Metro Market Studies PO Box 32398 Tucson, AZ 85751 Email: abmetro@aol.com

Each guide lists the retail and wholesale companies in each of the top metropolitan areas and top television markets. The GUIDE lists the number of stores each company has in the area, the market share for each company (based on dollar sales, as opposed to consumer survey results such as 'favorite store, or times shopped estimates'), the location of its buying office, the total number of stores that office controls, and if the company purchases the majority of products from a wholesaler or co-op group, we list the name of that company as its supplier.

In the Grocery book we include the sales from grocery departments of wholesale clubs (e.g. Costco), the grocery departments sales of discount store Supercenters (e.g. Wal-Mart Supercenters, Target Super Stores, and Kmart Supercenters), and the grocery sales of only those convenience stores which do a significant dollar volume per store of grocery products.

In the Drug Store book we include only the drug department sales of discount stores which have pharmacies, wholesale club stores which have pharmacies, and grocery stores which have pharmacies.

Standard Metropolitan Area county definitions and television market definitions are used.

Please use these links to view a sample page from each of the guides.

• Grocery Sample Pages
• Drug Store Sample Pages
• Discount Store Sample Page
• Index of Companies by Metro Area Sample Page (Grocery Example)

• Grocery Store Sample Excel 5 Spreadsheet
• Drug Store Sample Excel 5 Spreadsheet
• Discount Store Sample Excel 5 Spreadsheet

Metropolitan Areas	Metropolitan Statistical Areas covered in each Guide
Television Markets	Television Markets covered in each guide.
Sample Maps	Sample Maps from the books and the CDs.

Metro Market Studies gathers information from a variety of trade sources. Retailers and wholesalers are contacted each year. Store counts and sales are analyzed for each company. Estimates are made if necessary. Over 10,000 changes are made to our database each year. When all the updates are entered, the data is recalculated.. This is done annually. We believe the market share figures to be reasonable guides to the relative importance of each company in the area.

A brief description of page headings follows:

Metro Area - Metropolitan area county definitions are used.

TV Market - TV Markets based on Nielsen market definitions

Population - The number of people residing in the area.

Population Rank - The relative ranking of the area compared to all other metro areas or TV Markets.

MARKET STATISTICS

The figures are on an index basis and each market is compared to the U.S. average on a per capita basis with the U.S. average equal to 100. For example, if the "grocery sales" figure for a market is 110 that means this market has a per capita sales figure for food that is 10% higher than the U.S. average. TV Coverage From: The source of predominant TV coverage is shown here.

This section of the GUIDE is found at the end of the market statistics section for both the Metro Areas and the TV Markets. For each company we list the buying or division office and for each office we list the metro or TV Markets in which there are stores controlled by that office.

Through the use of this index one can determine how wide a distribution gap is in terms of lost retail sales by market. As an example, if your product is not carried by CVS in Dallas, Texas, you can turn to this index and find CVS and you will find every metro area in which they have stores. You can then determine the percent of retail sales you are missing in each market by referring to the market data pages.

Index of Companies by Metro Area Sample Page (Grocery Example)

TEST MARKET SELECTIONS
It is generally assumed that one of the requirements for a test market is self containment or isolation from other markets. Where this is the case a market would not be selected if a major portion of its retail volume is controlled by buying offices outside the metro area unless direct shipments can be arranged for with each group. And if television is to play an important part in the media strategy, a market would not be selected if its television coverage is from outside the area. (Each metro area has at least one major newspaper so print coverage is much more localized.)

MARKET EXPANSION OF NEW PRODUCTS
By knowing that major chain buying units have stores in more than one metro area, and by pinpointing them with the use of the "INDEX OF COMPANIES BY METRO AREAS" in the back of the GUIDE, a logical pattern of new product expansion can be developed following natural lines of distribution.

EVALUATING SALES RESULTS AND DETERMINING POTENTIAL
Knowing that buying offices have stores outside of a metropolitan area, and knowing where the majority of them are, it is possible to correlate shipments to each buying unit with the retail sales of these other stores.

Therefore, each market can be analyzed in terms of its retail sales importance. This is important for cities which do not have buying offices. Sometimes, sales credit is given only to the city where the buying office is, neglecting the need for advertising and retail sales coverage for those cities where the stores are located.

Advertising weight, sales coverage, and promotion efforts can be allocated by correlating the retail information with other indices or measures that each company might normally use.

EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF DISTRIBUTION GAPS
If a product does not have distribution in a specific account, by comparing the number of stores in the unit with the number of its stores in the metropolitan area, it can be determined whether the gap extends outside of the metropolitan area. In the case of the major chains listed in the "INDEX OF COMPANIES BY METRO AREAS," it can be determined what other metropolitan areas are involved, and about how much retail business is being missed in them.

OTHER USES
Each individual will find other situations in which this information can be used to meet specific needs.

One possibility is to group the metropolitan areas or TV Markets by the sales territories of your operation. In this way, the metropolitan make-up of each territory can be seen at a glance, enabling easier sales analysis, and pointing out areas to investigate for specific problems.

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