The retail related diversity is the major concern of this paper. Many extension-oriented contacts indicate that both consumers and retailers in rural towns and counties are intensely concerned with the future of retail trade in their localities. Merchants are naturally concerned because retail volume is the source of their incomes. Consumers in rural counties are concerned with availability of retail consumer goods. Rural merchants may think in terms of sales retention. Availability and retention are two sides of the same coin for the purposes of this paper
