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Ezra is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing apparel retailers, owing to a unique blend of business practices and an Internal culture that many might say run “counter- intuitive” to those of competing U. S. Retailers. More recently, however, Industry analysts have started to suggest that the “fast fashion” business model that has made Ezra so successful over the past decade has run Its course and the very notion of disposable fashion is being rejected by the all important millennial market segment. Sing at least one of the company/industry related databases available to you at the Marcus (or some other) Library, as well as the attached articles and case studies, please provide a 5 page assessment of, and proposal for, Ezra as follows: Context: Briefly outline the scope of the company’s operations, including # of stores, the countries in which it operates, # of employees, annual volume and its history. HISTORY Ezra Is owned by Entitled AS (Industrial De Oodles Textile AS) headquartered In Rattler La Corona Spain with companies under the name of Ezra are located In the areas sites below.
Entitled sells on a global scale, with 4,900 shops In about 75 countries under different names such as Ezra, Shoo, Misaims Adult, Pull and Bear, Berserk, Strabismus, Ezra Home, and torque. Inedited reported that for 2014 sales they made $22. 76 billion with a one year sales growth. Their net income was $3. 24 billion which was a one year net income growth. Their total assets were $18. 72 billion with a market value of $81. 85 billion. Ezra Span AS headquartered in Artesia, La Corona Spain is the flagship brand for Inedited AS and is considered the “cheap-chic subsidiary.
Ezra runs about 2,350 stores in major cities worldwide, as well as, some 165 Ezra Kids shops in 75 countries and 125 shops across Canada, the US, and Mexico. Ezra Is considered a chain and sells women’s, men’s and children’s apparel. They also offer plus-size and maternity lines. I didn’t locate any information regarding who sells the plus-size and maternity garments and they are not sold online. Ezra began In 1975 and Is Index’s mall chain and brings In more than two- thirds of its total sales. Ninety-nine percent of Ezra stores are company-owned and other franchises or joint ventures.
COMPANY’S OPERATION Ezra produces 840 million garments per year, no extra Inventory is shipped to the stores unless there Is a demand for a particular garment. Ezra has eight brands Ezra, Ezra Home, Berserk, Misaims Adult, Shoo, Strabismus, Pull & Bear, Torque. They produce trendy, decently made but Inexpensive products sold In beautifully hybrid looking stores located in prime shopping areas such as Redo Drive in Los compared to H&M and the quality is better. You can purchase a sweater at Ezra at a low price of $39. 95 for women and at the high for $89. 5. Winter Coats with no lining UN around $190 and winter coats with lining run around $250 & up. Sara’s top competitors Gap, H and El Cortex Angles. Ezra The Gap El Correct Angles Annual Sales $1. BIB $16. BIB $19. BIB $12. BIB Employees 136,000 81,099 Market Cap $17,096. MM $70,212. MM Strategic Positioning: 1 . ) Briefly explain how the company implements the Six Elements of the Retail Mix as discussed in class and addressed in our text; Pricing, Location, Store Layout, Communication Mix, Customer Service and Merchandise Assortment.
Ezra has a clear focus and vision in the clothing market because they have captured the needs of their customers. They have shortened the conventional supply chain response time from 5-7 months to 2-oh months. Ezra makes about of their raw material. The remaining 60% is outsourced from within Spain, mostly from the La Curran. Designing of clothes at Ezra is done by creative teams of over 300 professionals at the headquarters in La Curran, Spain. After the garments are sewn, the clothes are returned to Sara’s facilities for ironing by an assembly line of workers.
Sara’s merchandise assortment is great in terms of color, styles and accessories for women, men and children. The clothing sizes are based on European body types which are rustically small than American body types. After this, the clothing items are wrapped in plastic and transported on conveyor belts to a group of giant warehouses. In the warehouse, the customized machines patterned after the equipment used by overnight parcel services, sorts, packs, labels, and allocates clothing items for shipment to Sara’s retail stores.
