Summary of Findings  
  
  
Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Utah's 9,175 
retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $12.4 billion. In
1987, 8,519 retail stores had sales of $8.4 billion. The 1992
data represent an increase of 47.7 percent in total retail sales
for the State.   
  
For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores 
accounted for 21.6 percent of the State's total sales by
retailers compared with 21.8 percent in 1987. Other leading
retail kinds of business in 1992 were new and used car dealers
with 17.4 percent of sales, department stores (including leased
departments) with 10.3 percent, and gasoline service stations
with 7.9 percent.   
  
For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State
averaged $1.3 million per establishment, compared with $984
thousand in 1987. In 1992, department stores (including leased
departments) averaged $13.7 million per establishment; new and
used car dealers, $12.2 million; miscellaneous general
merchandise stores, $5.8 million; grocery stores, $4.3 million;
and lumber and other building materials dealers, $3.2 million.   
  
For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee  
averaged $98 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per
employee of $361 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $22
thousand per employee average for restaurants.   
  
The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $1.4
billion, compared with $963 million for 1987. Payroll as a
percent of sales of establishments with payroll averaged 11.2
percent for all retailers, 25.3 percent for retail bakeries,
compared with 5.7 percent for gasoline service stations.   
  
There were 126,284 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged
in retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with
108,925 employees in 1987. Large employers included refreshment
places with 21,126 employees, grocery stores with 19,421
employees, and restaurants with 19,070 employees.