(a) An enterprise may perform certain activities that appear
entirely foreign to its principal business but which may be a part of
the enterprise because of the manner in which they are performed. In
some cases these activities may be a very minor and incidental part of
its business operations. For example a retail store may accept payments
of utility bills, provide a notarial service, sell stamps, bus and
theater tickets, or travellers' checks, etc. These and other activities
may be entirely different from the enterprise's principal business but
they may be performed on the same premises and by the same employees or
otherwise under such circumstances as to be a part of the enterprise.
(b) Sometimes such activities are performed as an adjunct to the
principal business to create good will or to attract customers. In other
cases, the
businessman may engage in them primarily for the additional revenue.
Some such foreign activities may be conducted in a more elaborate
manner, as where the enterprise operates a bus stop or a post office
substation as an adjunct to a principal business such as a hotel or a
retail store. Where in such a case the activities are performed in a
physically separate ``establishment'' (see Secs. 779.303-779.308) from
the other business activities of the enterprise and are functionally
operated as a separate business, separately controlled, with separate
employees, separate records, and a distinct business objective of its
own, they may constitute a separate enterprise. Where, however, such
activities are intermingled with the other activities of the enterprise
and have a reasonable connection to the same business purpose they will
be a part of the enterprise.
