Wage Bill As A Per Cent Of Sales In Retail Meat Shops

Typical Amounts For All Stores

On the average, the wage bill as a percent of sales is 11 to 15 per cent. But such an amount does not tell the whole story. It needs to be supported by detailed figures in which differences in location of shops, their size, and success are considered. What is true for all shops on the average, is not necessarily true for individual ones when these differences are noted.

Before these differences are considered, however, something more needs to be said about the general average. The most common amounts of wages as a proportion of sales for Chicago, Cleveland, and New York, individually, was from 11 to 15 per cent. When, however, the corresponding expenses of the middle 50 per cent of the amounts in each of the cities are considered, the proportions range from 11.14 to 15.14 in Chicago ; 10.97 to 16.35 in Cleveland ; and 11.08 to 16.18 in New York. Moreover, for the three cities combined, the middle 50 per cent of the amounts from 11 to 15.48 per cent of sales.

The Wage Bill For Stores Of Different Size

For all the stores studied, the larger the store, the smaller the wage bill as a per cent of sales.

a. The stores which are called “less-than-one-man”-that is, stores . with too small a volume fully to occupy the time of one man, and almost certain to be unsuccessful had a wage bill as a per cent of sales of from 20 to 24.

b. In one-man stores, the characteristic wage bill was from 13.17 to 17 per cent of sales.

c. In two-man stores the amount is from 11 to 15.

d. For three-man stores, it is 10 to 14.

e. For four-man or larger stores, 8 to 12 per cent of sales.

The difference between the wage bill in one-man stores and in less-than-one-man stores is 7 cents out of each dollar of sales; between two and one-man stores. 3 cents out of dollar of sales; between three-man and two-man stores, 1 cent; and between four-man and three-man stores, 2 cents. The greatest relative saving in wages as a per cent of sales, therefore, occurs between two-man and one-man stores and between four-man or larger and three-man stores.

These amounts may be called most common. If a somewhat larger group of stores is considered—for convenience, the middle 50 per cent—the common per cent of wages to sales for lessthan-one-man stores is from 18.25 to 24.75. For one-man stores, it is from 13.17 to 18.77; for two-man stores, 11.00 to 14.87; for three-man stores, 10.78 to 13.75; and for four-man or larger stores, 8.80 to 12.07. That is, the advantage associated with the larger shops holds not only for the most typical amounts, but also for all stores of each group which we have termed the middle 50 per cent.