...Competition Among the North American Warehouse Clubs: Costco Wholesale vs. Sam’s Club vs. BJ’s Wholesale 11/1/2013 Provide an overview of the company and/or industry and add any pertinent information relevant to the case (5 points) The Warehouse club retail industry was first started back in 1976. It currently consists of 3 main players: Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale club. These no frill, big box retailers offer discounted merchandise including such items as food, clothing, household goods, cleaning supplies, office supplies books, DVD's and some furniture. Items sold are usually in larger packages than offered in other retail stores. Warehouse clubs attract consumers such as families, businesses, churches and other organizations. It is hard for other retailers such as supermarkets, department store,. office supply stores, along with others to compete with wholesale club pricing. Clubs are able to keep pricing low due to bulk purchasing along with no frill overhead and low labor costs. . 1. Do all three warehouse club rivals – Costco, Sam’s, and BJ’s Wholesale – have highly similar strategies? What differences in their strategies are apparent? Does one rival have a better strategy that the others? Does one rival have a somewhat weaker strategy than the other two? (15 points) All three warehouse club rivals have some similar strategies. All practice the low cost provider strategy Their strategies are to offer...
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...BJ’s Wholesale Club Nikki Celso Florida State College of Jacksonville Professor Elizabeth Oppe March 9, 2011 Abstract This research paper will inform you about BJ’s Wholesale Club. You will learn of there mission and vision statements. How this club keeps to its mission and vision statements. How it is involved in our local communities. Maybe you will want to be a part of this company. I have chosen BJ’s Wholesale Club because I am a member and I probably should know a little more about the company. The information about BJ’s that I already knew was, the store was named after the owner’s daughter, Beverly Jean. The owner started this company in the 1980’s. A man named Azyre started BJ’s Wholesale Club. BJ’s started as a discount department store chain in 1984, on the border of Medford/Malden, Massachusetts. When Zayre sold their nameplate to Ames, a rival discount department store, TJX Companies was formed which owned BJ's. TJX spun off their "warehouse division," consisting of BJ's and now defunct Home Club, to form Waban, Inc. Later Waban spun off BJ's to become an independent company, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts. (Scripophily) As of January 30, 2010, BJ's operates 190 BJ's warehouses in fifteen states. (Bjs.com) It employees over 23,500 people (full and part-time.) Today, BJ's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "BJ". The letters B and J are commonly misinterpreted to stand for Berkley and Jensen, which...
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...Billion 3 550 Warehouses Today – Operates in: 40 States 9 Countries 4 $137 million average sales/warehouse 5 141,000 square feet/warehouse 6 143,000 employees worldwide 7 More than 1.4 million transactions/day Until 2009, Costco made 71billion revenues, and 550 warehouses covers 40 states in 9 countries. i would say that their competitive advantage is that they sell in bulk and often offer a better price per unit, so more people want to buy there. Also, i think that they make alot of their money on membership fees each year. another thing that Costco does is have free samples just about every day of the week. i think that this draws in customers and often times, gets consumers to buy more products (at least i know that this is the case for me) 13. Low pricing Wal-Mart as at the time of this writing is the most capitalized company in the world. Thanks to its low pricing strategy that became its strong source of competitive advantage. Low barrier to entry We live near a Costco and a Sam's, and the Costco is better in many many ways. And you can use a debit card there. And I personally won't support the WalMart empire, so that's another negative on Sam's for me (and we need not go there as that has been discussed to death in this forum as well). I just like the service better at Costco, layout, selection, etc. We seem to have a thread about this every other week...LOL. It really depends on what you buy, how often you want to go...I think the key,...
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...The chief elements of Costco’s strategy are low pricing, limited product selection, and a treasure hunt shopping environment. • Pricing: a key element of their pricing strategy is to cap its markup on brand-name merchandise at 14% and markups on their private label items can be no higher than 15%. This strategy keeps customers coming in to shop by enticing them with low prices. • Product Selection: this portion of the strategy only provides members with a selection of about 4000 items. Their product range covers a broad spectrum but the selection in each product category is limited based on fast-selling models, sizes, and colors. • Treasure-Hunt Merchandising: while the product line consists of 4000... Costco goes out of its way to surprise and excite its visitors with limited availability designer items. This solves two major challenges faced by warehouse stores – with products sold in such huge quantities, why visit regularly and why buy now. While Costco strives to beat the competition’s pricing, it also delivers exceptional value in its high-end offerings and customer service, giving consumers more for their money. This strategy works well for Costco, given its customers are the most affluent of all the warehouse clubs, with average incomes around $75,000. However, these customers are also value conscious, as evidenced by the members who opt for executive memberships, although it costs more per year, to take advantage of a 2% discount on most purchases. While...
