C L /Q>^7: Ci/3 A UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PUBLICATION URBAN PROFILE mm CHILDREN'S AND INFANTS' WEAR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Economic Development Administration Office of Minority Business Enterprise y For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 25 cents URBAN BUSINESS PROFILE CHILDREN'S AND INFANTS' WEAR SIC 5641 April 1972 EDA-72-59583 Prepared for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION in cooperation with OFFICE OF MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Washington, D.C. 20230 Peter G. Peterson, Secretary Robert A. Podesta, Assistant Secretary |. for Economic Development ^ John L. Jenkins, Director 4j Office of Minority Business Enterprise This report was prepared by Boise Cascade Center for Community Development, Washington, D.C., under contract with the Office of Economic Research, Economic Development Administration. The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and other data in this report are solely those of the contractor and do not necessar- ily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration. FOREWORD As part of a continuing program to provide encouragement and assistance to small business ventures, the U.S. Department of Com- merce is issuing a series of Urban Business Profiles. It is hoped that these reports will serve as a meaningful vehicle to introduce the prospective small urban entrepreneur to selected urban-oriented businesses. More specifically, a judicious use of these profiles could: provide a potential businessman with a better understanding of the opportunities, requirements, and problems associated with particular businesses; provide guidelines on types of information required for location-specific feasibility studies; assist urban development groups in their business creation activities. «. .^7**7*^0^7^ Robert A. Podesta Assistant Secretary for Economic Development Table of Contents Page I. Recommendation 1 II. Description 2 A. Identification 2 B. Industry Dimensions 2 C. Industry Characteristics 2 1. Nature of the Product 2 2. Nature of the Customer 3 3. Competition 3 4. Promotional Techniques 4 5. Ease of Entry 5 6. Capital Requirements 5 7. Profitability 6 8. Outside Factors Affecting Business Success III. Business Opportunities in the Industry A. Success Determinants 7 B. Examples of Returns Attainable in the Industry. 8 1. Small Suburban Shopping Center Partnership .... 8 2. Downtown Specialty Shop 8 IV. Establishing the New Business 9 A. Establishing the Market 9 B. Securing Capital 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY/TRADE ASSOCIATIONS OFFICE OF MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (OMBE) AFFILIATES URBAN BUSINESS PROFILES URBAN BUSINESS PROFILE Children's and Infants' Wear (SIC 5641) I. RECOMMENDATION Entry into the dynamic industry of children's and infants' wear sales is recommended only for those who are experienced retailers, who have experience in following apparel fashion trends, and who have access to at least $80,000 of risk equity capital from personal savings or investors. The children's and infants' wear industry has be- come an increasingly important part of total apparel industry sales, with a dollar volume of approximately $500 million in 1969. Yet the children's and infants' wear retail trade had a failure rate of 49 firms out of every 10,000 in 1968, according to Dun and Bradstreet, mak- ing its industry failure rate higher than average for the retail field. The dynamic changes that are continually taking place in the in- dustry can, however, offer rewards to the retailer who knows both his local market and the trends in children's fashion to which the buyer is increasingly sensitive. The minority entrepreneur who meets 1 the above qualifications and who is able to locate so as to take best advantage of his desired market segment will be in a position to capitalize on growth trends in the industry. II. DESCRIPTION A. Identification Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 5641 defines children's and infants' wear stores as those stores stocking and selling a variety of clothing sized and designed especially for children from infancy to the age of 12 years. An assortment of children's furniture, toys and accessories is also included. B. Industry Dimensions Trends within the industry indicate a movement toward fewer but larger stores. The number of specialty stores decreased from 4,879 establishments with payroll in 1963, to 3,556 in 1967, while the aver- age annual sales per store went from $79,960 in 1963 to $92,700 in 1967. The typical selling space in a specialty store has increased from 1,800 to 2,500 square feet in the same time period. These trends have continued since that period. Industry sources indicate that several other trends have become apparent. Departments devoted to infants' and children's wear have proliferated in department stores on an increasingly subdepartmen- talized basis, breaking merchandise down into increasingly narrower age groupings, such as preteen or teen. This has also been the case in specialty stores where emphasis has been on merchandising to children