Summary of Findings  
  
  
Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Colorado's  
22,921 retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $28.5 billion. In  
1987, 22,389 retail stores had sales of $20.7 billion. The 1992 data  
represent an increase of 37.9 percent in total retail sales for the  
State.   
  
For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores  
accounted for 19.1 percent of the State's total sales by retailers  
compared with 20.0 percent in 1987. Other leading retail kinds of  
business in 1992 were new car dealers with 17.6 percent of sales,  
department stores (including leased departments) with 9.8 percent, and  
gasoline service stations with 6.9 percent.   
  
For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged  
$1.2 million per establishment, compared with $924 thousand in 1987. In  
1992, new car dealers averaged $19.2 million per establishment;  
department stores (including leased departments), $17.8 million;  
miscellaneous general merchandise stores, $5.4 million; grocery stores,  
$4.6 million; and catalog and mail-order houses, $3.5 million.   
  
For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee  
averaged $101 thousand. New car dealers had sales per employee of $402  
thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $27 thousand per employee  
average for restaurants.   
  
The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $3.5 billion,  
compared with $2.7 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of  
establishments with payroll averaged 12.2 percent for all retailers,  
26.2 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 5.4 percent for  
gasoline service stations.   
  
There were 283,457 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in  
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 267,899  
employees in 1987. Large employers included restaurants with 58,289  
employees, refreshment places with 36,845 employees, and grocery stores  
with 35,987 employees.