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...1. Competition like in the North American wholesale club industry: - In North America discount warehouse and whole club segment has $125 billion market shares captured by Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s. There is high competition in the whole club sector, because every firm wants to enter a more profitable market by offering low prices with top quality products to grab customer attention. To attain this they have low operating cost and low labor cost to operate their facilities. They dictate the suppliers for price, deliveries and payment terms. As it indicates the suppliers have to wait for 30 to 60 days for their payments after the delivery is done. Other than general customers these clubs are attracted small business owners, churches and non-profit organizations. To increase the profit margins they introduced annual membership fee collected from customers to purchase products in whole sale clubs. Among the three whole sale clubs Costco and Sam’s club are in various states and have also established themselves internationally. But BJ‘s has limited their store to eastern seaboard of the US only and its market share is not affected by other two clubs at their positions. BJ’s accepts coupons which add value to its customers. This is an advantage to BJ’s and a disadvantage to the other two firms. BJ’s does have same competition levels of the other two clubs to participate in rivalry. When compared to Costco and Sam’s club the major market share in wholesale club is captured by...
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...Jennifer Wepking-Doeden BADM 482 Case 1 – Costco 7/14/14 Costco Case Analysis INTRODUCTION Costco’s mission statement reads: “The company will continue to pursue its mission of bringing the highest quality goods and services to market at the lowest possible prices while providing excellent customer service and adhering to a strict code of ethics that includes taking care of our employees and members, respecting our suppliers, rewarding our shareholders, and seeking to be responsible corporate citizens and environmental stewards in our operations around the world.” (CITE) After evaluating Costco’s this mission, I believe their business model and strategy is extremely appealing to all parties involved. To a customer having the highest quality goods that come with low price tags, while providing excellent customer service is what they look for in this competitive market. If a customer purchased a poor quality good or experienced horrible customer service while at Costco, they most likely won’t return. Another appealing aspect Costco gives to customer is that the CEO will answer phone calls about the complaints. This will make the customer feel like something will be done about their complaint. Employees should admire the involvement the CEO Jim Sinegal presents and how the company’s business model appeals to them. The strict code of ethics they company projects is a major appealing aspect. Projecting correct ethics will help the company again worthy employees...
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...1. What is Costco’s business model? Is the company’s business model appealing? Why or why not? Costco’s main goal is to continually provide customers with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. The company’s business model is to generate high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering members very low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and select private-label products in a wide range of merchandise categories (p.C-35). The business model is appealing because of its unique set of practices and its great management. One of reason for its business success is its high sales volume and rapid inventory turnover, which helped the company to receive cash for inventory before it had to make a payment to its vendors (p. C-35). The company generated $71 billion at 544 warehouses in 40 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Its annual sales per store averaged $130 million whereas it’s closest competition; Sam’s club averaged $75 million per store. (p. C32-C33) 2. What are the chief elements of Costco’s strategy? How good is the strategy? The chief elements of Costco’s strategy are low prices, a limited product line and limited selection, and a “treasure hunt” shopping environment (p. C-35). The company’s strategy is appealing because they entice with low prices to attract more customers. Similarly the company is also based on the limited product or product selection as more products mean more confusion...
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...than others, the majority of shareholders do so at least once each year. Therefore, Torres’ desire to update her analysis in order to determine whether Costco was still operating efficiently makes perfect sense. After thorough examination, my analysis proves that Costco remains one of the industry’s leading competitors and there seems to be no reason for Torres to sell her shares as long as she wishes to retain holdings of a retail wholesale club in her portfolio. The common-size financial statements evaluating the period 1997-2001 (exhibit 9) reveal valuable information regarding Costco. Torres noticed that there were two revenue lines: net sale of goods and membership fees. She decided to use net sales of goods as the point of comparison and express other line items, including membership fees, as a percentage of net sales in order to allow for a clearer reflection of gross and operating margins. This format enabled her to analyze the profit and asset structures of Costco over time. To begin, Margarita Torres’ common-size financial statements for Costco demonstrate a rise in membership fees and other sources of revenue from 1.82% in 1997 to 1.93% in 2001. This is supported by Costco’s trend to increase membership fees over time and also gain new members. For example fees cost $25 in 1986 and rose as high as $45 in 2002. But why were customers willing to pay a fee to shop at Costco when they could go to discount stores for free? Costco created value for the customer...
