Wholesale Sales Legal Definition

In Roland Elect. Co. v. Walling, 326 U.S. 657, 90 L. Ed. 383, 66 S. Ct. 413 (1946), the Supreme Court found among other definitions, that "wholesale sales" means buying goods for the purpose of reselling them, but could also refer to sales of goods used for business purposes or made to commercial, professional, or governmental users, rather than for personal or household consumption. Id. at 674-75. In Roland Elect. Co. v. Walling, the question before the Court was whether the exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act for employees engaged in retail or service establishments applied to the employees of a firm which engaged in manufacturing and supplying electrical equipment and services in interstate commerce to commercial and industrial users. The Court analyzed the word "retail" by contrasting it with "wholesale." Its conclusion was that the firm in question was not a retail or service establishment under the Fair Labor Standards Act.