The majority owner and general manager of City Furniture and Mattress (CFM), needed to make several decisions that would determine the company’s strategy. CFM had continued to grow in terms of sales, but the general manager and his father, also an owner and manager at CFM, were concerned with profitability and the increasing competition from local and big-box stores. The general manager looked at several options including capital investment, expanding .....more

The majority owner and general manager of City Furniture and Mattress (CFM), was concerned about the difficulties facing the company. His decision to pursue vertical integration and the manufacturing of some domestic products did not seem to be working as planned. In addition, he faced a legal battle with the building owner of the Pickering location. The future of CFM was at stake. The general manager wondered if they should close some locations .....more

The hot tub division of Surfside Leisurescapes (Surfside), a backyard-living retail store, has consistently failed to meet sales expectations. The general manager must develop a comprehensive marketing plan to boost the division's profitability in a highly competitive environment. Students are asked to analyze the profitability of Surfside's product lines and make recommendations on promotional alternatives to generate increased interest .....more

Cara Operations Limited had always been in the food services business until it acquired an office products retailer, Grand & Toy Limited. Confronting increasingly intense competition in both food services and retailing, Cara recognized the need to focus on the activities where it could enhance its competitive advantage most effectively. Divesting Grand & Toy to the U.S. office supply retailer Boise Office Solutions was an essential step in .....more

Good Night Ben was a high-end baby furniture store based in a medium-sized southwestern city in Ontario, Canada. The store's proprietor, was an early adopter of the worldwide web as a way to "get the word out" about his store and products. Through his own experimentation, he has discovered numerous tricks and techniques for using the WWW to better develop the reputation of his company. In particular, he has discovered that he can take .....more

A high end modern-design Austrian furniture retailer is under price and margin pressures for a number of reasons. A key reason for the margin pressure is that foreign suppliers, in an attempt to generate higher export sales, have moved to agents rather than selling direct. The Austrian retailer, together with a small group of individuals in the retail furniture business, has developed a buying group concept that the group believes will enable them .....more

The owner of Stewart's Sleep Shops, an upscale furniture retailing operation that specializes in bedroom furniture and furnishings, has received an ultimatum from his banker: "personally guarantee your loans or the bank will call them in." The Windsor-Chatham area, the home of Stewart's Sleep Shops, is in the middle of recession. The owner must assess the future viability of his operation in order to determine whether to personally .....more

A small business owner must make a decision about moving to a new, larger location after a year of poor results. The business's strategy was to be a low cost retailer with exceptional service. As demand increased over the last few years, the store was becoming increasingly crowded and technicians were often working in very constricted areas. The value created in inbound and outbound logistics was significantly being strained. Could a new location .....more