Differentiating Between Market Structures in Kudler
Differentiating Between Market Structures in Kudler
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“Kudler Fine Foods was established in 1998 when Kathy Kudler fulfilled her vision of establishing her own gourmet food store. The La Jolla store continues to grow while the Del Mar store has been having some difficulties. The store in Encinitas has just opened, but sales seem brisk.” (Apollo, 2011, Strategic Plan, p. 3) The owner works 7 days a week and performs many jobs from purchasing to stocking shelves. Kudler Fine Foods sees itself outside of competition. The customer’s satisfaction survey, conducted in 2011, indicated that 80% of customers find Kudler Fine Foods stores convenient for open hours and are pleased with atmosphere and décor inside the stores. The owner makes sure that the shelves are restored with the fines and fresh product, however only 40.3% of customers said that the quality of the product matches its price and only 62.5% were happy with customer service representatives (Apollo, 2011, Market Surveys). On top of that the numbers listed above have decreased from the surveys conducted a year before. The high price and low customer satisfaction may shake the stability for the entire business especially for the new store that was recently opened. Increasing customer satisfaction is necessary to improve the business. * Kudler Fine Foods markets structure is closer to oligopoly. Their strategic plan outlines a “gourmet food shop” is the only store in its southern California region that offers its range of goods and services (Apollo, 2011). They also view themselves similar to stores like Harvest Ranch Market, Cardiff’s Seafood Market, and real-world firms, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (Apollo, 2011). The statement seems to be true since Kudler Fine Foods is specialized on selling organic specialty food and wines. They sell their product on a limited area-South California. Also, the high cost of the specialty food is an obstacle to entry is another argument that Kudler
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“Kudler Fine Foods was established in 1998 when Kathy Kudler fulfilled her vision of establishing her own gourmet food store. The La Jolla store continues to grow while the Del Mar store has been having some difficulties. The store in Encinitas has just opened, but sales seem brisk.” (Apollo, 2011, Strategic Plan, p. 3) The owner works 7 days a week and performs many jobs from purchasing to stocking shelves. Kudler Fine Foods sees itself outside of competition. The customer’s satisfaction survey, conducted in 2011, indicated that 80% of customers find Kudler Fine Foods stores convenient for open hours and are pleased with atmosphere and décor inside the stores. The owner makes sure that the shelves are restored with the fines and fresh product, however only 40.3% of customers said that the quality of the product matches its price and only 62.5% were happy with customer service representatives (Apollo, 2011, Market Surveys). On top of that the numbers listed above have decreased from the surveys conducted a year before. The high price and low customer satisfaction may shake the stability for the entire business especially for the new store that was recently opened. Increasing customer satisfaction is necessary to improve the business. * Kudler Fine Foods markets structure is closer to oligopoly. Their strategic plan outlines a “gourmet food shop” is the only store in its southern California region that offers its range of goods and services (Apollo, 2011). They also view themselves similar to stores like Harvest Ranch Market, Cardiff’s Seafood Market, and real-world firms, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (Apollo, 2011). The statement seems to be true since Kudler Fine Foods is specialized on selling organic specialty food and wines. They sell their product on a limited area-South California. Also, the high cost of the specialty food is an obstacle to entry is another argument that Kudler
References: Apollo Group, Inc. (2011). Kudler Fine Foods. Retrieved September 5, 2012. Colander, D. C. (2010). Economics (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. *