Summary of Findings


Data from the 1992 Census of Retail Trade show that West Virginia's
10,480 retail stores with payroll had sales totaling $11.2 billion. In
1987, 10,737 retail stores had sales of $9.0 billion. The 1992 data
represent an increase of 24.0 percent in total retail sales for the
State. 

For establishments with payroll in 1992, sales of grocery stores
accounted for 22.3 percent of the State's total sales by retailers
compared with 23.3 percent in 1987. Other leading retail kinds of
business in 1992 were new and used car dealers with 17.5 percent of
sales, department stores (including leased departments) with 11.7
percent, and gasoline service stations with 8.6 percent. 

For 1992, sales for establishments with payroll in the State averaged
$1.1 million per establishment, compared with $841 thousand in 1987. In
1992, department stores (including leased departments) averaged $12.3
million per establishment; new and used car dealers, $8.1 million;
lumber and other building materials dealers, $2.3 million; grocery
stores, $1.9 million; and miscellaneous general merchandise stores,
$1.6 million. 

For retail establishments with payroll, 1992 sales per employee
averaged $100 thousand. New and used car dealers had sales per employee
of $309 thousand, which contrasts sharply with the $25 thousand per
employee average for restaurants. 

The 1992 payroll of retailers in the State amounted to $1.2 billion,
compared with $994 million for 1987. Payroll as a percent of sales of
establishments with payroll averaged 10.8 percent for all retailers,
29.3 percent for retail bakeries, compared with 5.7 percent for
gasoline service stations. 

There were 112,070 paid employees (full- and part-time) engaged in
retail trade in the State as of mid-March 1992, compared with 109,220
employees in 1987. Large employers included grocery stores with 20,304
employees, refreshment places with 17,942 employees, and restaurants
with 12,949 employees.