If Jnek Tate learned anything while at Harvard Law School and after graduating from it, it was that he didn’t want to be a lawyer.
Although he hung his sign as a lawyer on an office in Greenville, South Carolina, he never took the job in his heart and grew impatient as he shopped for some of his nine-month-old’s necessities from several retail stores.
And then he thought, why not one store that sells all the children’s needs in the style of the so-called Super Markets and in these stores the children, their toys, their necessities, their clothes, food and drink, and he thought it would make the lives of new parents – who ship tables Their daily work with many burdens – more easy. .They surely would beat a path to your door.
Optimistically, Tati secured a $200,000 buck in March 1971, which helped him open his Carolina Baby one month later.
And then Tani became considered among the retailers with innovative ideas. .
He was co-worked in this store by his law firm secretary, Linda Roberts, to whom he was so optimistic about this new type of retailer.
As their activity grew, they narrowed its range. That is, by defining the product lines in which they trade.
They no longer sell pre-pubescent baby items in their stores, but rather focus on the needs of infants and young children. Their rationale was clear that new parents needed to buy many things for their new children such as strollers, changing tables, and car seats – the market at the time was estimated at $13 million annually.
While Tate and Robertson were narrowing their product lines, they were also busy increasing their store space.
Realizing that they pay high rent because their stores are in air-conditioned commercial markets, they moved them to some outdoor malls in Carolina, which helped them reduce rental costs.
By 1987, their sales amounted to $14.5 million, and the number of their branches reached 26, with an average area of 6000 square feet per branch.
At the same time, they opened a new branch in Marietta, Georgia, with an area of 20,000 square feet, and when the square foot sales increased in this type of stores 50 Thani and Robertsen realized that they were on their way to great success, so they changed the name of the chain to match the expected success and its new name became: Baby Superstores, which means: Giant Baby Stores.
Soon after they moved all the stores into mega-stores stacked with merchandise to the ceiling, Thani and Robersen, following the model of Honne Depot, were able to offer customers a wide range of products.
At low prices, which achieved complete comfort for them.
This change was successful at least during a specific period, and in 1992 sales of the chain of 26 giant stores reached $63 million, and two years later – that is, in 1994 – the company was converted into a joint stock company, and its share prices rose very quickly, and as a result, Robertson’s position changed From a secretary in a law firm with a $55 weekly salary to a director of a company with a $50 million equity stake, unfortunately the decision to expand its rapid growth strategy and add several hundred branches to the company has resulted in the company facing a number of financial problems — and even Tate keeps On his life, he made the most dangerous decision in the life of the company, which was to merge it with Toys R Us in a stock deal worth $376 million, and although Tate lost part of his fortune as a result of this deal, his life became less risky, which allowed him to enjoy his life in South Carolina. ?
questions:
(1) Use the analytical approach to decision making. What do you think of the actions that led to the creation of Baby Superstores?
(2) Do you think that the decisions that came would be worse or better if he used the groups in making his decisions.
(3) Do you think that the concept of inflating commitment has influenced the company’s compliance decisions?