by breaking them into age categories. There has also been growth in the selling of children's and infants' wear in men's and women's shops, supermarkets, drugstores, and variety chains, result- ing in increased competition for those specialty and department stores that base their market appeal on greater convenience and lower price. Sales of suburban retailers are also increasing at a faster rate than downtown, reflecting, in part, demographic patterns and the convenience and increased appeal of shopping centers. C. Industry Characteristics 1. Nature of the Product The infants' and children's wear industry is designed to satisfy clothing needs of children to the age of 12, including diapers, under- wear, nightwear, day wear, coats, shoes, and accessory needs. The apparel is increasingly styled for adaptability to children's activities, ease of care, and durability. These items may thus be considered both staple and impulse and are for the most part repeat sale items. Infants' and children's clothing and accessories are available in a wide range of prices. Price range bears a functional relationship to quality and, therefore, to the nature of the particular merchant's tar- get market. "Big ticket" products may include those items which are specially designed or novelty creations or which are sold as accesso- ries to children's wear such as jewelry and toilet items. The marketing or sales approach is very much dependent upon the type of store and the target market. It may reflect a higher price, high quality, and service orientation, as does the department or spe- cialty store, or a lower price, less quality conscious, self-service ap- proach characteristic of the discount or drugstore. Higher price de- partment stores and discount stores currently lead the children's wear industry in terms of growth in sales volumes. 2. Nature of the Customer Despite the fact that children are the ultimate wearers of the mer- chandise sold by children's and infants' wear stores, adults are usually the purchasers. Adults develop preferences toward a particu- lar seller on the basis of price, quality of merchandise, service, selec- tion, style, and goodwill. Children's wear retailers have found the most profitable locations for business to be those areas with a heavy concentration of families, with adequate housing facilities for future growth, and with business and commercial activity capable of sustaining local population growth. Locational determinants to be considered in the selection of a particular site include the extent of customer traffic (including pe- destrian) and the nature of the existing stores in both the immediate vicinity and in the community. 3. Competition Infants' and children's wear stores may take any of several organi- zational forms — proprietorships, corporations, franchises. No single form predominates, though the growth in the number of department stores that include infants' and children's wear departments and the trend in the industry toward larger size and multiple stores suggest increasing use of the corporate form. One of the most significant features of the industry from the competitive aspect is the large vari- ety in the types of business operations which stock and sell infants' and children's wear; outlets include everything from department stores and specialty stores to discount operations, supermarkets, and mail order houses. Fashion consciousness has become more and more significant in the industry, particularly at the higher quality outlets. Department stores and specialty shops in particular have based their approach on quality and fashion, competing with each other largely on the basis of price and service. The low-end price lines tend to be "fashion fol- lowers" and are handled primarily by stores such as discounts, chains, mail order firms, supermarkets, and varieties which depend on high turnover for success. Use of a merchandise buying service may offer the smaller retailer a source of information about price changes, new merchandise, best sellers, and other trade features on which success in his chosen market is based. There are three major types of buying services which an infants' and children's wear retailer may use. All fulfill the same function, market representation for the stores served, but differ from one an- other in the matter of ownership. Wholly owned services include Al- lied Purchasing Corp. and the May Company; association buying off- ices (owned and operated by members and stockholders) include Associated Merchandising Corp. and the Specialty Stores Associa- tion; and privately owned independent buying offices include Kirby Block & Co. and Youth Fashion Guild. Unless the prospective entre- preneur is very experienced in the trade, he should investigate affili- ation with an established buying service. 