West Lake Home Furnishings Ltd

The company was recently presented an opportunity by its largest retail customer to significantly increase its share in their private label manufacturing. The prospect of growth was risky, since it

Retailing building supply stores have become a popular retail industry sector due to increased public awareness and the need of many homeowners for the home improvement products. Back in the 1970s, long before warehouse stores ruled home improvement land, do-it-yourselfers shopped at “home centers.” These 30,000 square foot stores offered cheaper prices and wider selection of products, about 25,000 more than local hardware stores and eliminated the extra trip to the lumberyard. The dependence of many of these retailers upon the homebuilding industry for much of their business has also been reduced and the warehouse superstores, such as Home Depot, have become more important. The smaller companies in the

Stores that operate stand alone locations that are separate from large malls and other shopping outlets can make their stores more inviting with bright exterior LED lighting. A shopper will

Kirkland’s Inc. and Pier 1 Imports are among the major players represented in the retail home décor industry, where there is a constant demand to provide the right merchandising mix and marketing program for consumer attraction. However, in recent years there has been a decline in the retail home décor industry. Consumers have cut spending in anticipation of the continuing rise in gas prices, unemployment rates, interest rates, consumer debt and taxation. In the midst of a sluggish, unstable economy, both companies struggle to be profitable. In addition, the increased consumer spending in the fourth quarter for both companies does not

NAPA knows it is imperative to provide premium lamps because lighting is vital to keeping our customers safe while

Despite being well-established, over the last three years, sales at Atherley Furniture Company have remained the same while profits have declined by almost 24%. Their chair division produces three different types of chairs, the Atherley, the Caledonia and the Parkdale. Each model has its own production plan and production costs. The increasing production costs, alongside the intense competition the company faces, have become a great cause of concern for John Atherley.

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The first would be that instead of capitalizing the $210,000 to set up displays to promote the line, these displays could have been recorded as an Advertising Expense. One of the IFRS criteria for something to be considered an asset is that the benefit must be reasonably measurable. When it comes to anything done for the purpose of advertisement or promotion, it is hard to measure the benefit and that is why this cost could have been expensed rather than capitalized. However, by recording this event as an expense this would mean that Athina’s net income would have been overstated by $210,000 and that is an undesirable outcome for the national chain.

When one thinks of dairy, especially butter, Land O’Lakes Inc. is one of the brands that first comes to mind. Land O’Lakes Inc. is a privately-owned agricultural cooperative that produces one of the largest amount of butter and cheese in America. It was founded in 1921 in St. Paul, Minnesota and focuses on the dairy industry (Land O’Lakes Inc.). In 1997, Land O’Lakes Inc. was the eighth largest dairy cooperative in the United States. Currently, Land O’Lakes Inc. is one of the largest dairy cooperatives and premier agribusiness and food companies in America (Land O’Lakes Inc.). In 1997, Land O’Lakes Inc. expanded into more locations by the merger with Atlantic Dairy Cooperative, which positively impacted the company with strong growth and record earnings the following year. The company has been constantly growing as it has merged and acquired with other companies.

Wholesale and retail distribution in the U.S. carpet and rug industry has gone through a lot of instabilities since the 1980’s. There have been three major competitive trends that occurred within the industry. The first trend to occur happened in the mid 1980’s when the

1. Williams-Sonoma has experienced strong growth in the past year, but this is on the back of a strong economy and in particular a strong new home market. The furniture business is strongly correlated with the strength of the real estate market. In this respect, the company's strategy is largely irrelevant, because within the next five years the real estate bubble will burst and Williams-Sonoma will suffer a major downturn in its own results as a consequence. However, this reality shows that the company perhaps lacks sufficient differentiation, and can only be expected to perform roughly in line with the housing market. It is neither outperforming competitors nor is it underperforming. W-S has sufficient differentiation within the furnishings and home products segment, and has a fairly strong brand name in the segment. The company's status as a mass-market premium company allows it to grow strongly in strong economic times, but also makes it particularly vulnerable to economic downturn, because not only do consumers redecorate at greater intervals, but they will trade down to more affordable stores when they do.

The entrance of a new competitor into a market can cause a business to change its marketing strategy. For example, a small electronics store that was the only game in town might have to change its image in the marketplace when a large chain store opens nearby. While the smaller store might not be able to compete in price, it can use advertising to position itself as the friendly, service-oriented local alternative.

Columbia Plastics division of Fraser Company, the major manufacturer of skylights in the Pacific Northwest, is facing a severe competition from Vancouver Light which has just announced a further price cut of 10%. Alice Howell, president of the Columbia Plastics is unsure of which options to implement – 1) cut the prices at a level that just cover the costs, or 2) continue the current pricing policy and lose market leadership. Fraser is facing the erosion of its market share.

Again, prices will be cut and reduce our company’s perceived value (Conrad “The Advantages of…”).

IKEA’s corporate philosophy is to provide goods at a reasonable price. However, in providing products at a lower price than expected, then profit maximization is reduced (Rigby, 2011). This would be a possible threat on profit and may affect the growth for IKEA. To prevent their stock from becoming dead stocks, IKEA only order items when they are low in stock, provided the demand is there. Such as