Marketing Essentials

Chapter 2: The Marketing Plan

Case Study Online Action

Determine Strengths and Weaknesses
Your market research firm has been asked to write a case study on J&K Booksellers, a nationwide chain of bookstores. You were provided with the following information:

• J&K has 45 locations in 15 states.
• The company is privately owned.
• It was founded in 1955 as a single location, and began expanding in 1970.
• The company opened an Internet operation in 2001; it has not turned a profit yet.
• J&K's stores are modeled on neighborhood cafes, with comfortable seating and small coffee shops inside.
• Over the past five years, the chain has had to reduce its profit margins in order to keep up with competition from larger chains and online booksellers.

Activity
Given this information, what are the company's strengths and weaknesses? Prepare a short report that could be the basis for SWOT analysis.