Full text of G.17 Department Store Credit : October 5, 1951

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BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
G.17»3

October 5, 1951
DEPARTMENT STORE CREDIT -AUGUST 1 9 # .

I n s t a l m e n t accounts r e c e i v a b l e a t department:] s t o r e s did not
change during August, b u t a t t h e month-end, "were 11 per cent below the
l e v e l of a year ago. C o l l e c t i o n s on i n s t a l m e n t accounts, i n c r e a s e d 3 per
cent i n August and r e s u l t e d i n a c o l l e c t i o n r a t i o of 19, one p o i n t above
both July and the preceding August, The average repayment p e r i o d f o r
i n s t a l m e n t indebtedness was about 9 months.
Charge accounts r e c e i v a b l e on August 31 were 1 per cent above
the l e v e l of the J u l y month-end* The y e a r - t o - y e a r gain was 3 per c e n t •
Charge-account c o l l e c t i o n s were down 7 per c e n t during' August, b u t the
r a t e of repayment was somewhat h i g h e r than i n J u l y , as shown by the
i n c r e a s e i n the c o l l e c t i o n r a t i o from li6 t o ' l | 8 . This reduced the average
repayment p e r i o d t o about 63 days,
''
' In s ta lme n t s a l e s r o s e 39 per cent i n August, while chargesaccount s a l e s i n c r e a s e d 21 per c e n t . Cash s a l e s .were up 1? per c e n t . ~
I n c r e a s e s i n a l l t h r e e types of s a l e s have been usual i n August. Despite
these i n c r e a s e s , s a l e s were below the high' l e v e l s of a year ago.

Department S t o r e S a l e s , Accounts R e c e i v a b l e , and C o l l e c t i o n s
percentage change from:'
August 1950
July 1951
to
to
August 1951" August 19^1

Item

Sales during month
Cash
Instalment
Charge accounts

+17
+39
+21

Accounts r e c e i v a b l e , end of month
/ Instar.me2.it accounts
Charge accounts
C o l l e c t i o n s during month
Instalment
Charge accounts

,"

- 2
-21
- 7

' .

o.. ...
+ 1
+ 3
- 7

•

-11
+ 3

•

•

+ h
0'

R a t i o of c o l l e c t i o n s during month t o accounts r e c e i v a b l e a t beginning of month:
. Aliens t
July
' Au u s t
'
19^1
. 1951
lv#
Instalm e n t accounts
Charge accounts

• B .

18
k6

18

oTEs—
Fig'irea"Tor August 1951 a r e p r e l i m i n a r y and s u b j e c t to r e v i s i o n .
Digitized11for
FRASER


'

0.17.3

- 2 -

§•

DZP/iRTIZMTSTCRZS- AUGUST 1951
Cash and Credit S a l e s , by Federal Reserve D i s t r i c t s
Federal
Reserve
District

Aug.
19%.

Boston
r.Tev; YorkPhiladelphia
Cleveland.
Richmond
Atlanta
Chicago
S t . Louis
MinneapolisKansas City
Dallas
San Frgncisco

- 1#
160
-IE? .
196
132
250
2D 3
2-^1.
219
280
2l0
216

\

U . S . Total

Indexes:
sales
Aug.
July
1 9 5 l _ 1950

19W- a v e r a g T ^ 100
instalment s a l e s
."July
Aug.
Hug.
1951
195"
1951P

ftash

191

219
221171
• 27"
176
323.
199
268
131
301
Leo'
219

135
133
lUo
169
167
215 '
17 n
173
-189
216
216
182

166
166
168
197
175
253
2^8
212
252
281,
253
226

163

196' '

230

Charge-account s a l e i
Aug.
July
Aug.
1951? 1951- 1950

.32^
131
265
165
2al
119
188
3hS
203
122
256
357
27k
153
170 • 361
231
395
'2-6
335
3n"
59k
170
260 .

li;6
1.13
171
2" 7
190
232
210
-197
239
223
251
225

121
121
119
167
153
135
166
171
166
185
212
192

159
1L8
168
217
201
2ll
221
213
"273?.lr
275
216

165

195

160

209

292

Accounts Receivable and C o l l e c t i o n s , by Federal Reserve D i s t r i c t s
A-oderal District -

Dr
Rnilaaslrhia
Cleveland
_-.t±anta .
Cnicsgo
St. louis
Minneapolis
fCahsas.City
Dallas
San Francisco
'

U.. S . Total

Accounts outstanding, end of month
Collection r a t i o s *
Inoexes: 1 % 1 average; ==100
Charge-account
Charge-account
Instalment
Instalment
A-.ig. July Aug. -4ug. ' July Aug. AUg. July aug. Aug. Juiy Aug.
195lp 1951 195" 1951P 1951 1950 1951P 1951 I950 1951P 1951 195"
153
177
166
251
162
3L7173
235
159
293
l":6
231

182
ISO
191
253
lcl
339
177
231
1-80
295
1^06
229

17°
225
158
175
217
215
2'2
265
176
199
2'i8
111
20^
2-0
226
237
222 ' 167
212
3^8
5&8 ' 2 0 6
211
253

I80
165
226
2"0
2-5
2^3
199
223
ISO
211
203
201

18
162
152 - 17
13
20^
18
198
18
171
2-0
17
22 196
20
227
22
196
20
221
20^3
17
216
21

16
15
16
17
16
15
21
13
21
13
16
20

16
16
17
17
19
Ih
21
19
"20
17
12
19 .

U6
U2
15
•h9
140
39
53
U8
52
ItO
52

L6
b3
Uh
hi
U?
h3
51
hS
hh
37
12
39
53 , 9
-b?
r
h7
55
51
h9. 55
51
h7
52
h?

.215

215

2hl

195

191

18

18

h8

1*6

197

19

55

5"

p---Telimlnary.
•>—Cclleetions during month as percentage of accounts r e c e i v a b l e a t beginning of
month..
MOID:—These data are "based on r e p o r t s of' about 1*75 l a i ^ e . department s t o r e s r e p o r t ing s a l e s by type of t r a n s a c t i o n , more than I4OO having charge accounts and
about 300 having instalment accounts. Back f i g u r e s may be obtained on r e quest from the Division of Research and S t a t i s t i c s ,