4. Promotional Techniques Every infants' and children's operation needs sales promotion to attract customers. But too often, store owners equate merchandise promotion with reduced prices alone. This is usually a mistake. Un- less the store is purely a bargain operation, it has other things to of- fer — values, assortment, service, and fashion. Some of its promo- tional efforts should, therefore, be keyed to these themes. The major methods for promotion used in the industry are newspaper advertising, direct mail, and store window displays. While newspaper advertising gets its major share of the large store's pro- motional dollar, smaller stores with smaller budgets have tended to avoid the newspaper because they cannot afford professional adver- tising staffs. However, some smaller stores have found that running small ads regularly keeps the store's name before the public, and that the extra cost of professional advertising help is often offset by the extra sales for which the ads are responsible. With respect to direct mail, this technique has the virtue of being available to any store, no matter how small the amount it can invest. A mailing list should be developed from customer records, supple- mented by birth lists and school rosters. Perhaps the most economical form of promotion is the store window display, and specialty stores have found this to be the best way of attracting customers. Effective windows tell a story, and each item displayed should be an integral part of that story, with no ex- traneous merchandise present. 5. Ease of Entry The industry is characterized by relatively easy entry, the one re- strictive factor perhaps being the trend toward bigness and the con- sequent financing problems. Licensing is usually required at the local level, but this, as a rule, does not pose a serious or costly problems. In a major city, a specialty store with an $80,000 or more annual sales volume and with a selling area of 20 by 100 square feet re- quires a minimum capital investment of about $45,000. This figure by 1970 standards represents a rather small initial investment. Once a general area has been selected in which to locate, feasibility plan- ning should be done on the basis of available store space, sources of supply, and licensing and capital requirements. One means by which a businessman new to infants' and children's wear may become bet- ter acquainted is by joining an infants' wear and children's wear merchandising group, such as Youth Fashion Guild and the National Retail Merchants Association. 6. Capital Requirements Financing in the infants' and children's wear business today must be thought of only in "big" terms. Insufficient financing at the outset is extremely dangerous. In 1967 an estimated capital investment of $35,000 was required to finance a 20 by 100 foot shop capable of generating a sales volume of $80,000 in the first year, with $15,000 to $18,000 going for fixturing, $17,000 for inventory, and $3,000 for other expenses. Capital needs for almost all types of shops have since climbed. In 1970, a recommended minimum capital investment for an infants' and children's wear store was about $45,000. How- ever, this figure will vary considerably with the particular store's situ- ation — rents, anticipated price and quality level of the merchandise, and amount of service offered. 5 Determination of the initial capital needs may be accomplished through a valuation of opening merchandise inventory, a summation of projected fixture and equipment costs, and an estimate of such operating expenses as credit costs, payroll size, and startup expenses such as licensing and advertising. Other important factors to be considered in determining the capi- tal investment required in infants' and children's wear retailing in- clude the intended markup on the merchandise to be carried and the expected annual turnover of inventory. The children's and in- fants' wear trade average of three stock turnovers per year (calcu- lated by dividing annual net sales by average monthly inventory) is lower than is usually found in men's and women's wear sales and is the main reason for a relatively high initial capital requirement in children's and infants' wear stores. This turnover rate will often vary by specific items within the store's stock, and successful stores are adept at stocking these high turnover items. 7. Profitability Trade data on infants' and children's wear stores throughout the U.S. indicate the following operating ratios for the "average" chil- dren's and infants' wear store: 1969 Item Percentage Net sales 100.0 Cost of goods sold 61 .0 Gross margin 39.0 Total operating expenses 36.8 Owner's compensation 10.4 Employee wages and benefits 8.2 Occupancy 8.4 Advertising 1.8 Depreciation, fixtures 1.5 Buying expenses 1.0 All other expenses 5.5 Net profit before taxes 2.2 Inventory turnover (annual) 2.9 Gross margins in the industry have improved from 32.5 in 1957 to 39.0 in 1969, and the annual turnover rate has risen slightly from 2.6 in 1957 to 2.9 in 1969. These figures should not be taken to indicate an industrywide strengthening of margins, as they are suggestive 6 primarily of the growing market strength of the department store outlets at the upper end of the market. 