Recession Took Heavy Toll On The Area's Retail Sales Unless It Was A Bookstore Or A Drugstore, Sales Were Down Between 1987 And '92.

Retailing in the Philadelphia area shrank between 1987 and 1992, largely

because of the recession, according to economic data being released today.

But if you sold books, or hawked goods through the mail or on television, or ran a drugstore, those were relatively fat years even after adjusting for inflation.

Retail sales totaled $37.6 billion in the Philadelphia area in 1992, down 2 percent from 1987 in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the 1992 Census of Retail Trade, which is being released by the U.S. Census Bureau today for Pennsylvania. New Jersey's census was released last week.

The retail trade census is taken every five years, as are economic censuses of manufacturing, services and other sectors. These compilations are the government's most comprehensive look at the condition of American business. Unlike most other economic statistics, which are based on surveys, economic census questionnaires go to every firm.

Unemployment, slow income growth or none at all, and a lack of consumer confidence depressed retail sales in that five-year period, said regional economist Richard M. Stein of CoreStates Financial Corp.

"I would attribute most of that (decline) to the recession," Stein said. Since 1992, there have been modest retail increases in parts of the Philadelphia area, but continuing declines or no growth in the city, he said.

In the City of Philadelphia, where retail sales were down 8 percent in the five-year period, the only retailers whose sales grew were apparel, drug and proprietary stores, according to the census.

The number of retail establishments in the city was down nearly 4 percent, to 8,063, between 1987 and 1992, the census indicated. The annual payroll for retail workers was down 14 percent to about $1 billion, after inflation. The number of paid employees - no distinction was made between full- and part-time work - was down about 14 percent in the city.

Not all retail business did poorly.

In Bucks County, for example, "nonstore retailers" - catalogue, mail- order and direct-selling firms - experienced massive growth. In 1987, the 73 nonstore retailers did $184 million in business. In 1992, 71 such retailers did nearly $533 million in business in Bucks, the report said.

Pennsylvania nonstore retailers sold more than $4.75 billion in goods in 1992, up from $3.11 billion in 1987.

Bookstores, which were a $162 million business in the eight-county Philadelphia area in 1992, also showed strong growth. In several counties, bookstores sales registered double-digit gains after inflation in the five- year period.

In Pennsylvania, retail sales in 1992 were the highest in Allegheny County, followed by Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Lancaster and York Counties.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

* The 1992 Census of Retail Trade for Pennsylvania and New Jersey can be ordered from the U.S. Census Bureau at 301-763-4100.