Family Dollar, Inc. In accordance to the article, What You Can Learn From Shareholder Letters, written by Eric R. Heyman, the Family Dollar shareholder letter is written concisely and provides shareholders with an overview summary about fiscal year 2013 and the direction the company is moving towards. It gives the shareholders and potential investors an insight into what the company believes are pivotal strategies designed to remain competitive in the retail industry- highly competitive. Within, this shareholders letter, Howard R. Levin, Family Dollar Chairman/CEO, discussed business performance, sustainable growth and profitability, achievements and challenges, target customers, new business partnerships, future goals, and the company’s …show more content…
Family Dollar provided the history of the company which proven its longevity in the industry; for example, in “1959 Leon Levin founded Family Dollar in Charlotte, North Carolina (www.sec.gov)”. Then in “1969, the company incorporated in Delaware (www.sec.gov)” and by the following year the entity became a “publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FDO” (www.sec.gov)”. Currently, the company operates “7,916 stores in 46 states with square footage ranging between 7,500 and 9,500 (www.sec.gov)”. Anticipating the needs of customers that live extremely busy lives, the stores are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and accept varies forms of payment such as cash, credit/debit cards, checks, and food stamps. Store locations are vital to Family Dollar’s growth and profitability. These locations are selected to offer convenience. Many of these stores are within a three to five mile radius. The demographic breakdown for it stores are that “two percent are located in downtown buildings, 24% of the stores are located in large urban markets, 20% are located in small urban markets or suburban areas, 58% the stores are located in strip malls, and 40% are in freestanding buildings …show more content…
It sells many name brand products manufactured by “Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Clorox, Nestle, Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Colgate, Palmolive, Georgia Pacific, Frito-Lay, Inc., and PepsiCo at a lesser cost than its competitors-Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Wal-Mart (www.sec.gov)”. One of the company’s objectives is to provide the customer with quality products priced less than higher priced competitor stores. Majority of the offered products are economically priced $10.00 or less. Although Family Dollar has a board customer base, research shows that most of its customers’ range of income is between lower to middle income and fixed
JCPenney is a chain of American mid-range department stores that is based out of Texas that started over 100 years ago. JCPenny has been successful for most of its time up until the last three to four years. The company is trying relentlessly to overcome the lingering effects of the makeover that former CEO, Ron Johnson, had implemented in order for the company to take a new direction in hopes of increasing sales. The new CEO, Myron Ullman, has taken a close look into the markets demographic segmentation along with the income segmentation in order to attempt to return the retailer back to its old self, which is to appeal to middle-market customers. A couple issues of major concern for the company are the dissolving of Johnson’s Boutiques, the price of their products, and overall revenue.
Present day Federated consists of both Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s stores and operates in 34 states as well as Guam and Puerto Rico. While Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s provide both private and national brands and are similar in merchandising categories (men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, home décor, shoes, beauty, and accessories), they differ greatly in culture. Bloomingdale’s, being more upscale, targets consumers that are more concerned with trend and quality than they are price. Macy’s targets the more value oriented consumer and represents a broader Federated clientele. Macy’s represents 423 of the 459 Federated locations while Bloomingdale’s represents only 36 locations. Because I can better relate to the value conscious consumer of the Macy’s division and because they represent such a large portion of Federated, I will further explore their current characteristics and behaviors that suggest that they possess qualities of both monopolistic competition and oligopolies.
The movie that will be examined in this critical film review is Million Dollar Baby. Million Dollar Baby was set back in time with a girl wanting to fit but the trainer did not want to train her. In the beginning of the movie, Frankie the trainer did not want to teach her how to fight because he does not train girls. As the movie progresses, Eddie “scrap”, a back in the day amazing fighter was able to convince Frankie to take Maggie and train her to be the best. When Frankie starts to train Maggie, one can tell that there is a father/daughter relationship between the two of them all the way up until the end of the movie. Both Frankie and Maggie have negative pasts; Frankie’s past being his daughter wanting nothing to do with him, and Maggie’s
While watching the documentary “Two American Families” there was three aspects I noticed within the two families. The first being how there was a shift in the social class of the families due to economic problems. The second being the role reversal of the male and the female. The third being the effect of the families’ financial instability on the children and their decisions into adulthood.
Like their competition, Target has made many changes over the years when it comes to their products and services. In order to meet the ever changing environment and ever changing customer needs Target has not only increased the...
The Taco Bell and KFC “micro brand” known as ZAK Family Foods is successful for three important reasons: a concept of family, a passion for progress, and a dedication to social responsibility. These three elements have evolved organically from the brand’s very beginnings. In 1979, Jerry Zakaras, now CEO and Franchisee of ZAK Family Foods, began his journey to support his family as a Restaurant General Manager for a Pizza Hut in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. His cooperation with those working with him in the restaurant expressed itself in a way that was very familiar; it was the restaurant family. His value for family was what motivated him to explore the restaurant world, and it was what opened the doors to his business success.
