Stein Mart and JC Penney's are department store retailers that sell similar merchandise. While JC Penney's tries to sell more name brands, Stein Mart focuses on being a low-cost provider. The financial analysis found that Stein Mart is larger in size and has less debt than JC Penney's. However, Stein Mart's inventory turnover is lower than expected for a low-cost retailer, indicating it may have too much inventory on hand. The diagnosis is that Stein Mart has misjudged consumer demand and should order inventory in smaller quantities more frequently to better match sales.
I will teach you how to invest in the grocery sectorWalter Hin
A new way to research shares in the grocery sector. I have compiled several techniques to give you an early warning signs when stocks turn adverse or appreciate in price.
Changing What Matters: Kantar Retail Breakthrough InsightsJeff Cushing
This edition of Breakthrough Insights covers the best analysis from the first half of 2016. These featured articles build on key themes identified in our “Changing What Matters” Big Idea, published earlier this year.
From the evolving retail environment to how retailer and supplier work is changing, the frameworks identified in Changing What Matters will bolster your 2016 execution and 2017 planning.
“The 2016 retail landscape has been all about change so far. This first half analysis highlights the themes that we believe are driving that change and that we feel are most important to those trying to sell more effectively and profitably in retail today,” said Bryan Gildenberg, Chief Knowledge Officer of Kantar Retail.
Charting the Course for the Future: Kantar Retail's Big IdeaJeff Cushing
Kantar Retail dedicated much of its 2015 research to unpacking the fundamental disruption underway in retail – disruption driven by an increasingly fragmented shopper base that is redefining the very pillars of shopping behavior in the new century.
Manifested in the diagnostic framework of REconfigure REtail as a central idea, Kantar Retail explored the major shifts according to four vectors: shopper, value, format, and commerce.
In this report, we outline the parameters of REdeploy REsources, detailing the ways in which companies must precisely focus their assets to capitalize on the demanding shopper’s requirements. We conclude with a series of calls to action across each supporting pillar intended to catalyze change in the supplier and retailer community.
I will teach you how to invest in the grocery sectorWalter Hin
A new way to research shares in the grocery sector. I have compiled several techniques to give you an early warning signs when stocks turn adverse or appreciate in price.
Changing What Matters: Kantar Retail Breakthrough InsightsJeff Cushing
This edition of Breakthrough Insights covers the best analysis from the first half of 2016. These featured articles build on key themes identified in our “Changing What Matters” Big Idea, published earlier this year.
From the evolving retail environment to how retailer and supplier work is changing, the frameworks identified in Changing What Matters will bolster your 2016 execution and 2017 planning.
“The 2016 retail landscape has been all about change so far. This first half analysis highlights the themes that we believe are driving that change and that we feel are most important to those trying to sell more effectively and profitably in retail today,” said Bryan Gildenberg, Chief Knowledge Officer of Kantar Retail.
Charting the Course for the Future: Kantar Retail's Big IdeaJeff Cushing
Kantar Retail dedicated much of its 2015 research to unpacking the fundamental disruption underway in retail – disruption driven by an increasingly fragmented shopper base that is redefining the very pillars of shopping behavior in the new century.
Manifested in the diagnostic framework of REconfigure REtail as a central idea, Kantar Retail explored the major shifts according to four vectors: shopper, value, format, and commerce.
In this report, we outline the parameters of REdeploy REsources, detailing the ways in which companies must precisely focus their assets to capitalize on the demanding shopper’s requirements. We conclude with a series of calls to action across each supporting pillar intended to catalyze change in the supplier and retailer community.
Shareholders vs Customers: Now is the time for a balanced equation in retailQuantum Retail
he credit crunch is cementing itself into its second year. It’s apparent that households on both sides of the Atlantic are now feeling the pinch brought about by a soaring cost of living, weak income growth, falling house prices and rising mortgage bills. Retailers’ expectations of future sales are now at a record low. In the US, the clampdown on credit has hit consumers hard – and retailers are feeling the effect as people have no more instant money to turn to and are now resorting to the old fashioned process of budgeting what they have, instead of spending on future income.
While most retailers focus on the inventory that is visible in their stores and distribution centres, too few pay attention to the hidden costs of high inventory.
Shareholders vs Customers: Now is the time for a balanced equation in retailQuantum Retail
he credit crunch is cementing itself into its second year. It’s apparent that households on both sides of the Atlantic are now feeling the pinch brought about by a soaring cost of living, weak income growth, falling house prices and rising mortgage bills. Retailers’ expectations of future sales are now at a record low. In the US, the clampdown on credit has hit consumers hard – and retailers are feeling the effect as people have no more instant money to turn to and are now resorting to the old fashioned process of budgeting what they have, instead of spending on future income.
While most retailers focus on the inventory that is visible in their stores and distribution centres, too few pay attention to the hidden costs of high inventory.
I worked in a team and we were asked to evaluate Gap, Inc. and give specific recommendations for future growth and prosperity. This is the report we created based on our research and findings.
CASE ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENTIntroduction The assig.docxtidwellveronique
CASE ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT
Introduction
The assignment is case 31.
The organization under review in the assignment is called Build-A-Bear-Workshop.
2
Financial Data Analysis- Horizontal analysis
According to According to Accounting Tools 2015, horizontal analysis is the comparison of historical financial information over a series of reporting periods, or of the ratios derived from this financial information. The intent is to see if any numbers are unusually high or low in comparison to the information for bracketing periods, which may then trigger a detailed investigation of the reason for the difference. The analysis is most commonly a simple grouping of information that is sorted by period, but the numbers in each succeeding period can also be expressed as a percentage of the amount in the baseline year, with the baseline
3
Income statement
The income statement reveals there is a huge difference between the year of 2008 and the following year 2009. The revenue between 2008 and 2009 shows a big decline in net retail sales, a decline over 15%.
4
Balance sheet- statement of financial position
The above statement reveals that the total assets have changed negatively over the last two years, and it was negative percent where it should have been positive if the company was succeeding. The statement points out the negative image that the company’s fixed assets are going down, in this case the company can’t expand and it shows their overall success is very poor at this time.
5
Key Success Factors
Build-A-Bear’s success was in the previous years, when they had record breaking profits, and was in top magazines. The income statements show they had some positive income from 2009 through 2010. They had adapted a great overall success when people entered into the stores. They have succeeded product segmentation, and had a different product that entered into the business world. They were able to capture a full on experience from picking out an animal to make, stuff it, name it, and even clothe it. This was the first company to offer an overall experience like this.
6
Market Data Analysis
In the beginning, Build-A-Bear workshop marketed their products for ages 3 to 12 years of age. This was their market segmentation, and it was working as profits were high. With very little competitors at the time, this workshop was in high demand, thus giving Build-A-Bear the competitive advantage.
7
SWOT-Strengths
-First real company into the market with unique product.
-Build-A-Bear name alone has a competitive advantage over other similar companies.
-Great management and customer appreciation, hands on environment.
-Great causes and charities for special occasions.
-Ranked no. 94 in Fortune ’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2009 and moved up to no. 80 in the 2010.
8
SWOT -Weaknesess
Lack of technology compared to similar stores.
-Kids are seeking more sophisticated entertainment . . . ...
Marketing Management Report Business 1220EKORRA DANCEWEA.docxinfantsuk
Marketing Management Report Business 1220E
KORRA DANCEWEAR
Student name: Jue OuYang
Student ID: 250826923
Date: 21 / 11 / 2014
Instructor: Danny Morrison
Section number: KUC 572
Executive summary:
The report is written for helping company Korra dancewear get into the market and raise its sales volume.
It includes the recommendations on how to improve its position in the market. The company is strongly recommended to keep the quality with a lower price than its competitors to get a market share from the market targeting competitive dancers; meanwhile, the company would develop two special product lines for children and senior female dancers with a special design. Using the mixed selling and promoting methods through the internet and real world events and stores is another recommendation for increasing the volume of sales and recognition. In addition, multi-financed financial structure is also helpful to keep the stability of the firm and to increase the potentials of successfully expanding its market share.
Moreover, the competitiveness of the company would be built up by its concentration on details. Not only because the company would set its product line for three different customer groups, but also because the new favor the company would add to the industry, such as the personal customized color choices offering on its webpage. In the meantime, its segmentation and the choices made to find the niche market are based on the thorough analysis on tracing customer shopping habits and foreseeing the potential trend in the future. In the perspective of its management, the company would continuously improve its performance as the team gets better. That being said, it is firmly convincing that the company would be considerably competitive in the future.
All in all, the company would get into the market and make the profit when it fully applies the suggestions on its marketing operations.
Introduction:
The major marketing challenge for this company is how to get a position in this dance wear market as a start-up company without a high recognition in the industry; on the other hand, this marketing report is written to analyze the situation the company is in and to give the applicable suggestions to the owner of the company, in order to achieve the owner’s goal on monthly revenue from making a better decision on the expansion. In summary, the report consists of internal & external analysis, the market target and its 4 Ps analysis, the analysis on its financial feasibility, and the executive summary.
Internal analysis:
Operation:
The company was solely operated by the owner of the company. On the one hand, it saved as much as possible on cost for the company; on the other hand, the company was not run efficiently. In the perspective of the volume of the business, the company was a start-up company with a $1,500 sales for 3-year period from 2010 to 2013. Should it continue being operated in this way, the company would be in a tro ...
