William Sonoma

In the past, JCP had, on average, one price campaign every day. The stores were full of sale signs and retail rise was getting out of control. JCP partnered with numerous exclusive collaborations which was hoped to bring about an expansion for the firm. However, due to the economic slump, the oversaturation of the market, and an expected lack of quality in the goods from the consumer perspective, JCPenney’s success was degrading in contrast to its competitors. (Sloan, 2010).

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

Their extensive research in market trends enables them to keep a step ahead of its competitors by constantly expanding to meet consumer needs.

Through analysis, it is evident that the company must be restructured entirely through the implementation of a differentiation strategy. This strategy will focus solely on transforming the company into a retail chain providing competitively priced appliances, electronics, furniture and home décor. While maintaining a strategically competitive price point, Sears will be able to maintain competitive prices to draw consumers

The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.

a. To me, I believe that their statement above the door of their design studio speaks a lot of volume in terms of motivation and determination. By me reading the statement, it automatically gives me the mindset of wanting to innovate and excel pass the normal expectations that are expected. This shows their employees that innovating is an important factor to the company and the way to success. As a company, their goal is to continue to refine and develop new products and surpass their limits when it comes down to developing and designing products. They design new and better products in order to replace the already existing merchandises.

Some of the opportunities Williams Sonoma wants to capitalize on are: the growing millennial and Gen Z generations, new countries to expand into in Asia, as well as the current food trends of eating organic, from farm to table and vegan trends. As more and more millennials are entering the culinary industry they are creating a demand for higher quality, lasting, and stylish cookware. Williams Sonoma can seize this opportunity to cater their products or develop new products to this growing segment. International markets such as Japan are very tempting to enter into. The Japanese consumers are commonly known to be very sophisticated and are not satisfied easily because they like originality as well as quality. Furthermore, they are considered very wealthy apart from other nations which enables them to purchase quality cookware. Lastly, the new healthy eating trends have influenced consumers to spend more time cooking and less buying food outside.

The company is known to produce the unexpected and that is something that they and their customers both

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 financial data will support the strategy as the ratios and numbers show that Macy’s has resources and capital available for the implementation. Evaluation of external and internal factors positively presenting an opportunity for Macy’s to use designed strategy to and keep competitiveness in the industry. Summarizing Macy’s is a well-established organization with over 150 successful years in business that still has an ability to compete with leaders in the industry if the right

Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isidore, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. This performance is primarily due to the core functions and operations of the business. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Macy's excels at these forms of management, which has allowed the company to perform at a higher level relative to its peers in the industry.

The development of the Internet and more specifically the business website has seen brand recognition by consumers escalate to never before seen heights. Because of this brand recognition, it has become important for businesses to design their websites to reflect their overall marketing strategies. This is especially important in the retail world. All retail businesses have a similar overall marketing strategy of generating sales and retaining the customer for future sales. Most of the retail giants still greatly rely on the success of their brick and mortar stores to turn a profit. However, internet sales for these brick and mortar stores have increasingly risen over the last few years to compete with the retail stores like Amazon that are strictly internet based businesses. Brick and mortar retail stores, such as Walmart, Target, Kmart, and Nordstrom, have each designed their websites to reflect the overall retail marketing strategy as well as the individual marketing strategies that have made their brick and mortar businesses successful.

The brand seeks great opportunity to further develop the business, enhance product design as well as company’s brand image.

So for my second post I thought I would share my feelings on Pottery Barn. I recently went into Pottery Barn to find a gift for one of our friends who just bought her first home. I guess the reason why I went into there initially was because, I know it has a classy reputation for home furnishings. As I walked around there I noticed that there are very few people shopping if any and most of the price tags make you think “seriously, for this thing”? I quickly found out that I wouldn’t be purchasing her gift in there. Of course, Pottery Barn does have another effect on me which would fit in the “self- esteem/needs” of the hierarchy. With some of the bedroom or table layouts they have set up, you feel that you would love that look in your own

Macy's is one of the premier retailer franchises within the United States. To begin, Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isadora, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. Macy's, with its ride array of assortments and products continues to grow as it attempts to capture market share from failing competitors. Macy's is also unique as it operates in a unique market demographic. It is upscale, but not to the extent of Saks Fifth Avenue or a Nordstrom. It is also not as low scale as a JC Penny