Evening star., 1943-05-16
0PASets NewCei|inus
On IS Types Of Food
In D. {. Tomorrow
Prices to Be Inforced
In Most Sections
Of Nearby Counties

lie SeCUIlu SeI Oh Ora COM
munity ceilings, affecting nearly
200 brands of Is different types of
food, was announced last night by
District OPA Director Robert K.
Thompson, to become effective in
the Washington marketing area to-
morrow.
Foods affected include canned
peas, corn, tomatoes, green snap or
wax beans, tomato juice, canned
peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, pine
apple, lima beans, carrots, spinach,
jellies and jams, beets and baby
foods.
Meanwhile the OPA listed the
following as the retail meat dis
tributors who have been directed to
hold their selling prices at least
10 per cent under the dollars-and-
cents ceilings which go into effect
tomorrow:
The Great Atlantic and Pacific
Tea Co., Safeway Stores, Inc. First
National Stores. Colonial Stores,
American Stores, the Food Fair,
Grand Union Co.. Kroger Grocery
and Baking Co., H. c. Bohack Co.,
National Tea Co. and Jewel Tea Co.
Action Is Limited.
The action. formalizing an earlier
request, applied to those distribu-
tors whose annual gross sales ex-
ceeded s40,OOO00O in 1912. 1t does
not affect other multi tl-outlet stores.
and super-markets which previously
were under the same ceiling as the
largest operators. The change was
ordered because, OPA said, the
largest volume operators would
otherwise get a "substantial in
crease" in price ceilings under the
new dollars and cents maximums.
The new community ceilings will
be enforced in the District, Alexan-
dria, Arlington County and most of
Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince
Georges Counties. The area in
which the new maximum prices are
to become effective tomorrow fol-
lows the region recognized by whole
sale grocers as that in which free
deliveries to retailers have always
been made.
Unlike last weeks community
ceilings, which covered prices only
for independent stores with less
than s5O,000 business last year and
Tor private brands in chain stores,
the prices which will go into effect
tomorrow establish ceilings for
stores in all four classes set up by
the OPA.
275 Ceilings Already Set,
More than 275 ceiling prices were
announced by the District OPA last
week, and the prices listed TODAY
supplement these. The policy of
issuing community ceilings on
every kind of food is consistent
with the promise of Price Admin
istrator Brown to fix dollars-and-
cents ceilings for virtually everv
tood consumed on American tables.
Eventually. it is the hope of the
OPA that every food product sold at
retail stores will be under a specific
dollars s-and-cents ceiling. When
this goal is achieved Mr.. Brown
has pledged that the OPA would be
ready to issue booklets to every
housewife In the country. enabling
her to tell at a glance what the
top price ought to be for any prod
uct she wishes to buy.
OPA officials have pointed out that
the new dollars -and-cents price
ceilings on food products will SIM
pllfy procedure for the storekeepers,
lnasmuch as it will be possible hence
forth to tell Immediately what prices
ought to be on every commoditv.
Previously. each store had its own
ceilings, based on prices prevailing
In March, 1912. and housewives and
storekeepers alike were in constant
confusion because it was impossible
to tell what the price of any given
commodity was.
Conforming to Practice.
I'm setting top prices by groups of
stores" Mr.. Thompson said, I'VE are
conforming to trade practice and to
long recognized differences in ope-
rating costs. In addition, the mark
ups used In setting the top prices
are based on exhaustive study of
store margins made for the OPA
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
late last year.
Smaller independent stores which
customarily provide additional serv-
ices such as credit and delivery re-
quire and long have received a some
what wider operating margin. Stores
with larger sales volume and ope-
rating on a self-service cash-and-
carry basis have lower operating
costs and, therefore. are not to be
allowed great margin"
Mr.. Thompson pointed out that
the prices released Yesterday do not
pretend to cover ali the sizes of a
particular product. AS an example,
he explained that the price for a
No. 2 can of corn, which is specifi-
cally stated for certain brands, would
give the housewife a guide to judg-
ing whether 1aroer Si1e of tho