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS-WAL-MART
1
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS-WAL-MART 13
Organizational Level of Analysis- Wal-Mart
BMGT 464
Organizational Level of Analysis- Wal-Mart
Introduction
Wal-Mart is profoundly known to be one of the biggest American Multinational Retail Corporation known for the warehouse stores and large discount department. The company stands out as the world’s third best largest public corporation as recorded in the global 500 list. The company remains to be family owned essentially controlled by the Walton’s family that possesses approximately 48 percent of the stake in the entire organization. Sam Walton established the company in the year 1962. In the year 1972, the company was trading in the New York stock exchange and it centered its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is currently in possession of almost 8500 stores in the 15 countries, which are identified under 55 distinct names. However, the company operates under the name Wal-Mart in the United States. However, the current deteriorating performance has compelled this paper to address significant issues that may be affecting its performance. The paper will therefore focus on the organizational behavior in explaining the strategies, the strength, weaknesses, opportunities as well as the threats the organization is facing and the most desirable recommendations that the company can take to bring it back on the track. It is worth noting that organizational can be understood as the systematic study as well as application of knowledge on how individuals, groups of people and other relate parties work within a given organization.
Methodology
Outstanding issues faced by the organization were significantly realized from the two techniques that were applied in the process. An interview that was able to cut across various stakeholders in the entire organizational served a better source of information. On the other hand, the literature review of various cases covering the operations and the performance of the Wal-Mart played a significant role in identifying outstanding issues and problems that the organization has progressively been facing. The two cases under the methodological structure are as covered in the section below.
Interview
Deployment of the technique covered several members of the organization including the ones involved in the management of the entire company as well as the reachable stakeholders such as the employees who were amicably requested to share the most confidential information concerning the Wal-Mart company. The managerial staff members were further requested to table their opinions as well as views on the performance and activities that were carried out in the organization. This methodology was largely simplified by utilization of the randomized control trial technique (RCT) that made use of isolating the population sample into two gro.
1. London Graves
Summer Capstone
Alexis Downs
Assignment #2
6/20/15
Stein Mart Vs JC Penny’s
Introduction:
The two firms I have chosen to compare are Stein Mart and JC Penney’s. These two firms
operate in the department store industry and sell relatively the same merchandise. JC Penney’s however
tends to try to sell more name brands than Stein Mart does. The five forces of this industry are all
relatively moderate, except for the threat of substitutes which is defined as weak. The main reason for this
is counterfeit clothing can be a significant threat to revenues in some countries. However, the socio-
political environments those individuals operate within, coupled with the need for individual and group
identity, make retail clothing essential to consumers (Marketline). For graphical representation of five
forces, see appendix A.
Part I: More information on ratio calculations see appendix B.
Size: The size of these two firms is vastly different. Stein Mart has larger amounts of assets and
sales than JC Penney’s does for both years. This was surprising because for me JC Penney’s is
better known in my geographical area, but Stein Mart is a larger by a considerable amount.
Debt Structure: The debt structure for JC Penney’s has gotten worse from 2013-2014. As for
Stein Mart their debt ratios also got worse from 2013-2014, however they are better than the debt
of JC Penney’s comparatively. Stein Mart has less debt to equity and their debt ratio is lower as
well. Stein Mart also had significantly more working capital for both years than JC Penney’s did.
Operating Results: Operating results between the two firms are different as well. For JC Penney’s
they have a negative profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity for both years.
However, it does look like they are trying to turn it around because they are beginning to rise
closer to the positive side. As for Stein Mart, their profitability is not too bad. It is on the positive
2. side, which is better than JC Penney’s is. Considering that Stein Mart is a low cost provider of
merchandise, the low profit percentage is okay for them. This is because they are not marking up
their merchandise as JC Penney’s is. They are low cost, so they will be lower on profit as well.
What was a little interesting is that both firms inventory turnover were relatively close for 2014.
This is interesting because if Stein Mart is a lost cost provider, then their turnover should be
higher than a provider that marks up their inventory.
Sources and uses of cash: I was unable to find JCP’s financials for 2014 on their website, and I
only have what was given to us in class. Therefore, I can only compare the two firms 2013 cash
flows. Major uses and sources of cash for JCP include an acquisition, inventory, capital
expenditures, and proceeds from issuance of long-term debt. Stein Marts uses and sources of
cash include depreciation and amortization, capital expenditures, and dividends paid.
