UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1442 
Washington, D. C. 
November, 1926 
MARGINS, EXPENSES, AND PROFITS IN RETAILING MEAT 1 
By Kelsey B. Gardner, Associate Economic Analyst, Bureau of Agricultural 
Economics 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Collection and nature of data 2 
Types of stores 3 
Definitions of terms 5 
Methods of analysis and presenta- 
tion of data 10 
Margins and expenses in individual 
retail meat markets 12 
Ownership 12 
Relative importance of items of 
expense 12 
Gross margins 13 
Total expense 17 
Salaries and wages 17 
Rent 18 
Wrappings 19 
Refrigeration 19 
Light and power 20 
Depreciation 20 
Other expense 20 
Delivery expense 24 
Margins, expenses, and profits 
by sections '. 26 
Profit in individual retail meat mar- 
kets 27 
Total returns to proprietors of indi- 
vidual retail meat markets 31 
Page 
Retail meat stores with annual sales 
volumes of less than $14,000 33 
Sales per employee 34 
Margins, expenses, and profits com- 
pared for 1923 and 1924 38 
Wages paid to cutters 40 
Comparison of margins, expenses, and 
profits with results of the Chicago, 
Cleveland, and New York survey. 40 
Comparison of margin, total expense, 
and profit in individual retail meat 
markets for 1919 and 1923-24___ 42 
Stock turn 45 
Equipment investment 46 
Semiwholesale straight meat markets- 46 
Combination stores 48 
Retail chain stores 49 
Straight meat markets 49 
Combination chain stores 50 
Semiwholesale and retail chain meat 
markets 50 
Packer-owned retail markets 51 
P a c k e r-o w n e d semiwholesale 
markets 52 
Summary 1 54 
Retail costs of meat distribution are of interest to the producer of 
livestock, to the various agencies engaged in the preparation and 
sale of meat, and to the consumer of meat. The increased spread ob- 
served in postwar years between prices received by livestock pro- 
ducers and prices paid by consumers of meat and meat products ren- 
ders the subject of especial interest at this time. 
*A survey of the retail marketing of meat was provided for by Congress in the act 
making appropriations for the United States Department of Agriculture for the fiscal 
year 1924-25. Further appropriation for this work was provided for the year 1925-26. 
The survey was divided into three parts: (1) Methods and practices; (2) margins, ex- 
penses, and profits; and (3) consumer habits and preferences in the purchase and con- 
sumption of meat. A study of these factors and their influence upon the market for 
meat constituted the general plan as a whole. The second part relating to margins, 
expenses, and profits is covered in this bulletin. Tbe first part of the study is reported 
in Department Bulletin No. 1441 and the third part in Department Bulletin No. 1443. 
The collection of data in the field was done by Edward B. Ballow, Henrv F. Buchanan, 
Frank E. Manning, and Robert M. Roudabush. Christine R. Beard and Avis B. Damon 
assisted in the tabulation of data and compilation of results. 
