A.J.'s Profile

So, the time difference was for the exact same drink (a latte) ordered in each store. I think that one of the factors that was left out of the research was the product mix at Starbucks vs DD. My experience just from observing while waiting in line at both coffee shops is that most people at DD order coffee while people in Starbucks usually order other types of coffee drinks like lattes, fraps, or other drinks along those lines.

I personally feel like DD has always tried to cater to being great tasting coffee for hard working people. Given that vision, I would prefer to see DD try to lower prices but that may just spark a price war with the much bigger McDonald’s.

I think that most of the growth with Baskin has actually been overseas. I have also noticed that most of the combination stores have been remodeled into just DDs. Perhaps part of that is the fact that the location for a coffee shop is not necessarily the best spot for an ice cream shop. Those are more my intuitions than anything.

As far as the intrabrand competition, I am not sure how much actual business they are stealing from each other. I think that most people stop at a convenient location to get their coffee quickly. I imagine most people have a routine that they follow and they prefer not to drive out of their way to get their coffee. This is why two DDs on opposite sides of the road only a half mile away from each other may still do well. I am not sure how much help or conversation there is between HQ and a franchisee regarding location if there is even any at all.

This is a great post. The most surprising aspect for me was the inventory management. I think that in the past I’ve always thought of bargain stores as simply buying leftover product, whatever is available, and putting that in the store. I never realized that they are able to both manage their inventory and turn it quickly enough to have the store looking different every day. I agree that the thrill of the deal is important, but only if customers know that there will actually be those diamonds in the rough they want. This means that TJX must not only provide a quick turnover on inventory, but it must also be interesting and fashion forward. It seems that TJX really has an operating model that complements its business model.

This is a company I’ve never heard of and it seems like a lot of companies with similar models are popping up (like Dollar Shave Club). One of the things that I like about their model is that no matter how many subscribers they have, there is not a lot of need for expansion in terms of employees and warehouse space. It seems like they can scale very quickly without costs increasing at a proportional rate, which makes their model very promising. I am curious to see what other categories they introduce in the future.

I feel like this company is definitely in an enviable position with its history of American made shoes. This could not be more important today as more and more people are concerned about the origins of products they buy. I feel like though I very well may have seen and tried these shoes on in a store, I have no aided brand awareness. Are they trying to keep this product as a more luxury product since it is more expensive?

I also agree that clothing is not a great place to go. I mean if they cannot even make the clothing themselves, they are totally breaking their origins as a company!