There were 9,170 general merchandise stores in the U.S. that had between one and four employees in 2016, according to County Business Patterns (CBP) statistics provided by the United States Census Bureau.
CBP data indicates that there are more establishments categorized as professional, scientific and technical services businesses with between one and four employees in the U.S. than in any other category.
The following table shows how many general merchandise stores with between one and four employees were in the U.S. during the period from 2012 to 2016.
General merchandise stores with between one and four employees in the U.S. (2012-2016)
Year
Total businesses
2012
48,872
2013
50,058
2014
52,377
2015
53,022
2016
54,539
