Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that the United
States' 1,526,215 retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $01.9
trillion. In 1987, 1,503,593 retail stores had sales of $1.5 trillion.
The 1992 data represent an increase of 26.9 percent in total retail
sales for the United States. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores
accounted for 18.6 percent of the United States' total sales by
retailers compared with 19.1 percent in 1987. Other leading retail
kinds of business in 1992 were new and used car dealers with 17.6
percent of sales, department stores (including leased departments) with
10.1 percent, and gasoline service stations with 7.1 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the United States
averaged $1.2 million per establishment, compared with $993 thousand in
1987. In 1992, department stores (including leased departments)
averaged $17.3 million per establishment; new and used car dealers,
$13.7 million; miscellaneous general merchandise stores, $4.5 million;
catalog and mail-order houses, $4.4 million; and lumber and other
building materials dealers, $2.7 million. 

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $103 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $388 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $29 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the United States amounted to $223
billion, compared with $178 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of
sales of establishments with payroll averaged 11.8 percent for all
retailers, 26.1 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 5.6 percent
for gasoline service stations. 

There were 18,407,453 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the United States as of mid-March 1992, compared with
17,779,942 employees in 1987. Large employers included restaurants with
2,988,535 employees, grocery stores with 2,682,153 employees, and
refreshment places with 2,651,779 employees.