Archived - Standard Industrial Classification - Establishments (SIC-E) 1980

J - Retail Trade Industries

Establishments included in retail trade are those primarily engaged in retail dealing, i.e. buying commodities for resale to the general public for personal or household consumption and in providing related services such as installation and repair. In general, retail establishments are classified by kind of business according to the principal lines of commodities sold and services provided. Processing which is incidental or subordinate to the selling activity is sometimes carried on in retail stores, e.g. tea blending or spice grinding in food stores. Ancillary activities are associated with some kinds of retail establishments, e.g. warehouses or garages operated by department or chain stores.
Establishments such as farm machinery dealers and dealers in farm supplies which sell to the farmer as a farm operator are considered to be in wholesale trade but those which sell to farmers as household consumers, e.g. food or apparel stores are included in retail trade. On the other hand, lumber and building materials dealers, fuel dealers and sellers of office furniture, machines and equipment, of industrial machinery, of commercial and professional furniture and of machinery and equipment are classified in wholesale whether they sell mainly to other businesses or to household consumers. In this Division, the concept of "primarily engaged in" must be interpreted differently from its treatment in other Divisions of the classification (cf. Introduction, C.4).