1992 CENSUS OF WHOLESALE TRADE Type-of-Operation Classifications =>GENERAL In addition to being classified by kind of business, each wholesale establishment was classified for the census by type of operation according to the ownership of the business, ownership of the goods sold, or character of the principal transactions. Establishments in wholesale trade are grouped into the following three major types of operation and related subgroups: =>MERCHANT WHOLESALERS ->ABOUT MERCHANT WHOLESALERS Establishments primarily engaged in buying and selling merchandise on their own account. Included here are such types of establishments as wholesale merchants or jobbers, industrial distributors, voluntary group wholesalers, importers, exporters, cash and carry wholesalers, retailer cooperative warehouses, terminal and country grain elevators, farm products assemblers, wholesale cooperative associations, and petroleum bulk plants and terminals operated by nonrefining companies. ->WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS AND JOBBERS Establishments primarily engaged in buying and selling merchandise in the domestic market not manufactured by the parent company. ->IMPORTERS Establishments buying and selling goods at wholesale on their own account, whose principal source of purchases was foreign. ->EXPORTERS Establishments primarily engaged in purchasing goods in the United States and selling them to foreign customers. ->TERMINAL GRAIN ELEVATORS Grain elevators primarily engaged in buying and selling grain received from county grain elevators and grain marketing establishments. They have sizable space for grain storage, and products are received primarily by rail or barge rather than by truck. ->COUNTRY GRAIN ELEVATORS Grain elevators, cooperative or other, buying and receiving grain directly from farmers by truck and selling at wholesale. ->ASSEMBLERS OF FARM PRODUCTS, EXCEPT COUNTRY GRAIN ELEVATORS Establishments primarily engaged in purchasing directly from farmers and assembling and marketing farm products at wholesale. =>MANUFACTURERS' SALES BRANCHES AND OFFICES ->ABOUT MANUFACTURERS' SALES BRANCHES AND OFFICES Establishments maintained by manufacturing, refining, and mining companies apart from their plants or mines for marketing their products at wholesale. Branch stores selling to household consumers and individual users are classified in retail trade. Sales branches and offices located at plants and administrative offices are included when separate records are available. ->MANUFACTURERS' SALES BRANCHES A branch with a stock of merchandise for sale. Included are refiner- marketers owned and operated by petroleum refining companies primarily for marketing their products. ->MANUFACTURERS' SALES OFFICES An office without a stock of merchandise for sale. =>AGENTS, BROKERS, AND COMMISSION MERCHANTS ->ABOUT AGENTS, BROKERS, AND COMMISSION MERCHANTS Establishments whose operators are in business for themselves and are primarily engaged in selling or buying goods for others. Included here are such types of operations as auction companies, import agents, export agents, selling agents, merchandise brokers, and commission merchants. "Sales" as shown in census publications for agents, brokers, and commission merchants represent the gross sales (or purchase) value of the goods in the transactions negotiated. ->AUCTION COMPANIES Wholesale establishments primarily engaged in selling merchandise on an agency basis by auction. ->BROKERS (REPRESENTING BUYERS OR SELLERS) Wholesale establishments primarily engaged in selling or buying merchandise in the domestic market on a brokerage basis but not receiving the goods on consignment. ->COMMISSION MERCHANTS Wholesale establishments operating in the domestic market receiving goods for sale on consignment. ->IMPORT AGENTS Merchandise agents and brokers in the domestic market buying merchandise from or selling merchandise for foreign firms. ->EXPORT AGENTS Merchandise agents and brokers in the domestic market selling to or buying for foreign customers. ->MANUFACTURERS' AGENTS Wholesale establishments in the domestic market selling for a limited number of manufacturers on a continuing agency basis.