26 
BULLETIN" 1411, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 16. — Differentials between store types in value of standard retail sale, 1 
weighted for seven commodities, New York metropolitan area, February, 1923, to 
May, 1924 
Store types compared 
Cents 
per retail 
sale 
Percent- 
age of 
retail 
price 2 
Gross chain-store decrease below typical unit store 
Net chain decrease below unit cash-carry store 
Cash-carry decrease below credit-delivery 
Cash-delivery decrease below credit-delivery 
Cash-carry decrease below cash-delivery 
i Adjusted for differences in wholesale prices. 
2 These percentages are rounded, hence the last three do not agree exactly. 
Table 17. — Differentials in five store types in value of the retail sale for each com- 
modity, New York metropolitan area, February, 1923, to May, 1924 
Types of store operation compared 
Differentials per retail sale 
North- 
ern 
pota- 
Cali- 
fornia 
oranges 
Sweet 
pota- 
toes 
Boxed 
apples 
Bar- 
reled 
apples 
Eastern 
lettuce 
Yellow 
onions 
Weighted 
mean for 
seven 
com- 
modities 
management: chain stores and 
unit stores 
Gross chain store decrease below 
typical unit store 
Net chain-store decrease below 
cash-carry unit store 
SERVICE: DIFFERENT UNIT STORE 
TYPES 
Cash-carry decrease below credit- 
delivery 
Cash-delivery decrease below cred- 
it-delivery—.: 
Cash-carry decrease below cash- 
delivery 
Cents 
7.0 
1.1 
-.3 
Cents 
4.8 
.9 
5.2 
3.0 
2.2 
Cents 
7.5 
7.1 
2.4 
4.7 
Cents 
4.3 
2.5 
2.6 
1.8 
Cents 
5.0 
3.3 
2.7 
2.1 
Cents 
3.2 
2.4 
1.4 
1.9 
-.5 
Gents 
3.2 
1.0 
3.1 
1.4 
1.7 
Cents 
Adjusted for wholesale price differences. 
SUMMARY OF STORE OPERATION CONTRASTS 
Consideration has been given to differences resulting from con- 
trasted kinds of store management and service policy, the contrasts 
being expressed both by differences in their respective distributing 
expense, and by differences in price paid by consumers. 
Comparison of different store types as to their respective spreads 
between wholesale and retail prices indicates the relative efficiency 
of various forms of store operation. Between the typical unit store 
and the chain-store type, there was an average gross difference in 
selling expense, in favor of the chain-store form of management and 
service, oi $425 per car. The average spread in wholesale and retail 
prices for chain stores was 43 per cent below the spread prevailing 
in the typical form of unit store. In other words, cash-and-carry 
chain stores required for distributing expenses 43 per cent less than 
the amount required for these expenses by typical unit stores which 
gave their customers the prevailing amount of special service. When 
the cash-and-carry chain store is compared with the cash-and-carry 
