Hallstead

Although the company did show an increased gross profit of $8,255,000 with $6,358,000 less Net Sales in 2013 versus 2012, that increase is due to the reduction in product Cost of Goods Sold by $14,613,000. Since increases in product price will negatively affect sales, one of management’s primary goals is to keep prices stable. This objective is achieved through implementation of cost cutting programs, investing in more efficient equipment, and automation of more steps in the production process.

In our second assumption, instead of using the cost of goods per cases in 1986, we try to use the percentage it counts in the total expenses which is 50.4% and to find the sales needed to break-even. The detail of the calculation is shown in the answer for questions d. The result is that 95,635, a little bit higher than the estimated sales of 90,000.

Revenue Estimates Revenue Item 100% Monthly 75% Monthly 50% Monthly Notes Rooms $2,956,500 $2,217,375 $1,478,250 8,100 daily Leases $180,000 $135,000 $90,000 TOTAL REVENUE $3,136,500 $2,352,375 $1,568,250 Expences TOTAL VARIABLE COSTS $454,000 $340,500 $227,000 TOTAL FIXED COSTS $1,403,000 $1,403,001 $1,403,002 TOTAL EXPENSE BEFORE IT $1,857,000 $1,743,501 $1,630,002 EBIT $1,279,500 $608,874 -$61,752 Depreciation $320,000 $320,001 $320,002 EBITDA $1,599,500 $928,875 $258,250 Furnishing Interest $110,000 $110,000 $110,000 20yr Mortgage Interest $182,000 $182,000 $182,000 TOTAL INTEREST $292,000 $292,000 $292,000 TAXES (40%) $395,000.00 $126,749.60 -$141,500.80

If Marlene Herbert were to discontinue place mats, he would miss $270,000 that will go toward Mendel paper company fixed cost. The company currently has a plant overhead that is estimated at $420,000 for the quarter. In addition to the fixed plant overhead, the plant incurs fixed selling and administrative expenses per quarter of $118,000. This draws the company to a total fixed cost of $538,000. If Marlene Herbert were to discontinue the second highest contributor to the fixed cost, he would need to increase the volume of computer paper and lower material cost to help pull the contribution margin of the lowest product up to help support the lost of a whole product line.

The amount of extra sales that would be required to cover this cost of 300,000 would be

A $2 increase on admission prices has the potential to increase revenues with a low risk of profit loss. A loss would only occur if the price change were to lose more than 572 visitors. An increase to $14 a ticket will bring in extra profits and still remains below the competitors and the ROM’s regular hours

However, in 1999, Lowe’s recorded very high sales growth alongside its expansion in preparation for the new millennium. From 1999 to 2001, Lowe’s began to assert itself as a worthy competitor for Home Depot, embodied in its significantly better margins and turnover ratios despite the recessionary economic environment. This improvement in ratios is indicative of positive change in the management of the

* Sales results over the past 5 years indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales. The rental market has been in decline. Result in company decided to reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market.

1. Williams-Sonoma has experienced strong growth in the past year, but this is on the back of a strong economy and in particular a strong new home market. The furniture business is strongly correlated with the strength of the real estate market. In this respect, the company's strategy is largely irrelevant, because within the next five years the real estate bubble will burst and Williams-Sonoma will suffer a major downturn in its own results as a consequence. However, this reality shows that the company perhaps lacks sufficient differentiation, and can only be expected to perform roughly in line with the housing market. It is neither outperforming competitors nor is it underperforming. W-S has sufficient differentiation within the furnishings and home products segment, and has a fairly strong brand name in the segment. The company's status as a mass-market premium company allows it to grow strongly in strong economic times, but also makes it particularly vulnerable to economic downturn, because not only do consumers redecorate at greater intervals, but they will trade down to more affordable stores when they do.

Jones-Blair needs to increase their sales while keeping their margins consistent with limited resources on advertising and sales promotion.

Based on the sales manager’s research, he predicted 2,200,000 yards to be sold. In our financial model, we factored in a 7% increase in the average price per yard and a 10% increase in the average cost per yard, both of which the sales manager projected with confidence. The key underlying assumption this lead to was a 12.90% increase in revenue. Next, we averaged the past four years SG&A margin (SG&A/Sales) because this will serve as an adequate proxy for the forecasted SG&A expense. Although 2004 SG&A expense was an anomaly, we felt that it must be calculated in the average to accommodate for any shifting trends towards higher SG&A costs. Calculating interest expense was simple because we were given that Alliance Concrete pays 8.5% on outstanding debt. Our assumption for the tax rate came from the average tax rate the firm has paid out over the past 4 years, which was 34.81%.

Because Harrington Collection thinks that sales people are the most important factor in the consumer decision-making process, they spend significant resources training their personnel and offering them attractive commissions. Their expenses are understandable, and didn’t change for the fiscal year of 2007. What did change were the Manufacturing Group’s expenses. The Manufacturing Group’s SG&A increased 4.63% in 2007, meaning that the cost of maintaining the current manufacturing set up is increasing.

This question gives students an opportunity to exercise their ability to interpret break-even analyses. Key teaching points should include explaining the preparation of a break-even chart, the interpretation of the break-even volume (938,799 hectoliters [HL]), and the comparison of the break-even volume to the current volume (1,173,000 HL). Another key point is that the chart in case Exhibit 5 is relevant only for the current cost structure of the company—if variable costs increase or the plant expansion is approved, the break-even volume will rise. Finally, students should be aided in understanding that “break-even” refers to operating profit, not free cash flow. The typical use of the break-even chart ignores taxes, investments, and the depreciation tax shield.

I would consider lowering price points so I could tap into the more than 10% of consumers without becoming “Wal-Mart”. Now the company did do something to increase its’ position that I found useful. That was to decrease its’ overall lease space by 2%. (2010 shareholders meeting). This reduction in retail occupancy costs attributed to the 1 billion dollars the company enjoyed last year. I would also consider expanding the company’s customer base by broadening the product line to similar to Home Goods or Bed Bath and beyond who currently double the revenue of Williams-Sonoma. (Redistribute assets earmarked for traditional cataloging to online accesses. Not only will this save money, but will also impact paper usage. I believe advertising in this was has all but outlived its’ usefulness.

At the event of any change to the company may it be negative or positive, profitable or non-profitable their will be an adverse effect to the stakeholders. Such effects are as follows: increase on overall sales of the company will yield increase on shares and earnings to either shareholders, employees and business owners; which in-turn will create profit that could be use for company expansion and purchasing of additional tools to use for improvement; that will lead in helping increase customers service elevating the aid provided to our customers; and also by increasing sales will also mean profit for Lowe’s vendors and suppliers, and so on…