In week two, the assignment was to read about the company listed, and answer the questions provided. American Eagle Outfitters is a company that produces fashionable items for people in their teens, to mid-twenties. Their company offers a wide variety of products that range from personal accessories and clothes to fragrances. These goods sold by their company are considered to be of great quality for a reasonable price. Another interesting aspect of this company is that they create and promote their own products (Bethel University, 2011). While concerning the financial reports for American Eagle Outfitters, the latest year-end reporting date is January 31, 2009. The next question was to answer how many years were listed for balance sheets,
Advantage: Expanding the sale of products in foreign countries will help UA to become a global competitor in the world market for sport apparel and performance products; enhancing the global awareness of UA brand name and strengthening the appeal of UA products worldwide.
Since the 1970’s Urban Outfitters INC. has produced a wide selection of clothing brands for the younger generation. Urban Outfitters INC. includes Free People, BHLDN, Anthropologie, Terrain and Urban Outfitters. The beginning of Urban Outfitters INC. started out in Philadelphia for college students, their fun loving affordable clothing appealed to students who were living under a college budget. It’s known for its “hipster” and “free thinking” clothing that would appeal to the younger generation. However in present day it seems as if the original purpose of Urban Outfitters INC. has been lost. The prices of clothing at Urban Outfitters and at their sister stores has increased drastically to where college students can barely afford it. Throughout the recent years Urban Outfitters INC. has found itself in multiple issues that effects the sales of their stores. For instance being reprimanded for their designs, being sued for stolen designs and having a president who supports anti-gay polictians. Considering all the negative aspects to Urban Outfitters and the loss of their traditional purpose Americans should not support Urban Outfitters Inc.
James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney stores, gained his retail experience working for Golden Rule Mercantile Company, after graduating from high school in 1902. He quickly rose through the ranks as a salesperson, store manager, and partner. In 1906, at the age of 26, he opened his first retail store in Kemmerer, Wyoming the first to become JCPenney store. 1913, he had 34 stores with over $2 million in sales and incorporated JCPenney Company, Inc. JCPenney’s success was due to the popular private-label brand that were good quality, lower prices than the named brands, and these products yielded high profits. In 1927, headquarters opened in New York and in 1929, the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and store manager/owners traded in their portions of individual stores for stock in the company. JCPenney’s survives the depression, providing basic goods and services at lower prices and increased profits.
Facts of the Case: In 2008, Samantha Elauf applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc., who as part of their “Look Policy” prohibit the use of caps. Elauf, as part of her religious practice, wore a headscarf to the interview. She was interviewed by assistant manager Heather Cooke, who gave her a score that qualified her to be hired. Cooke, however, was worried that Elauf’s headscarf was against the store’s policy and called her district manager Randall Johnson. She informed Johnson of her belief that Elauf wore her headscarf because of her religion, and Johnson replied that headwear whether it was religious or not violated the “Look Policy” of the store. Elauf with the help of the EEOC sued Abercrombie on the grounds of religious discrimination. The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an agency established by the government of the United States that imposes federal laws that make it
Fashion is important to women; whether it falls under the context of clothing, or how they decorate their home, fashion allows women to express their individuality. With today’s rise in fashion, businesses have to accommodate the demands of consumers by creating shopping strategies that keep the shoppers interested enough to keep coming back. T.J Maxx is one of the many businesses that serve their purpose in helping women achieve their fashion goals. By taking an open floor layout and incorporating it with a mixture between the newest fashion trends and home furniture, T.J Maxx builds an atmosphere that allows women to conveniently purchase quality merchandise for a fraction of the amount they would spend at other shopping stores.
This past month I made my last visit to the popular teenage/college student retail store Abercrombie and Fitch. Finishing up some back to school shopping, I was on a quest for jeans, and I knew the place to get them. My last two favorite pairs were from Abercrombie and Fitch, and I was planning on buying the same kind once again. Happy and relieved that I would not spend the afternoon ransacking the mall for one pair of jeans, I entered the store to the pulsating beat of techno dance music. In front of me was the teenage Mecca of what is truly hip -- the first thing I noticed were the life-size pictured that covered the walls -- half-clad muscular and glistening young men, frolicking around with pouty faced but beautiful young women who were wearing either size 2 short shorts with bikini tops or 3 layered sweaters. The tables were covered with overpriced shorts, shirts, and sweaters, strewn about by desperate customers searching for the perfect outfit. The sales people who roamed the floors were definitions of cool themselves -- ranging from age 16-22, they modeled their employee discounts in a haughty way which encouraged the customers to strive for their ultra-hip look. And strive the customers did. What was the most noticeable upon entering the store (besides the blaringly loud music which made me wonder if I was at a clothing store or a dance club) were the herds of desperate young men and women, who seemed to range from age 12-25, strutting around the store and searching for anything that had the name A&F on it. I can only imaging how many nights of baby-sitting it would take some of these eager teenagers to buy one sweater. The young custome...
