bility to customers. Their choice of location was, therefore, greater 
and the effect of volume in decreasing rent expense as a percentage 
of sales was apparent. 
WRAPPINGS 
Wrapping-expense as a percentage of net sales in 129 individual 
retail meat markets was 0.97. In the carry class, the average per- 
centage for this expense was 1.08 ; in the limited-delivery class, 1.07 ; 
and in the unlimited-delivery class, 0.85. 
This item of expense brought out clearly the relations between the 
limited-delivery class and the carry class in that their wrapping- 
expense was similar, because of a similar relation in the type of serv- 
ice rendered. Both catered to the carry class of customers as pointed 
out in connection with rent expense. It was usually the custom to 
use more material, including paper and paper bags, in wrapping 
purchases made in carry stores and it was to be expected that the 
wrapping expense for stores whose clienteles were carry customers 
should be similar. In the unlimited-delivery class the 0.85 per cent 
wrapping expense was lower than that of either of the other two 
classes of stores. 
When each of the three classes of stores was divided according 
to profit and loss groupings it was observed that in the carry class 
and in the unlimited-delivery class wrapping-expense percentage 
was greater in the loss than in the profit groups. 
REFRIGERATION 
The average refrigeration expense for 129 individual retail meat 
markets was 1 per cent of net sales. Some variation was noted 
among the three classes of stores. The average for the carry class 
