EXPENSE FACTORS IX CITY DISTRIBUTION OF PERISHABLES 
21 
the weighted mean percentage margins for these 7 articles are prac- 
tically the same as those for the complete series. The smaller num- 
ber of articles may therefore be regarded as representative of fruits 
and vegetables in general. Table 9 shows the number of price quota- 
tions for each commodity and their total in each of the five groups 
and the proportion of the 14-commodity series in each group. 
Table 9. — Number of quotations, by store types, New York metropolitan area, 
February, 1923, to May, 1924 
Commodity 
Total for 
all stores 
Unit 
stores 
Unit 
credit- 
delivery 
Unit 
cash- 
delivery 
Unit 
cash- 
carry 
Chain 
stores 
1,650 
2,064 
1,281 
1,453 
1,317 
1,331 
1,806 
1,399 
1,843 
1,148 
1,285 
1,184 
1,219 
1,524 
833 
1,109 
698 
811 
706 
775 
903 
457 
631 
387 
367 
389 
391 
515 
109 
103 
63 
107 
89 
53 
106 
251 
221 
133 
168 
133 
112 
Yellow onions . 
282 
Total 7 commodities 
10,902 
9,602 
5,835 
3,137 
630 
1,300 
Proportion of 14-commodity series 
per cent.. 
76 
73 
74 
72 
75 
77 
MANNER OF MAKING COMPARISONS 
The relative advantage of each of the five forms of store operation 
in the distribution of these typical commodities is indicated by the 
contrasts or differentials in their respective prices and in their price 
spreads. These differentials are presented in two forms. The first 
form shows contrasts in the expense of distribution, as represented by 
the spread between wholesale price and retail price, in each of the five 
types of store. These differentials in cost of retailing are of primary 
interest to dealers and other food-handling agencies, which deal in 
large quantities of goods. The contrasts are therefore presented on 
a per-car basis, in terms of dollars per car. The second form shows 
contrasts between different store types in retail selling prices. Since 
it is the final retail prices, rather than the intermediate handling 
costs, which are of primary interest to the individual consumer, the 
price differentials of the various store types are expressed in cents per 
standard retail sale, the unit which is of direct interest to the consum- 
ing public. 
ADJUSTMENT OF DATA 
To make entirely valid comparisons of results from the various 
groups of data, it was necessary to adjust retail prices to allow for 
certain discrepancies occuring in the original wholesale prices. These 
irregularities arose from lack of identity in dates of quotations, or from 
variability in grades of goods reported by different store types. To 
accomplish the adjustment, a common weighted average wholesale 
price per car was computed as a base for the five store types, giving 
chain stores and unit stores the respective weights of 1 and 9, accord- 
ing to their relative importance as metropolitan distributors. An 
adjusted retail price for each store group was then constructed, with 
this weighted average figure as a base, by adding to this the same 
spread as existed between the original wholesale and retail figures. 