Social responsibility is the ethical foundation and guiding principles we are to live by. This trickles down from organizations, to the individual level. It’s the duty of everyone to help in need. By doing so, helps keep the balance in our society as well as our ecosystem.
Yes there employee practices at A&F could be categorized as discriminatory. Discrimination is defined as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. There was a very public case of discrimination. 17 year old Samantha Elauf applied to work at Abercrombie at a mall in Tulsa Oklahoma in 2008. The assistant manager who interviewed her deemed her qualified but worried that her hijab would violate the company’s “Look Policy,” (Talbot). The case was published in numerous news outlets one of them being an article from the New Yorker which brought up what is meant by discrimination in this case. “Any employer can have a dress code, of course, but it cannot use
My company of choice for this report is Macy 's. 'The Magic of Macy 's ', as the company advertises it, has inspired me to shop there, take advantage of their incomparable discounts and great online shopping experience. Macy 's, Inc. is one of the largest department store chains in the United States of America. Macy 's manages stores under the Macy 's and Bloomingdale 's brands. I enjoy shopping at both of the company 's store brands, Macy 's and Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales provides a more personalized experience
Key Issues: At the end of 2012, Costco was a successful business; however, there are some issues that they would need to deal with. These issues mainly arise from their previous successful ventures as a warehouse wholesale company. The first issue is that Costco has competitors that can actually be and are a threat to their success. Competition allows a company to improve itself and prove its prowess to its customers. However, when a competitor is able to provide the service at a much reduced cost, problems will arise.
Based on the Miles and Snow strategy typology, Dollar Tree would be categorized as a prospector and an analyzer. Dollar Tree initially started off as a prospector when it was created as an off-shoot of the retail chain K &K Toys (Parnell, 2014). Prospectors focus on intrapreneurship, which involves the creation of new business ventures within an existing organization (Parnell, 2014). When K & K Toys was divested in 1991, it was done so in order to focus their energies on developing the concept of the dollar store, which in turn gave them the first mover advantage for being first in that particular market (Parnell, 2014). Just as prospector companies places priority on new product and service development to meet the changing needs and
Case Study: Victoria's Secret OVERVIEW Victoria's Secret, one of the world's most recognizable fashion brands, established itself in the Bay Area in the early 1970s. Originally owned by an ambitious Stanford graduate looking for a comfortable and high-end retailer to buy his wife lingerie, Roy Raymond opened the first store at Stanford Shopping Center. Styled after a Victorian boudoir, Raymond's success prompted him to open three other locations, a catalog business, and a corporate headquarters within a few years. His inability to balance finances with his creative vision, Roy Raymond fell into trouble and was forced to sell his company for the small sum of $1 million dollars to The Limited, an Ohio-based conglomerate owned by Les Wexner.
The Silverman family first founded American Eagle Outfitters in 1977. They operated specialty clothing stores under the name Retail Ventures. In 1980 the Silverman’s encountered financial troubles when the Schottenstein family bought out 50% of the Retail Ventures. In 1991 the Schottenstein family bought the rest of Retail Ventures and opened 153 American Eagle Outfitters. By late 2000 the company had introduced 46 new stores in Canada. American Eagle had approximately $2 million in annual sales in 2003 and now operates over 800 stores in the United States and Canada (http://www.hoovers.com/american-eagle-outfitters/--ID__17231--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml).
This paper describes the various aspects of the Zappos case. The objective is to evaluate the depth analysis of the Zappos strategy. It enables to determine the Zappos strategy, business model & marketing strategy, and smartness of the Zappos acquisition.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats in the United States and Internationally. It has two segments: The Wal-Mart Stores and The Sam's Club. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States, as well as Walmart.com. It offers apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants. They also offer hardware, electronics, home furnishings, small appliances, automotive accessories, sporting goods, toys, pet food, cameras, health and beauty aids, pharmaceuticals, jewelry, optical department and photo processing services. The Neighborhood Markets include dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, general merchandise, and a pet supplies departments. The Sam's Club segment comprises the warehouse membership clubs in the United States and samsclub.com. It offers electronics, jewelry, sporting goods, toys, tires, books, grocery items, and selected private labels. As of July 31, 2005, Wal-Mart operated 1,276 Wal-Mart stores, 1,838 Supercenters, 92 Neighborhood Markets, and 556 Sam's Clubs in 50 states in the United States. The company operates various retail formats in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It operates 261 Canadian Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs, 11 units in Argentina, 150 units in Brazil, 88 units in Germany, 16 units in South Korea, 697 units in Mexico, 54 units in Puerto Rico, and 292 units in the United Kingdom, as well as 48 units in China under joint venture agreements.