Retailers - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

president and CEO, Margaret Clark, was contemplating the launch of a new, lip-plumping product called "Four Carat Pout." Clark faced many decisions concerning the launch: marketing the product as a luxury brand or a retail item;... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 13, 2007

Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

CVS Health: Promoting Drug Adherence

By: Leslie John, John Quelch and Robert Huckman

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

The case describes a program that CVS Health recently implemented to improve medication adherence, an important problem from a societal, public policy, and firm... View Details

Citation

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28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

pressure for antitrust revision came from the states. A perhaps unlikely leader, Edna Gleason, organized California's retail pharmacists and coordinated trade networks to monitor and enforce Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) contracts, a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

30-year customer of Filene's Basement, a retailer offering fashion goods at discounted prices, who was eventually fired by the firm. The case traces how company actions taken in the name of customer relationship management (CRM)... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

02 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 2, 2010

Greenwich, Connecticut, that is considering offering a wholly new line of product to retail investors, namely the ability to invest in the price phenomenon known as momentum. There is a large body of empirical evidence supporting momentum... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 22

chicken and value-added chicken products in Pakistan. This position has been built through a strategy of vertical integration, product innovation, and branding. K&N's has also developed its own chain of retail "Chicken... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by William R. Kerr & Martin Mandorff; Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail

30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

On important occasions, we gather for family portraits. If you were to take a picture of your family business today, what would it show? Family businesses represent the aspirations, achievements, and struggles of one or more generations of a family. We would see all... View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Retail; Retail

June 2024
Supplement

Zeswitz Music (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: In July of 2013, Randy Shayler (HBS, 2012) acquired Zeswitz Music, a musical instrument rental company based in Reading,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Revenue; Marketing; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

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1993
Chapter

Quick Response in Manufacturing-retail Channels

By: J. H. Hammond

Keywords: Performance Efficiency; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

May 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Zara: An Integrated Store and Online Model (A) and (B)

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 620-073 and 620-074. View Details

Keywords: Stores; Integration; Operations; Business Model; Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Europe

Citation

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August 1995 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Health Stop (B): Starting Up

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Describes the long waiting time experienced by customers in Health Stops and asks students to specify the changes in its business model which could help solve the problem. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

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September 2011
Case

Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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August 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Gome Electronics: Evolving the Business Model

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Gao Wang, Fei Li, Tracy Manty and Waishun Lo

After 20 years of expansion, Gome Electronics has become China's largest consumer electronics retailer. It has opened stores in almost every province in China, acquired some of its competitors, and went public in Hong Kong. However, it has begun to experience a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Industry Growth; Marketing Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Product; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; China

Citation

Educators

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September 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Supplement

Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (B)

By: Anita Elberse, John T. Gourville and Das Narayandas

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

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August 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leitax (A)

By: Noel H. Watson, Rogelio Oliva and Laura Winig

Leitax, a young digital camera manufacturer selling its cameras mainly through retailers, experienced poor matching of inventory availability with demand for new and existing products in 2002. Describes the implementation and details of a consensus forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

Educators

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January 1999
Background Note

Note on the Drugstore Industry

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

In response to the twin pressures of cross-channel competition and the prevalence of third-party drug plans, drugstores have changed both how they go to market and what they offer once they get there. This note reviews the history of drugstores, presents the current... View Details

Keywords: History; Industry Growth; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Citation

Educators

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Dell Online

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details