2003 Minnesota Statutes

     325D.01 Definitions. 

    Subdivision 1.    Words, terms, and phrases.  Unless the 
 language or context clearly indicates that a different meaning 
 is intended, the words, terms, and phrases defined in this 
 section, for the purposes of sections 325D.02 to 325D.07, shall 
 be given the meanings subjoined to them. 

    Subd. 2.    Retailer.  The term "retailer" means any 
 person, partnership, firm, corporation, or association, foreign 
 or domestic, selling any commodity, article, goods, wares, or 
 merchandise to the consumer and not for the purpose of resale in 
 any form. 

    Subd. 3.    Wholesaler.  The term "wholesaler" means 
 any person, firm, or corporation, partnership, association, 
 business trust, or any unincorporated organization, selling or 
 supplying any commodity, article, goods, wares, or merchandise 
 to retailers, industrial buyers, restaurants, institutions, or 
 the selling on the part of one wholesaler to another wholesaler. 

    Subd. 4.    Manufacturers or producers.  Creameries, 
 canneries, and other processors of agricultural products are 
 defined to be manufacturers or producers and are not included 
 within the meaning of the term "wholesaler." 

    Subd. 5.    Cost.  The term "cost", as applied to the 
 wholesale or retail vendor, means: 

    (1) the actual current delivered invoice or replacement 
 cost, whichever is lower, without deducting customary cash 
 discounts, plus any excise or sales taxes imposed on such 
 commodity, goods, wares or merchandise subsequent to the 
 purchase thereof and prior to the resale thereof, plus the cost 
 of doing business at that location by the vendor; 

    (2) where a manufacturer publishes a list price and 
 discounts, in determining such "cost" the manufacturer's 
 published list price then currently in effect, less the 
 published trade discount but without deducting the customary 
 cash discount, plus any excise or sales taxes imposed on such 
 commodity, goods, wares or merchandise subsequent to the 
 purchase thereof and prior to the resale thereof, plus the cost 
 of doing business by the vendor shall be prima facie evidence of 
 "cost"; 

    (3) for purposes of gasoline offered for sale by way of 
 posted price or indicating meter by a retailer, at a retail 
 location where gasoline is dispensed into passenger automobiles 
 and trucks by the consumer, "cost" means the average terminal 
 price on the day, at the terminal from which the most recent 
 supply of gasoline delivered to the retail location was 
 acquired, plus all applicable state and federal excise taxes and 
 fees, plus the lesser of six percent or eight cents. 

    Subd. 6.    Customary cash discounts.  The term 
 "customary cash discounts" means any allowance, not exceeding 
 two percent, whether a part of a larger discount or not, made to 
 the wholesale or retail vendor, where the wholesale or retail 
 vendor pays for merchandise within a limited or specified time.  

    Subd. 7.    Cost of doing business or overhead expense.  
  The "cost of doing business" or "overhead expense" is defined 
 as all current costs of doing business incurred in the conduct 
 of such business and must include, without limitation, the 
 following items of expense:  Labor, including salaries and 
 bonuses of executives and officers, rent, depreciation, selling 
 costs, maintenance of equipment, delivery costs, all types of 
 licenses, taxes, insurance, and advertising, and other fixed and 
 incidental expenses.  

    The "cost of doing business" including, without limitation, 
 these items of expenses incurred in the conduct of such business 
 during the calendar year or the 12 months immediately preceding 
 any alleged violation of sections 325D.02 to 325D.07; or, in the 
 event any retailer or wholesaler shall have been engaged in 
 business within the state for a shorter period of time, then 
 such cost for such period of time immediately preceding any 
 alleged violation thereof shall be prima facie evidence of 
 "cost". 

    Subd. 8.    Trade discount.  The term "trade discount" 
 means all discounts made to the wholesale or retail vendee other 
 than the customary cash discount.  

    Subd. 9.    Subjobber.  The term "subjobber" means any 
 person, partnership, firm, corporation or association other than 
 a wholesaler or retailer, who or which buys any commodity, 
 article, goods, wares, or merchandise from a wholesaler and 
 sells such merchandise directly to retailers, thereby performing 
 the selling and delivering functions of a wholesaler.  

    Subd. 10.    Vending machines operator.  The term 
 "vending machines operator" means any person, partnership, firm, 
 corporation or association who or which owns, services and 
 supplies ten or more merchandise vending machines placed in 
 various locations for dispensing such merchandise to consumers.  

    Subd. 11.    Terminal.  "Terminal" means a storage 
 facility to which gasoline is shipped by pipeline, barge, or 
 rail, and from which gasoline is subsequently transferred into 
 motor vehicles for delivery to other locations.  For purposes of 
 this chapter, an oil refinery is also a terminal. 

    Subd. 12.    Average terminal price.  "Average terminal 
 price" means the arithmetic mean of all prices for an individual 
 grade of gasoline at a terminal as published by a nationally 
 recognized petroleum price reporting service. 

    HIST: (3976-42) 1937 c 116 pt 2 s 3; 1937 c 456 s 1; 1939 c 
 403 s 2; 1941 c 326 s 2; 1955 c 339 s 1-4; 1980 c 509 s 124; 
 1996 c 305 art 1 s 70; 2001 c 129 s 1-3