Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Alabama's 24,059
retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $27.7 billion. In 1987,
24,092 retail stores had sales of $21.3 billion. The 1992 data
represent an increase of 30.4 percent in total retail sales for the
State. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores
accounted for 20.1 percent of the State's total sales by retailers
compared with 20.6 percent in 1987. Other leading retail kinds of
business in 1992 were new and used car dealers with 17.8 percent of
sales, department stores (including leased departments) with 11.4
percent, and gasoline service stations with 7.7 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged
$1.2 million per establishment, compared with $882 thousand in 1987. In
1992, department stores (including leased departments) averaged $16.2
million per establishment; new and used car dealers, $13.2 million;
lumber and other building materials dealers, $2.6 million;
miscellaneous general merchandise stores, $2.5 million; and catalog and
mail-order houses, $2.4 million. 

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $103 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $390 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $26 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $3.0 billion,
compared with $2.4 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of
establishments with payroll averaged 10.8 percent for all retailers,
27.9 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 5.7 percent for
gasoline service stations. 

There were 269,662 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 249,847
employees in 1987. Large employers included refreshment places with
50,373 employees, grocery stores with 44,359 employees, and restaurants
with 28,792 employees.