8. Outside Factors Affecting Business Success The seasonal cycles exert a strong influence on the apparel busi- ness in general, and children's and infants' wear stores are no exception. There is generally slower activity in the winter months, a gradual upswing into the spring, a leveling off during the summer months, and an upswing in the fall lasting through Christmas. A not- able feature in this industry is a general insensitivity to economic downturns, particularly in the discount lines and their outlets. This is an important factor in the projection of sales and turnover rates and offers a favorable margin of stability to this industry. III. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE INDUSTRY A. Success Determinants There are several features of the industry which affect the proba- bilities for business success. • The requirement for substantial display and selling square foot- age is high, due to the necessity for a large stock assortment both in depth and breadth of styles, sizes, and colors. • There is a relatively large amount of "detail" work in the busi- ness due to the breadth and depth of the stock assortment which must be carried. This also requires greater buying and inventory con- trol skills. • An average annual turnover which is slower than men's and women's wear entails a relatively large initial capital investment. • During economic and business downturns this industry is less affected than many retail industries since customers seem to con- tinue spending on their children. • Considerable departmentalization now characterizes the busi- nesses in the industry since fashion considerations have become more essential to selling and since both children and parents are in- creasingly interested in and aware of clothing. Children prefer to find their clothing broken down by age groups, and their growing interest and awareness has tended to increase their influence on par- ents' buying habits. B. Examples of Returns Attainable in the Industry 7. Small Suburban Shopping Center Partnership Two partners open an infants' and children's wear store in a shop- ping center centrally located with respect to several middle income housing developments consisting primarily of young families. This lo- cation affords 8,000 square feet of selling space, good pedestrian traffic, and convenient parking facilities. The merchandise to be car- ried is in the medium price range. There is a weekly regional adver- tiser available. The initial capital investment is $80,000, $70,000 of which is financed by a long term bank loan with a 90 percent Small Business Administration guarantee, with the remaining $10,000 pro- vided by the owners. The business is established as a proprietorship by obtaining a license from the county at a nominal cost. The two proprietors expect to hire additional sales clerks necessary to provide a high level of customer service. First-year sales are good, with oper- ating results as follows: Sales $300,000 100% Cost of goods sold 183,000 Gross margin $117,000 39% Operating expenses $ 94,600 Fixtures $15,000 Wages and benefits 36,000 Rent 3,600 Interest 5,000 Advertising 5,000 Buying expense 3,000 Owner's compensation 26,000 Depreciation 1,000 Net profit before taxes $ 22,400 7.4% 2. Downtown Specialty Shop A proprietor opens a small downtown children's wear shop featur- ing relatively low prices and self-service. High volume is expected to provide enough revenue to cover relatively high operating costs. It is expected that advertising will be important to the operation, and ad- vertising space is bought in the local newspaper. Only 4,500 square feet of selling space is available; display area fixtures are crowded but arranged for maximum traffic. The assortment in terms of style, color, and size is somewhat limited. The strategy is to achieve a faster turnover than is generally found in the industry through lower pricing catering to the lower income level of the majority of the pedestrian traffic. Sixty thousand dollars of financing is needed to open the store; capital sources include: $20,000 Bank loan (5-year, 10%) 10,000 Owner's equity 10,000 Grant, local urban development foundation 20,000 Loan, MESBIC (10-year, 8%) $60,000 First-year operating results for the store: Sales $161,000 100% Cost of goods sold 112,700 Gross margin $ 48,300 30% Operating expenses $ 46,280 Fixtures and equipment $18,000 Wages and owner's compensation 12,880 Rent 4,800 Advertising 3,220 Buying expense 1,980 Depreciation 1,800 Interest costs 3,600 Net profit before taxes $ 2,020 1.3% In the first example, the market was segmented predominantly on the basis of price, quality, and service. A middle-income area offers good consumer spending potential at the level associated with a higher price range, since this income level is in a position to de- mand and to pay for a certain quality and to expect service when a purchase is being considered. The second example portrays a store oriented more toward a market based on daily commercial center traffic. Pricing policy is aimed at capturing impulse sales from passers-by and from respondents to the media advertising which em- phasize price specials. Depth of selection and service are sacrificed for the lower-priced levels. IV. ESTABLISHING THE NEW BUSINESS A. Establishing the Market The first step in starting a new children's and infants' wear store is to determine the market which the store is intended to serve. The prospective entrepreneur