Unit 3 Starting a Business

Case Study “Trader Joe’s”

Unit 3 Assignment

Starting a Business

AB207-01

Samantha Powell

Case Study “Trader Joe’s”

Joe Coulombe was the head of division of a small chain of convenience stores when his former boss decided to retire from the business instead of sticking around when new competition came along (Abrams, 2012). One strategic way to compete with competition is to target a specific group of consumers and really getting to know them to create a business just for that specific group of consumers. This is exactly what Joe did. His chain of convenience stores was called Trader Joe’s and they started by targeting consumers and communities that enjoyed going to a small grocery store with low prices, the best product, offered a big variety of organic food, and carried cheap wine. Trader Joe’s soon expanded and before opening another store, Joe would get to know the people around where the new store would be located and make it the best grocery store that the community had ever had. Communities and consumers were excited to have one of Joe’s stores in their community (Abrams, 2012). One thing Joe could do to make sure he targeted new consumers and kept his current consumers happy would be to establish a relationship with his consumers or to make sure that his product had excellent quality. Factors that could help Joe establish a relationship with his consumers would be: be honest when advertising products, always have the best service, ensure that his store is convenient for current consumers, and to have a product that competitor don’t have. Another way Joe could improve in order to stand out when it comes to competitors is to prove theirs product’s quality. Joe is in a risky business. There are so many types of convenience stores and you are outnumbered by competitors, which grows fast. If you can’t target your consumer, offer things that competitors don’t have, establish trust, and prove the quality of your product or service; then you may...