To put each location on a comparable basis, I devised a new measure of operating profit I called gain to operating (GTO) that adjusted for these differences and for various allocations.3 Denton’s best store had a GTO of $1.05 million and its worst had a GTO of negative $0.97 million. That is, closing that store would yield $0.97 million more per year than continuing to operate it. Denton’s whole chain showed a GTO of $0.32 million, a very different picture from the $8 million in net income the accounts showed.