Part II:
SWOT: Some of the strengths of Stein Mart include the capability to offer low prices on
merchandise through a low cost buying strategy. They also have the strength with the
convenience based locations and attractive store appearances to their customers. The main
weakness of Stein Mart is their geographic location concentration. They have limited locations in
limited states. Therefore, they are not marketing to all geographic areas within the US. Thus, they
are less known in certain geographic locations. Opportunities of Stein Mart include growing
appeal market in the US and the growth of online shopping. Threats include intense competition
in their market, and the increasing cost of labor.
Symptoms, Problems, Root Causes, and Diagnosis
A symptom that jumps out at me in Stein Marts financials is their quick ratio and inventory turnover are
too low for the type of company they are. If their merchandise does not sell then they are no longer liquid.
In addition, their inventory turnover indicates that this could become an issue in the near future because it
is falling. This means that inventory is not selling as quickly as it has in the past. The main problem is
Stein Mart, as too much inventory in stock and it is not selling quickly. The causes of this problem are one
3. of two things: first, they have ordered too much inventory for their stores. While it is sitting waiting to be
bought, it has the potential to be damaged and thus could be unable to sell after all. Second is their
inventory turnover is low. Meaning it is not selling quickly enough. When this turnover is compared to
JCP, it does not look that bad. However, Stein Mart is a low cost provider and therefore should be selling
merchandise quicker than a name brand company should. My diagnosis is Stein Mart has misinterpreted
their consumer market and has too much inventory on hand.
Alternatives
1. Stein Mart could do nothing.
a. This could result in lots of inventory left over if the company does go
under. The inventory could also be stolen or damaged before it has time
to sell. Thus, resulting in a loss of money that was spent for it.
2. Stein Mart could reduce the amount of inventory per store, and order more
inventory as needed.
a. This could result in having to purchase inventory more often, but it is less
likely to sit on the shelf very long before it is sold. This allows the
company to better fallow fashion trends. In addition, if the company goes
under, there will be less inventory left over.
Conclusion:
The overall health of JCP is in trouble. They will need to make improvements in order to keep up
with competition. Stein Mart on the other hand is in good health. However, improvements could still be
made to improve their health even more. The alternative I would suggest for Stein Mart is number two.
This will allow Stein Mart to better understand their current market by not having an abundance of
inventory on hand. The downside to this is that they will have to order inventory more often. The Pros and
Cons to option 1 include: having too much inventory on hand makes them vulnerable if they go under, but
they do not have to order inventory as often.
4. Appendix A: Five Forces
Figure 5: Forces driving competition in the apparel, accessories and luxury goods market in the
United States, 2012
Source: MARKETLINE
5. Appendix B: Ratio Calculations
JCP Ratio Calculations:
Calculations 2014 2013
Liquidity
Current Ratio 4,331/2,241=1.933 4,833/2,846=1.698
Quick Ratio 4,331-2,652/2,241=0.749 4,833-2,935/2,846=0.667
Working Capital 4,331-2,241=2090 4,833-2,846=1987
Profitability
Gross Margin 4,261/12,257=0.3476 3,492/11,859=0.2945
Profit Margin Ratio (771)/12,257=(0.063) (1,388)/11,859=(0.117)
Return on Assets (771)/11,102.5=(0.069) Did not do because of lack on
information
Return on Equity (771)/1,914=(0.403) (1,388)/3,087=(0.450)
Activity
Inventory Turnover 12,257/2,652=4.622 11,859/2,935=4.041
Leverage
Debt Ratio 8,490/10,404=0.816 8,714/11,801=0.738
Debt-to-equity 8,490/1,914=4.4 8,714/3,087=2.82
Times Interest Earned (748)/23=(32.52) (1,886)/(498)=3.787
Stein Mart Ratio Calculations:
Calculations 2014 2013
Liquidity
Current Ratio 357,171/196,213=1.820 333,433/197,081=1.692
Quick Ratio 357,171-261,517/196,213
=0.488
333,433-243,345/197,081
=0.457
Working Capital 357,171-196,213=160,958 333,433-197,081=136,352
Profitability
Gross Margin 367,353/1,263,571=0.291 342,630/1,232,366=0.278
Profit Margin Ratio 25,555/1,263,571=0.020 25,027/1,232,366=0.020
Return on Assets 25,555/507,983.5=0.050 Did not do because of lack of
information
Return on Equity 25,555/264,401=0.097 25,027/234,034=0.107
Activity
Inventory Turnover 1,263,571/261,517=4.832 1,232,366/243,345=5.064
Leverage
Debt Ratio 259,857/524,258=0.496 257,675/491,709=0.524
Debt-to-equity 259,857/264,401=0.983 257,675/234,034=1.101
Times Interest Earned 40,568/15,013=2.70 35,998/10,971=3.281