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Why Did Levendary Decide To Enter China Market?

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Levendary Café was born as a small soup, salad and sandwich restaurant. Under the direction of former CEO Howard Leventhal, who stood behind Levendary’s vision of “delighting the customer”, the restaurant was transformed into a multi-billion dollar firm comprised of 3,500 cafés nationwide. Leventhal stated that “Its wholesome soups, salads, and sandwiches using high quality ingredients, and a commitment to service in a comfortable, friendly, environment distinguished Levendary Café from other quick casual restaurants.”
Although Leventhal had done remarkably well with Levendary’s domestic expansion, analysts were concerned with the lack of future domestic endeavors and sought to expand on a global level. Levendary soon identified China as …show more content…

This has resulted in an identifiable and loyal middle-class customer base willing to make repeat visits and pay the premium prices to dine in the cafés. In China, the majority of the cafés cannot be operated in the same manner, as the majority of the population is not willing to visit the “premium” cafes on such a repetitive basis. This is a potential institutional void in China due to the fact that the cafés must be customized to meet the local customer’s needs, which may tarnish the “premium” image set in place by Levendary U.S.

Q3: Why did Levendary decide to enter China Market? How did its US foundation match against China market needs? (compare US Vs China market in terms of customers and operations)
A3: As Levendary’s domestic growth was slowing, the company began to discuss overseas expansion. “With a population of 1.4 billion people and annual GDP growth of 14.5% over the past decade, China was ripe for investment.”

In the U.S. market, “Levendary was built on a culture that emphasized delighting the customer". Levendary established a clear priority and successfully pursued it by accommodating customer requests. In the U.S. market, customer focus was on the “mommies” and the “yuppies”. Unfortunately, the business derived from this customer group did not support expansion in smaller towns through out the Midwest and South. However, in China, the urban population was rising and “a strong middle class

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