Gardner Distributing Co

Gardner Distributing Co.,

“Providing Products for Plants and Pets”

Strategic Analysis

SUMMARY

Gardner Distributing is a company which purchases, sells, and distributes Iams premium pet food products (68 percent of sales), pet supplies (14 percent of sales), and lawn and garden supplies (18 percent of sales). The management team has developed a purpose, mission, and objectives; but the strategies of the firm are not clear. A change in Iam's strategy and hiring of a key account manager seem to be creating new opportunities for the firm in 1999. Defining the firm's strategies will require an understanding of the business and the two industries in which the firm operates. It will also require a synthesis of the manager's dialogue on the strategic options of the business. In this case, we need to decide what business to grow and how to grow them. We also need to examine the possibility that one or more of their business may have reached maturity or may be declining.

Based on all the information regarding the background and management style of the owner, Butch Tonigan; the start-up and development of the business from 1980-1999; the transition to a professional management team; the financial restructuring of the business; and the development of a marketing strategy. I have evaluated the company’s strengths and weakness as well as analyzed the improvement and future recommendations.

ANALYSIS

Strengths

Gardner Distributing Company is one of the largest distributers in both of its markets: premium pet food and lawn and garden supplies. The company has a well-organized management structure, which helps to control all the steps of distribution. Management department successfully combines distributing Iams’s products with other lawn and garden supplies. And it was the only Iams distributor that sold lawn and garden supplies.

Gardner has developed a great customer relationship service. It are retaining its current...