Slide 15 of 33
Notes:
The distinction between retail and wholesale trade used to be in terms of who the customer was. Under SIC retailers were those who sold to consumers, and wholesalers sold to businesses and institutions. Then along came a variety of computer stores and office supply stores and building material stores that sold to both businesses and individuals.
In NAICS, a retailer is characterized more by the way it does business–with a storefront, advertising to the public, and display of merchandise–than who its customer is.
The net effect of these changes is to subtract some activity from wholesale trade and add it to retail trade.