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...Costco Wholesale Corporation 1. Describe Costco’s Business Model. Description must identify and describe model components. Costco’s business model was to generate high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering its members low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and select private-label products in a wide range of merchandise categories. The components that stick out to me in this model are the low prices, brand names/select private label, and membership. A) Discuss how each component impacts profit generation. The principle business components that allow their business to generate revenues sufficient to cover costs are as follows: * Low Prices support rapid inventory turnover and high sales volumes. The higher sales volumes they generate then the better means they have when negotiating pricing with their vendors, and the potential to reach higher gross profit by the mass quantities they sell. Volume pricing, efficient distribution, and reduced handling of merchandise add to their overall effectiveness. * Brand names and select private-labeled products help to draw customers in because they know the brand names and understand what they are paying for. Discount pricing on top of this, even if it is still cheaper than the local grocer, will still make the shopper feel as if they are getting a deal. When a shopper gets a deal, they are often inclined to spend more and shop there again…both adding to Costco’s ability to generate sufficient...
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...Strategia aziendale - Formulazione ed esecuzione Arthur A. Thompson, A. J. Strickland III, John E. Gamble Copyright © 2009 - The McGraw-Hill Companies srl Case 1 Costco Wholesale Corporation: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy he was prone to display irritation when he disagreed sharply with what people were saying to him. In touring a Costco store with the local store manager, Sinegal was very much the person-in-charge. He functioned as producer, director, and knowledgeable critic. He cut to the chase quickly, exhibiting intense attention to detail and pricing, wandering through store aisles firing a barrage of questions at store managers about sales volumes and stock levels of particular items, critiquing merchandising displays or the position of certain products in the stores, commenting on any aspect of store operations that caught his eye, and asking managers to do further research and get back to him with more information whenever he found their answers to his questions less than satisfying. It was readily apparent that Sinegal had tremendous merchandising savvy, that he demanded much of store managers and employees, and that his views about discount retailing set the tone for how the company operated. Knowledgeable observers regarded Jim Sinegal’s merchandising expertise as being on a par with that of the legendary Sam Walton. In 2006, Costco’s sales totaled almost $59 billion at 496 stores in 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan...
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...Urban Outfitters Continuing Case Study: Marketing a business Deborah Riley Dr. John H. Carter BUS100 – Spring/2010 May 30, 2010 Question #1 - Explain why Sears or Wal-mart cannot effectively create a trendy counterculture image. In my opinion I don’t think that Wal-mart would be able to create a trendy counterculture because it sales clothes at a lower price. Trendy clothes would not be effective for them because the cost associated with trendy clothes would not be profitable. Wal-mart shoppers are looking for a bargain when they go shopping at their stores. Wal-mart is known for their lowering prices on items in their stores called the Roll Back Price. “Wal-Mart said last week that it is stepping up price cuts, although it wouldn't specify how much it is boosting its typical weekly discounts designed to lure customers.” (Anderson, 2010, para 2). They also buy their merchandise in bulk as oppose to small quantities. While Urban Outfitters buy their merchandise in smaller quantities and there items are priced higher which is why they can create a trendy counterculture. When speaking of Sears they are not on the same line as Wal-mart considering they do not offer their customers price cuts such as roll back prices. But they do buy their merchandise in larger quantities then Urban Outfitters. Sears prices are high when compared to Wal-mart but they offer designer labels that are not offered at Wal-mart. But they also mass produce...
