Merchandising Practices, Page 40) rarely, if ever, purchase sleeved

celery. However, since approximately three-fourths of the whole-

stalk celery is retailed in sleeves, attempts were made to determine

the firms' rationale for their purchasing decisions.

 Firms that usually retail celery in sleeves but buy naked stalks

cited cost as the major reason, but not the sole reason. One firm

expressed a preference for sleeping at the store level for quality

control. Another preferred sleeping by firm personnel for affixing

their own produce label.

 There is a move toward greater use of the standard cut (14-inch)

pre-sleeved celery by retailers. Three firms indicated tentative

plans to increase their purchase of the pre-sleeved product. The

primary reason given was that retailers have been faced with rapidly

escalating labor costs. The use of pre-sleeved celery is viewed by

many of them as a way of reducing labor requirements at the store

level. This trend was especially evident in Detroit, where labor

appeared to be well organized. Six firms specifically mentioned labor

savings in celery preparation as the most important reason for buying

pre-sleeved celery.

 In addition to labor savings, several retailers felt that their

 use of pre-sleeved celery reduced out-of-stock occurrences by making

 it easier for even relatively low-paid, part-time help to keep the

 display case filled. Three retailers also thought that pre-sleeved

 celery was generally of better quality. They said it had less

 bruising and that it was more uniform than naked-packed celery.