Martha Stewart Case Summary

her to reduce hours and staff to stay in business. While Macy had years of salon

Louise Gosselin has undergone a life of many obstacles. She struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as psychological problems. As a result of this she has been in and out of numerous jobs of various nature. For the majority of her adult life she has received social assistance. When Quebec decided to change its existing social assistance scheme in 1984, Louise felt her constitutional and provincial rights were violated, resulting in her pursuit of legal action. This is how the case of Gosselin v. A.G. (Quebec) came to be.

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

And finally, there is the issue of staff mismanagement. The supervisor, Keith Frazier, is only checking in with this department one to two times per week. Mr. Frazier is aware that Pat is making international phone calls. He is also aware that Pauline found a way for Pat to make these calls from the building’s elevator once he had the phone system modified to only allow internal calls. Mr. Frazier has also been fielding complaints from the accountants about not receiving their tax schedules in a timely fashion. However, he has failed to confront either of these issues. This lack of management can be attributed to the following:

Macy’s enjoys economies of scale giving them purchasing power with their suppliers and the ability to reduce operating costs by spreading fixed costs over a larger base; due to this process Macy’s buys in bulk which locks in larger discounts they can pass on to the consumer creating a win/win situation. This purchasing power allows them to control a larger section of the market and protects them from smaller retailers purchasing the same product. Macy’s sales equal $27.82B with a gross profit of $11.21B. Most analysts recommended buying Macy’s stock last month with 6 analysts predicting a strong performance. Dillard’s revenue is $6.69B and J.C. Penny Corporation revenue is reported at $12.98B for the same time period. (Macy’s (M), 2014). Macy’s, Inc. is currently trading at $57.11 (Macy’s (M), 2014) with a 52-week high of

Another level of weakness that exists currently at Macy’s end is the number of legal issues and proceedings associated with the company. These legal issues can impose serious trouble on the company’s goodwill and profitability (USSEC, 2010).

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).

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.

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).

Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe Kardashian are being sued by Hillair Capital Management over their “Kardashian Beauty” makeup line. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians stars allegedly failed to tweet about and generate buzz of their products, which caused the line to go bust and cost the company up to $180 million in lost profits.

Early in the day, Kate Spade and Company was at a high of $19.94, however it declined by the end of the day. The low is reported to be $19.40 around noon. Kate Spade shares have dropped since the beginning of April. For the past year, shares have been low by 8.5%, but have increased by 22.1% for the year. Recently, they have dropped 12.7 percent, but it is said to increase if they are able to arrange a deal with Coach Inc. During summer of last year, earnings dropped abruptly because of the merchandise that was being sold. Customers were not interested in the designs produced at that time. Since no customers were buying, the company was spending money to produce something that was not being bought therefore there was no profit gained from

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

Macy’s Inc. is one of the oldest enterprises in the United States, belonging to the department stores industry. (Hoovers.com) It is a national brand, owning 850 department stores. During the development of the company, there had several key decisions that were beneficial for the company. However, in recent years, the competitions in department stores industry become more and more serious.

The retail industry is highly competitive, with few barriers to entry. Each Company competes with many other local, regional and national retailers for customers, associates, locations, merchandise, services and other important aspects of the Company’s business. Those competitors include other department stores, discounters, home furnishing stores, specialty retailers, wholesale clubs, direct-to-consumer businesses and other forms of retail commerce. Some competitors are larger than JCPenney, have greater financial resources available to them, and, as a result, may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products.” There are many factors that characterize competition, including advertising, service,

Who would have known that Macy’s department store would go from "how may I help you" to "how may I follow you". For years Macy’s have been discriminating against minorities who shop in their stores, now finally they have to pay the price. The department store recently settled the numerous complaints that were received for a sum of $650,000. That settlement came a week later after Barney’s, another major retail chain settled that their case for $525,000. For many years America has been known to treat minorities differently from the rest of society.