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...BJ’S RESTAURANTS, INC. 2012 ANNUAL REPORT INCREASE IN REVENUES TO $708.3 MILLION 14 % % Resonating with the consumer. INCREASE IN COMPARABLE RESTAURANT SALES 3.2 11 % INCREASE IN OPERATING WEEKS $ 31.4Million fISCAL 2012 NET INCOME $ 1.09 fISCAL 2012 NET INCOME PER DILUTED SHARE BJ’S RESTAURANTS, INC. INVESTING IN QUALITY A loyalty proven by our financial results. 61 2 3 5 4 1 2 1 1 3 6 1 28 1 11 selected financial highlights (dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) Revenues Net Income Net Income Per Share: Basic Diluted Total Assets Shareholders’ Equity Number of Restaurants at Year End Comparable Restaurant Sales Increase (Decrease) $ $ 2012 $ 708,325 $ 31,409 1.12 1.09 2011 $ 620,943 $ 31,570 $ $ 1.14 1.08 2010 $ 513,860 $ 23,162 $ $ 0.86 0.82 2009 $ 426,707 $ 13,038 $ $ 0.49 0.48 2008 $ 374,076 $ 10,308 $ $ 0.39 0.39 $ 566,876 $ 371,834 130 3.2% $ 502,079 $ 332,449 115 6.6% $ 430,085 $ 287,826 102 5.6% $ 381,122 $ 252,979 92 (0.8%) $ 335,209 $ 232,277 82 (0.3%) TOTAL LOCATIONS / JANUARY 1, 2013 130 We opened 16 new restaurants, including one relocation, which translates into an Certain statements in this Annual Report and all other statements that are not purely historical constitute “forward-looking” statements for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by...
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...Strategia aziendale - Formulazione ed esecuzione Arthur A. Thompson, A. J. Strickland III, John E. Gamble Copyright © 2009 - The McGraw-Hill Companies srl Case 1 Costco Wholesale Corporation: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy he was prone to display irritation when he disagreed sharply with what people were saying to him. In touring a Costco store with the local store manager, Sinegal was very much the person-in-charge. He functioned as producer, director, and knowledgeable critic. He cut to the chase quickly, exhibiting intense attention to detail and pricing, wandering through store aisles firing a barrage of questions at store managers about sales volumes and stock levels of particular items, critiquing merchandising displays or the position of certain products in the stores, commenting on any aspect of store operations that caught his eye, and asking managers to do further research and get back to him with more information whenever he found their answers to his questions less than satisfying. It was readily apparent that Sinegal had tremendous merchandising savvy, that he demanded much of store managers and employees, and that his views about discount retailing set the tone for how the company operated. Knowledgeable observers regarded Jim Sinegal’s merchandising expertise as being on a par with that of the legendary Sam Walton. In 2006, Costco’s sales totaled almost $59 billion at 496 stores in 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan...
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...CosTco WHOLESALE CORPORATION FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS (A) INTRODUCTION Margarita Torres first purchased shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation in 1997 as part of her personal investment portfolio. Between 1997 and 2002, she added slightly to her holdings from time to time when the company sold stock for what she felt was a reasonable valuation, and up to that time she did not sell any of her shares. Having watched Costco grow from 265 warehouses to 365 worldwide, and from sales revenue of $21.8 billion to $34.1 billion, she wondered what factors led to such successful growth. She also wanted to determine whether those factors would hold consistent going forward. At this point, Costco was one of a special breed of retailers called wholesale clubs. Unlike other retailers, wholesale clubs required that customers purchase annual memberships in order to shop at their stores. Costco operated a chain of warehouses that sold food and general merchandise at large discounts to member customers. The company was able to maintain low margins by selling items in bulk, keeping operating expenses to a minimum, and turning inventory over rapidly. Costco’s closest competitors were SAM’S Club (a division of Wal-Mart) and BJ’s Wholesale, which both operated as wholesale clubs. Other competitors included general discounters (such as Wal-Mart), general retailers (such as Sears), grocery store chains (such as Safeway), and specialty discounters (such as Best Buy). Torres first considered...
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...advertisement. There are many types of media communication that are used every day for advertisement. The main media communications that are used are television, radio, Internet, and magazines. The product that I chose as not marketed effectively is the portable heater. However with my product all four of the media communications are not being utilized. At the present time print media is the only way that consumers are viewing any type of advertisement for my product. I think the companies of portable heaters does not think that it is necessary for television, internet or radio advertisement because this product only really does well during the fall and winter seasons in the year. In today’s economy we as consumers have to buy thing at the right time in order to save money. With these communications the organization can get the product advertisement across by not limiting their sources to just one part of mass media. Often what many companies do is they only stick to one type of mass communication. My recommendations of these companies are to make the television, Internet, and radio ads. Right now companies are only advertising in the weekly and monthly ads in such stores as Target, BJ’s, and Wal-Mart. Often this will be the only way that consumers know that the products are out and are in stock. If we market the products on radio’s and television from the end of summer or mid summer I trust that sale will boost more. This is because many people use portable heaters. In...
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