must identify the general type of consumer he wishes to cater to. He may wish to locate downtown, for exam- ple, and make his appeal to inner-city residents; or he may take a location in a suburban shopping center and cater to the suburban population. Whatever the decision, it will affect where the new store is to be located, what it's total market is, and what kind of merchandise it should carry. If the market is an upper income one, willing to pay higher prices, it will require higher quality merchandise, dressing room space, merchandise displays, and gift boutiques. The entrepre- neur who wishes to cater to this market will have to invest consider- ably more in a wide range of merchandise, store fixtures, and in trained sales staff than the discount operator. The general procedure to be followed in selecting a store location begins with the identification of several potential locations where space is known to be available, the computation of the number of potential customers within the shopping area of each location (statis- tics from the local school system may be of value), and determina- tion of the amount of annual expenditures on children's wear. An analysis of competition from department stores, discount operations, and other children's wear stores will suggest where underserved markets exist. B. Securing Capital A number of cities have organizations which specialize in assisting minority entrepreneurs to secure capital. A prospective entrepreneur should seek out these sources and go over his plans with them. The local Small Business Administration office or OMBE affiliate may help to put the prospective entrepreneur in touch with sources of capital and to provide the names of banks which have made mi- nority loans. Minority-owned banks may also provide capital. 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY Walker, Herbert S., Nathaniel H. Mendleson, Children's Wear Mer- chandiser, National Retail Merchants Association, New York, 1967. Infants' and Children's Wear Store, Small Business Supplement No. 22 — State of New York Department of Commerce. 7969 Key Business Ratios, Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. Sloane, Leonard, "Boy's Wear Market Termed High Risk," New York Times, January 13, 1971. Retailing, Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C. 20416. Small Business Bibliography No. 10. Revised March 1969. Re- printed November 1969. Discount Retailing, Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C. 20416. Small Business Bibliography. No. 68, Revised April 1968. Reprinted 1970. TRADE ASSOCIATIONS Infants', Children's and Teens' Wear Buyers Association: 45 West 35th Street, New York, New York 10001. Founded 1942. Members, 500. Buyers, merchandisers, and owners of stores selling infants', children's, and teenage apparel. Supplies market information and statistics. Publication: Bulletin, monthly. National Retail Merchants Association (NRMA): 100 West 31st Street, New York, New York 10001. Founded 1911. Members, 14,000. De- partment, chain, and specialty stores retailing men's, women's and children's wear, shoes, dry goods, etc. Conducts conferences and workshops; provides extensive group of manuals, bulletins, pro- motion materials, and advisory services on all phases of retail mer- chandising including budgeting, credit, increasing sales, style changes, visual selling, etc. Publications: 1) Stores, monthly; 2) Re- tail Control (Controllers Congress), monthly; 3) Personnel Service, bimonthly; 4) New Bulletin (Store Management Group). 11 OFFICE OF MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (OMBE) AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS Albuquerque National Economic Development Association (NEDA) 1801 Lomas, N. W. Albuquerque, N. M. 87104 508/843-2386 Victor M. Casaus, Regional Vice President Atlanta Atlanta Business League (NBL) 329 Walker Street, S. W. Atlanta, Georgia 30314 404/524-5449 Franklin F. O'Neal, Executive Director Wendell White (OMBE Representative) 404/526-6304 Baltimore Morgan State College Minority Business Enterprise Project 2108 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218 301/685-0610 Ralph J. Ross, Executive Director Boston The Roxbury Small Business Development Center 126 Warren Street Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119 Bernard Wiley — Acting Executive Director 617/427-6333 Frank Bispham (OMBE Representative) 617/223-2381 Chicago Chicago Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) 162 North State Street, Suite 600 Chicago, Illinois 60601 231/368-0011 Garland Guice, Executive Director Bennett Johnson, Jr. (OMBE Representative) 312/353-4460 NEDA 537 Dearborn South Chicago, Illinois 60605 312/939-2607 Gilbert M. Vega, Regional Vice President Cincinnati Determined Young Men 3880 Reading Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45229 513/221-0180 Merven Stenson, Executive Director Cleveland Greater Cleveland Growth Corporation 690 Union Commerce Building Cleveland, Ohio 44115 216/241-4313 Melvin Roebuck, Executive Director Minority Economic Developers Council (MEDCO) 10518 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44106 Armond L. Robinson, Administrator