2 responses - 364

RESPOND TO STUDENT #1

Must use In text citation

(it is ok to challenge the student or ask a question to make them think or open for further discussion)

DISCUSSION #1

Mohammed Abul and his family own the Long-lasting Boot (LLB) store. LLB is a specialty boot store located in the downtown area in a medium sized Scottsdale, Arizona and sells a broad line of boots to all members of the family including a novelty pet line. The store sells boots for work and recreation as well as a line of expensive cowboy boots for the tourist trade. The business is twenty-five years old. It has a reputation for being the best place to get boots in the community because of the selection, quality, and customer service. They will even work with custom designed boots for people with unusually sized feet or medical problems. The boots in some instances, work boots in particular, are considered expensive by middle class buyers but the construction quality is so long-lasting that it makes the higher prices seem worthwhile. Abul, who is 32 years old and just out of the military after 10 years of service, has returned to find the business at a crossroad.

The store is successful but sales are very slow growing at the moment. The family is looking to boost sales by developing a competitive edge for the future. Up until now the business has been successful because of the company’s ability to anticipate changing boot styles.  In the past three years, sales have remained constant but growth has waned.  Despite sales, the use of loyalty reward cards and staying open later in the evening, revenue has not grown. Yet, total sales in the Central City metropolitan area including the suburbs have grown substantially.  Stores that sell in volumes like Wal-Mart and Payless have boot sales that pull in three times the sales of LLB.

Abul and his family are planning for the next three years and want to find ways to increase sales.  They have come to you for advice.  As their consultant, you want to cover the following ideas in your response:

• Create a SWOT analysis;

• Using the facts from the case study, discuss how you determined the various elements of the SWOT analysis

Student 1: Antoinette Druce

As stated in the scenario, Long-lasting Boots has many strengths, and they also have many opportunities they can exploit. In comparison to Wal-Mart and Payless products, from a customer’s perspective, LLB provides unique and high quality products that last for a long time. LLB may be more expensive, but their style, quality, and durability make the boots worthwhile. However, these may not be enough to attract the middle class buyers who do not look at their footwear investment with a long term view; therefore, LLB should look at ways to decrease their internal and manufacturing expenses to lessen their prices.

Today’s society relies heavily on the Internet. People use it for research, shopping, advertisement, review, etc…. Utilizing the Internet will expand LLB’s marketing sales, thus increasing its competitive edge and growth. Couple this with LLB strengths, the Internet opens up numerous opportunities for the company to reach more customers around the globe. Also, LLB can look into expanding on another location; this will provide them with another opportunity to reach more customers.

Using the SWOT analysis, LLB will be able to focus on their strengths, pinpoint their weaknesses, decrease threats, and increase growth and successes by taking advantage of all their opportunities (MindTools, n.d.).  Additionally, SWOT will provide them with greater understanding of their competitors, which will increase their insight on how to create a successful strategic plan for a competitive position (MindTools, n.d.). 

MindTools, (n.d.). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved April 4, 2017, from MindTools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm