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margins were the most complicated category. He examined the top-
volume items in this category, some eight brands or sizes of
liquor and one of wine. These accounted for 17 percent of
purchases. Dr. Rossi determined that the average margin on the
advertised items was about 5 percent. As for the other 83
percent, the lower volume wines and liquors, Dr. Rossi estimated
that Nick's Liquors' large-scale December ads were representative
of the prices of at least 85 percent of this merchandise. The
average margin on the December sale items was 7 percent. For the
months other than December, Dr. Rossi opined that a "reasonable
but still conservative" estimate of the margin upon these lower
volume items was 14 percent. He concluded that, for wine and
liquor sales overall, "we would get * * * approximately 11
percent".
With respect to cigarettes, Dr. Rossi noted that the
advertised prices reflect margins of between 1 and 6 percent. He
took into account the lawsuit in which the plaintiffs had charged
Nick with unlawfully selling cigarettes below the State's
mandated 8-percent addition to cost. Dr. Rossi determined
ultimately that the margin "could not exceed 5 percent" and
settled upon that figure.
Dr. Rossi concluded that a weighted average of the margins
on beer, wine and liquor, and cigarettes produced a "conservative
estimate" of an overall margin of 6.79 percent.
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