14 BULLETIN 1317, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
CLASSES OF SERVICE RENDERED BY STORES 
Cash- and- carry stores. — Stores doing a strictly noncredit and non- 
delivery business are designated as " cash and carry." There are 
wide variations; in comparative numbers of such stores in the various 
cities. (See Table 1.) Los Angeles, Calif., and Pittsburgh, Pa., the 
two largest cities canvassed, showed the highest percentage of cash- 
and-carry stores, 56 and 38 per cent, respectively. By omitting these 
two cities the percentage of such stores is reduced from 26 to 15. 
In the cities canvassed in the northeastern section 27 per cent of the 
stores were on a cash-and-carry basis, in the central section 20 per 
cent, and in the southeastern section only 11 per cent. Of the chain 
stores 81 per cent were on a cash-and-carry basis and of the com- 
bination meat and grocery stores only 15 per cent were of the strictly 
cash-and-carry type. For straight meat markets and stalls in public 
markets the percentages were 32 and 60, respectively. 
Service stores. — All stores not doing a strictly cash-and-carry busi- 
ness are included under " service stores." In this class there are 
three subclasses: (1) Stores supplying both credit and delivery 
service, designated as " credit-and-delivery stores"; (2) stores 
doing a strictly cash business but maintaining delivery service, desig- 
nated as " cash-and-delivery stores"; and (3) stores granting credit 
but not maintaining a delivery service, designated as " carry-and- 
credit stores." Of the 3,504 stores in the cities completely canvassed, 
26 per cent were on a strictly cash-and-carry basis, 9 per cent were 
on a cash-and-delivery basis, 11 per cent were on a carry-and-credit 
basis, and 55 per cent gave both credit and delivery service. (See 
Table 3. ) 
In distinguishing between the stores on a strictly cash basis and 
those extending credit, it was found (Table 4) that 35 per cent were 
on a strictly cash basis; 36 per cent, although granting credit, had 
more than 50 per cent cash sales; 17 per cent had sales approximately 
half cash and half credit ; and only 12 per cent had appreciably less 
cash than credit sales. More combination meat and grocery stores 
furnished credit than any other type, only slightly more than one- 
fifth doing a strictly all-cash business. More than two-fifths of the 
straight meat markets gave no> credit to customers, and two-thirds of 
the stalls in public markets were on a cash basis. Only 14 per cent of 
the chain stores and 29 per cent of the meat sections in department 
stores carried charge accounts for their customers. 
In distinguishing between the stores on the basis of the service per- 
formed with reference to delivery, it is found (Table 5) that 37 per 
cent of the 3,504 stores were on a strictly all-carry or nondelivery 
basis, 22 per cent delivered less than half, 16 per cent delivered ap- 
proximately half, and 25 per cent delivered more than half of the 
meat sold. Comparatively few of the chain stores and stalls in public 
markets maintain a delivery service, and more of the combination 
stores than any other type deliver their customers' purchases. 
Credit or delivery service as furnished by the retailer can hardly 
be regarded as an absolute economic waste. In some instances such 
services are due to indolence and extravagance on the part of the con- 
sumer, to general inertia in changing from traditional methods, or 
to the persuasive methods employed by the retailer to attract patron- 
age on the basis of services rendered rather than price. However, in 
