Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Oregon's 19,561
retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $24.2 billion. In 1987,
18,712 retail stores had sales of $16.8 billion. The 1992 data
represent an increase of 43.7 percent in total retail sales for the
State. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores
accounted for 17.4 percent of the State's total sales by retailers
compared with 18.7 percent in 1987. Other leading retail kinds of
business in 1992 were new and used car dealers with 16.6 percent of
sales, department stores (including leased departments) with 11.4
percent, and gasoline service stations with 6.3 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged
$1.2 million per establishment, compared with $899 thousand in 1987. In
1992, department stores (including leased departments) averaged $21.3
million per establishment; new and used car dealers, $14.0 million;
miscellaneous general merchandise stores, $7.6 million; catalog and
mail-order houses, $3.3 million; and lumber and other building
materials dealers, $2.5 million. 

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $107 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $357 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $29 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $2.9 billion,
compared with $2.0 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of
establishments with payroll averaged 11.9 percent for all retailers,
28.2 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 6.4 percent for
gasoline service stations. 

There were 226,690 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 203,847
employees in 1987. Large employers included restaurants with 41,081
employees, refreshment places with 33,469 employees, and grocery stores
with 30,918 employees.