Table 1.
Potential data source | Data available for the 1980s | Dates of operation | How often information is updated | Store name and address | Indicator of scale of operationsb | Some information for classifying food store as supermarket, etc. | Include small grocery stores |
GOVERNMENT SOURCES | |||||||
Local business licensing agencies | Yesc | Yes | When licenses are renewed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
State Board of Equalizationd (California) | Yes | Can be derived from multiple renewal records | When permits are renewed | Yes | No | Yes | Only those that carry taxable itemse |
COMMERCIAL SOURCES | |||||||
Dun & Bradstreetf | Yes | Yes | Semi-annually | Yes | Yesg | Yes | Not usually |
Trade Dimensionsh | Yes | Yes | Annually or semi-annually | Yes | Yes | Yes | Stores with annual sales volume of <$0.5 m are not usually included |
Yellow Pages | Yes | No | Updated only when advertisement contract is renewed | Address sometimes not available | No | Yes | Usually |
aInformation presented here was obtained in 2002–2003 for data relevant to 1979–1990.
bIndicators of scale of operations included annual sales volume, number of employees, number of cash registers, and store area (square footage).
cOnly one city agency (Modesto) was able to retrieve data for 1979–1990.
dThe California State Board of Equalization (SBOE) is responsible for collecting and allocating sales and use taxes from all businesses that sell taxable goods http://www.boe.ca.gov/index.htm, and has records of all retail food stores except those that sell only non-taxable items such as fresh meat, produce and dairy. The data were obtained from Merlin Information Services (Kalispell, MT), a private vendor of national and California-specific public record information.
eAll stores that sell taxable items are required by law to apply for a permit but compliance is not 100%.
fDun & Bradstreet (Short Hills, NJ) is an established organization that maintains one of the most comprehensive business information databases in North America.
gData for chain stores are available only at the corporate level, but not at the store level.
hTrade Dimensions (Wilton, CT) gathers data on the retail food industry and provides marketing information to organizations such as the Food Marketing Institute and Progressive Grocer.