Dallas Dallas Alliance for Minority Enterprise (DAME) 7200 North Stemmons Freeway Suite 1006, UCC Tower Dallas, Texas 75222 214/637-5170 Walter Durham, Executive Director Denver Colorado Economic Development Association (CEDA) 1721 Lawrence Street Denver, Colorado 80202 303/255-0421 Edward Lucero, Executive Director 12 Detroit Inner City Business Improvement Forum (ICBIF) 6072 - 14th Street Detroit, Michigan 48208 313/361-5150 Walter McMurtry, President El Paso NEDA First National Building Suite 10B 109 North Oregon Street El Paso, Texas 79901 915/533-7423 Jose Manuel Villalobos, Regional Vice President Indianapolis Indianapolis Urban League 445 North Pennsylvania Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 317/639-5391 or 253-5418 Sam Jones, Executive Director Kansas City Black Economic Union (BEU) 2502 Prospect Kansas City, Missouri 64127 816/924-6181 Curtis McClinton, President NEDA 703 North 8th Street Kansas City, Kansas 66100 913/342-6663 Richardo Villalobos, Regional Vice President Los Angeles South Central Improvement Action Committee (IMPAC) 8557 South Broadway Los Angeles, California 90003 213/751-1155 Louis Wilson, Director The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) 1330 South Atlantic Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90022 213/268-6745 Claude Martinez, Director of Development NEDA 5218 East Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90022 213/724-6484 Silvestre Gonzales, Regional Vice President Jack Wilburn, Coordinator 213/824-7691 Powell McDaniel (OMBE Representative) 213/824-7715 Joseph Luna (OMBE Representative) 213/824-7715 Memphis Memphis Business League (NBL) 384 E. H. Crump Boulevard Memphis, Tennessee 39126 901/574-3213 Leonard J. Small, Sr., Project Director Harold Jones (OMBE Representative) 901/534-3216 Miami NEDA 8551 Coral Way Suite 307 Miami, Florida 33155 305/221-5531 Dr. Antonio Machado, Regional Vice President Newark MEDIC Enterprises, Inc. 287 Washington Street Newark, New Jersey 07102 201/642-8054 New Haven Greater New Haven Business and Professional Men's Association 226 Dixwell Avenue New Haven, Connecticut 06511 Gerald S. Clark, Executive Director 203/562-3819 New York Puerto Rican Forum, Inc. 156 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10010 212/691-4150 Hector I. Vasquez, Executive Director 13 New York (continued) Richmond Capital Formation, Inc. 215 W. 125th Street, Room 313 New York, New York 10027 Hirom C. Cintron, Director, Harlem Office 212/222-9650 Brooklyn Local Economic Development Corporation (BLEDCO) 1519 Fulton Street Brooklyn, New York 11216 212/493-1663 Preston Lambert, Executive Director NEDA 19 West 44th Street Room 407 New York, New York 10036 212/687-1128 David J. Burgos, Regional Vice President Philadelphia Entrepreneurial Development Training Center 1501 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 215/763-3300 Alphonso Jackson, Director Phoenix NEDA Amerco Towers 2721 North Central Suite 727 South Phoenix, Arizona 85004 602/263-8070 Joseph Sotelo, Regional Vice President Pittsburgh Business & Job Development Corporation (BJDC) 7800 Susquehanna Street Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208 412/243-5600 Forrest L. Parr, President Marian Diggs (OMBE Representative) 412/644-5529 National Business League 700 North Second Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 703/649-7473 Allen Roots, Acting Project Director San Antonio NEDA 1222 North Main Street Kallison Tower, Room 422 San Antonio, Texas 78233 512/224-1618 Cipriano F. Cuerra, Jr. Regional Vice President Jesse Rios (OMBE Representative) 512/225-5511 San Francisco Plan of Action for Challenging Times (PACT) 635 Divisadero Street San Francisco, California 94117 415/922-7150 Everett Brandon, President Seattle United Inner City Development Foundation 1106 East Spring St. - Xavier Hall Seattle, Washington 98122 206/626-5440 Wilson Culley, Executive Director Washington, D. C. Mayor's Economic Development Committee (MEDCO) 1717 Massachusetts Ave., N. W., Room 704 Washington, D. C 20036 202/667-6480 Michael D. Wallach, Director, Business Assistance Center Curley King (OMBE Representative) 202/967-5051 Howard University's Small Business Guidance & Development Center Post Office Box 553 Washington, D. C. 20001 202/636-7447 Dr. Wilford White, Director 14 Profiles of urban businesses are for sale at listed prices by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Beauty Shops (25 cents) Bowling Alleys (30 cents) Building Service Contracting (30 cents) Children's and Infants' Wear (25 cents) Contract Construction (30 cents) Contract Dress Manufacturing (25 cents) Convenience Stores (25 cents) Custom Plastics (30 cents) Dry Cleaning (25 cents) Furniture Stores (25 cents) Industrial Launderers & Linen Supply (30 cents) Machine Shop Job Work (30 cents) Mobile Catering (25 cents) Pet Shops (30 cents) Photographic Studios (25 cents) Real Estate Brokerage (25 cents) Savings & Loan Associations (30 cents) Supermarkets (30 cents) Preparing a Business Profile (20 cents) ftU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1972-721-933/712 / PENN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES M25A3