For Sara’s retail stores within a 24- hour drive, goods are delivered by truck whereas goods meant for stores beyond 24- hour drive are delivered by cargo Jets. On a global average of 17 visits per customer prevents any bottlenecks in the vertical integration supply chain. Ezra is constantly communicating with retail managers regarding what their customer’s needs are. Such as, what styles are selling, comments customers make about design features they like or don’t like. Sara’s inventory supply is small and they make frequent shipments to all their stores.
The quick turnaround of merchandise helps generate revenue, reduce inventory, eliminate debt and keep their customers happy. The competitors rely heavily on end of season sales and “black Friday’ sales in order to reduce inventory and eliminate debt. 2. ) How does Sara’s execution of this mix ampere to that of a primary Intricate competitor. Sara’s competitors rely on their products being designed in one location, shipped to a company overseas to make the clothes and shipped to a distribution center where the garments are inspected and then shipped to the various store locations.
The vertical integration in the supply chain definitely creates challenges for the designers, who have are competing with other designers having garments produced by the same manufacturer and factory closes schedules. If products are delayed, the company’s risk not having products in their stores on time. Additional challenges for designers are working one to two years in advanced on lines per season. Their stores introduce new products during the four seasons (fall, holiday, winter, spring/ summer).
Surplus inventory is stored in their distribution centers and shipped to the stores when they need to restock, fill special orders and complete online orders. Sara’s competitors conduct sales in order to deplete their inventory and to prepare for the next season of merchandise. The challenge with this process is that it generally creates overstock in the store’s storage room and added pressures to the employees who work in these areas. 3. What do you believe Ezra does particularly well or poorly? Explain your reasoning. *Advertising – Prices should compare to online logbook.
Sara’s strategic competitive advantage is that they change their merchandise weekly, their prices are affordable and of great quality and finally I think having their merchandised arranged in the store by color with the accessories was a great idea. H has their merchandised arranged by color but some stores are overflowing with products that you get lost. H also has a separate section for shoes and accessories whereas Ezra does not. The Gap’s store layout is and they do a great Job with the store layout.
Women’s merchandise will have more colors and selections and an organized, clutter free shopping space is definitely, at least for me, a great way to shop. H and the Gap sales are so awesome that customers are not concerned with the store appearance Just the great sales. 4. ) Based on what you have read and researched, provide a summary of Sara’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SOOT Analysis); the Times articles provide good insight on this. Action Plan: Based on what you have determined about the company, provide 3-5 specific proposals for how Ezra may continue on its growth trajectory.
Be sure to revived support for your reasoning. I really enjoyed visiting the store and Sara’s website. I think Ezra could improve in the several areas: 1. By offering the same sizes online as in the store, I think would increase in gaining additional customers who many not be able to visit one of the brick-n-mortar locations. This would also benefit those customers who rushed for a quick look at the merchandise, had time to try on several items but the POS line was too long, but they notice Ezra had a website. The customer finds out the item isn’t offered in her size. As a result, a customer is lost and may never return. Adding a plus line may be beneficial. I tried on several beautiful coats but they didn’t fit and I’m not a plus size. The largest size was a large in many of the coats. They do have several other merchandise that are offered in XSL. I checked with the sales person and it wasn’t offered in XSL. It would be wise to offer all merchandise in all the sizes that are available in some merchandise. 3. I know it’s the European culture to not approach customers to ask them if they need assistance. Some goes for some American cultures, but we do like to have sales people available who can answer questions without approaching the POS clerk.
I think this would be a good move. Grading criteria remains: 1 . ) Full coverage of all questions/topics 2. ) Evidence of critical thinking and reasoning 4. ) The “wow’ factor that takes the assignment beyond what has been requested Please see article links below http://thirstiest. In/articles/Imaginations_Ezra_Part_I. PDF http://thirstiest. In/ articles/Imaginations_Ezra_Part_II. PDF http://www. Businesslike. Com/news/2012-11-08/gap-gains-with-Ezra-responding-to- into-the-worlds-largest-fashion-retailer. HTML?