Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Kansas' 16,255
retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $17.6 billion. In 1987,
16,797 retail stores had sales of $13.4 billion. The 1992 data
represent an increase of 31.1 percent in total retail sales for the
State. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of new and used car
dealers accounted for 19.2 percent of the State's total sales by
retailers compared with 19.0 percent in 1987. Other leading retail
kinds of business in 1992 were grocery stores with 18.7 percent of
sales, gasoline service stations with 8.0 percent, and refreshment
places with 5.0 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged
$1.1 million per establishment, compared with $798 thousand in 1987. In
1992, new and used car dealers averaged $10.1 million per
establishment; miscellaneous general merchandise stores, $3.2 million;
grocery stores, $2.8 million; catalog and mail-order houses, $2.3
million; and lumber and other building materials dealers, $1.8 million.

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $95 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $362 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $23 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $2.0 billion,
compared with $1.6 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of
establishments with payroll averaged 11.5 percent for all retailers,
28.7 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 6.2 percent for
gasoline service stations. 

There were 185,810 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 174,947
employees in 1987. Large employers included refreshment places with
33,595 employees, restaurants with 27,110 employees, and grocery stores
with 25,222 employees.