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Show Watch Expense on Roadside Stands Costs Total About Forty to Sixty Per Cent of the Value of Sales. By W. C. Hopper of the Now York State College of At-rlculture WNU Service. Nearly two-thirds of the costs of operating a roadside stand are for labor, and If the stand sells less than $1,000 worth of produce, labor and other costs total, on the average, aver-age, about 40 to GO per cent of the value of the sales. The cost of containers makes from 10 to 20 per cent of the total, depending de-pending upon the type of containers used. Many stand operators use paper pa-per bags with their name and address ad-dress printed on the outsid.e of the bag. The bags are clean and do not allow dirt to shake off the pro- duce into the car; the buyer may see the bottom as well as the top of his purchase when It is poured in a bag. Interest and depreciation of buildings build-ings represent about 5 to 10 per cent of the cost. Lights, signs, and improvements make a small portion of the total and vary with the type of the stand. Some stands can spend money profitably on attractive, plainly plain-ly lettered signs, placed where prospective pros-pective buyers can read them, especially espe-cially when it Is impossible to see the stand for a considerable distance. dis-tance. The position of the market on a highway affects the volume of sales. If drivers of passing cars have to watch the road, they are not likely to stop and buy produce. Markets located at or near sharp curves or steep inclines are not usually as successful suc-cessful as the markets on more level sections of the road. |