Youdath illustrates some of Kmart’s management changes, Charles Conway wanted to turn Kmart into an “Everyday low price destination,” making Wal-Mart Stores a direct competitor. Conaway cut back on advertising and the results were not profitable. After an unprofitable holiday season in 2001 the company filed bankruptcy. In 2002, James Adamson hoped to improve customer service and restock the shelves within the Kmart Stores. While Kmart was taking time to recover from filing Chapter 11, its rivals like Wal-Mart and Target were stealing its customers. When Kmart was focusing on random in-store discounts, Wal-Mart and Target were pitching low prices, broad inventories, hip products, and a pleasant shopping experience (2002).
The company had to be the second largest retailer shop in the US; it has many advantages that come along. The customers well acknowledge the company and its brand have been well established.
The annual report of the company shows status of the company’s business. Through the annual report of the company, creditors, investors, and everyone else can see the financial health of the business for the company. Fords and General Motors are two competitors in auto mobile industry area, and these two companies are most famous automobile companies that United States manufacturing businesses. Since these two companies are in same industry area, the investors compare these two companies which company is more worthy to invest their money. Annual report is financial certification that how a company was financially. Liquidity, solvency, and profitability are three way to compare these two companies financially.
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
Another thing to consider is a statement made on CNNmoney.com in regards to Dollar Generals consistent store growth that they are only "cannibalizing sales at their other stores and eroding their profits"
On January 22, 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection becoming the largest retailer ever to do so in U.S. history. Most industry analysts attributed the immediate cause of the company's bankruptcy filing to a dull holiday season and stiff competition from WalMart and Target as the chain's more fundamental problem. But competition wasn't the root cause of Kmart's consistently poor performance. The real reason for Kmart's poor performance is that Kmart never had a marketing strategy. Kmart completely misunderstood its market and was positioning itself in the wrong direction. Also, on the strategic side, there are issues of where stores were located. On the whole, Kmart stores did not seem to be sited as well as the stores of the competition. Then there was the issue of technology. While Wal-Mart was becoming the relentless efficiency engine that we know today by investing in technology and streamlining the supply chain, Kmart held back. As Wal-Mart developed an infrastructure that enabled it to lower prices, Kmart slipped into a price disadvantage. This paper discusses these strategic problems that led to Kmart's poor performance.
Best Buy’s History & Main Characters: Best Buy is Minneapolis-based and is North America's leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances. Throughout Best Buy's 37-year history, the company has maintained the tradition of making life fun and easy for customers and employees, while providing a significant return to partners and investors. It has 80,000 employees and over 550 stores in the U.S., in addition to the brands Best Buy Canada, Future Shop and Magnolia Hi-Fi. Their leadership is led by Dick Schulze, Founder and Chairman, Brad Anderson, Vice Chairman and CEO, Al Lenzmeier, President and COO, and Darren Jackson, Executive Vice President of Finance and CFO. Chairman Dick Schulze founded Best Buy in 1966 with the Sound of Music, an audio component systems store in St. Paul, Minn. In 1973, Vice Chairman and CEO Brad Anderson joined Sound of Music as a salesperson. The company quickly expanded into video products and computers, was renamed Best Buy in 1983, and became a public company in 1985. Best Buy’s revenues for fiscal year 2003 were $20.9 billion and net earnings of $622 million. It was ranked number 91 on the Fortune 500 in 2003 (Bestbuy.com). Best Buy stores are redefining the way customers shop by offering an unparalleled assortment of affordable, easy-to-use entertainment and technology products and services available through its network of more than 550 retail stores in 48 states and online at BestBuy.com. Best Buy is scheduled to open 60 new stores in fiscal 2003 and is on track to have 650 stores by fiscal 2005. Magnolia Hi-Fi is a high-end electronics retailer specializing in audio and video solutions for homes, ...
Organizational change is the altering of organizational structures and business strategy. As consumer preferences change, competition increases, and the economic environment fluctuates, business need to adapt to these changes to remain competitive. The management of Home Plus, a regional discount store, has proposed an increase of high-end products and a significant reduction in discount packaged goods. This is a change from the original business strategy in which the primary offerings were discount products. Before implementing the proposed strategy, Home Plus management must consider the benefits of the change and the consequences that may occur. As a member of the management team at Home Plus I disagree with the proposal to increase high-end
Burger King uses a dispersed configuration for day to day operations as the majority of their restaurants are franchises with local suppliers. Yet Burger King Headquarters uses a concentrated configuration for marketing and development of products, as well as pricing. This centralization of marketing assists all franchises worldwide and provides the greatest value for the company, but the direction of available products and pricing has proven detrimental to the overall success of the firm. An article on CNNMoney.com describes the failure of the $1 double cheese burger to stimulate sales and how a number of franchisees filed lawsuits against the headquarters due to being forced to sell the double cheese burger at less than cost in order to boost revenues for the headquarters and shareholders and not the franchisees.