Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that Virginia's
37,360 retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $48.0 billion. In
1987, 34,916 retail stores had sales of $39.0 billion. The 1992 data
represent an increase of 23.3 percent in total retail sales for the
State. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores
accounted for 20.0 percent of the State's total sales by retailers
compared with 20.1 percent in 1987. Other leading retail kinds of
business in 1992 were new and used car dealers with 17.3 percent of
sales, department stores (including leased departments) with 8.9
percent, and gasoline service stations with 7.4 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged
$1.3 million per establishment, compared with $1.1 million in 1987. In
1992, new and used car dealers averaged $13.9 million per
establishment; department stores (including leased departments), $13.5
million; catalog and mail-order houses, $6.0 million; miscellaneous
general merchandise stores, $3.7 million; and lumber and other building
materials dealers, $3.6 million. 

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $101 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $347 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $29 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $5.8 billion,
compared with $4.6 billion for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of
establishments with payroll averaged 12.0 percent for all retailers,
26.6 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 6.7 percent for
gasoline service stations. 

There were 474,595 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 453,325
employees in 1987. Large employers included grocery stores with 73,365
employees, restaurants with 72,278 employees, and refreshment places
with 71,268 employees.