Reference no: EM132183142

Assume you are the consultant for Gambill Jewelrs, and aim to provide strategies/ suggestions on helping the store deal with its problems and meeting its needs.

Following are the basic information of Gambill Jewelrs:

1. This relatively small jewelry store is owned by David Gambill and is located on Southwest Drive in a strip mall.

2. David began as a jewelry apprentice with a major upscale jewelry store in Jonesboro when he was in high school and then full-time after graduating from high school. David learned not only the retail side of the business, but also jewelry repair and custom design. He worked in this capacity for approximately 21 years, and then decided to open his own business. He started Gambill Jewelry in 1999, so he has been in business for about 19 years, first on Nettleton Avenue, and since 2005 in his current location on Southwest Drive.

3. When he first started business he did only jewelry repair as he had become very good at it. As more and more people came to him, they began asking for new jewelry so he started stocking, or custom ordering items for them and finally decided to go into the retail and custom design business.

4. Today Gambill Jewelry does it all, except watch repair, and they send these off to get repaired.

5. David leases the building he is in, and says his landlord has not increased his lease in the 14 years he has been there. He first signed a 5-year lease, but since that one expired there has not been another lease, the landlord saying she is more interested in keeping him there than trying to raise his lease and possibly losing him, then having to find another tenant.

6. The showroom is rather small, I did not get the exact square footage, and the inventory of off the shelf items is rather small compared to some other jewelry stores.

7. It seems that David does a significant business in custom design, especially wedding ring sets, and he says he is the only jeweler in NE Arkansas who has the technology to do everything in the store. Other jewelers can provide custom design, but they have to send it to another place to do so. This in-house capability results in a solid customer base, so much so, that David says the only complaint he has received from customers is it may take too long to get their rings as he gets backed up with orders.

8. There are only 3 full-time people in the store, David, an jewelry repairmen who can also serve as a salesperson and one full-time salesperson, who is actually retiring. David is looking to hire someone to replace her.

9. David says he hires seasonal part-time people, especially during Christmas, but it is difficult to judge when he needs them at other times. At times the store is so busy that people are waiting to be waited on, and at other times there may not be any customers in the store for several hours.

10. David advertises on KAIT-8, the local TV station, and in the Jonesboro Sun, but he says TV seems to produce the best results. He recently put up a digital sign in front of the store which seems to have worked well in attracting attention. Southwest Drive is a very busy street, and the store is very non-descript, and it blends in with the other establishments in the strip center. This makes it difficult for passersby to notice the store, and this is where the sign helps.

11. David is making good use of Facebook and some Instagram. He said he does not have time to keep up with it, and his website crashed and he has not gotten it fixed. He has used billboards, but these seem not to be too effective.

12. David's clientelle run from teens to the elderly, in the mid-income range, which puts him in competition with chain stores in the Mall at Turtle Creek and a few other small independents in the area. When it comes to upscale, higher priced jelwelry, this market is dominated by Cissy's Log Cabin and Pagan's, so these are not his direct competitors.

13. All jewelry repair is done in-house by Kevin, who actually had worked at the store where David worked. Kevin has 25 years experience in jewelry repair, and he has been with Gambill's for 10 years for a total of 35 years repairing jewelry. He is good at what he does and this attracts a considerable amount of jewelry repair business.

14. David wants to increase his customer base and increase market share.

A. What opportunities does the store has? list at least 4 opportunities wirh following 4 parts:

1. Description:

2. How accomplished:

3. Resources needed:

4. Justification for pursuing this opportunity

B. Write 4 objectives which will help the organization fulfill its mission ( gain more market share and customer base).

Objectives should be aimed at exploiting opportunities. For each objective must have following 2 parts:

1. Statement of objective:

2. Strategies to achieve the objective: