Case Reebok Nfl

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Reebok NFL Replica Jerseys: A Case for Postponement1 “This time of year is a little too exciting for us. I have a warehouse full of jerseys out there and retailers are screaming for the teams and players I don’t have! Every year, it seems like we have the right mix of inventory going into the season, and then some team that no one expected to do well gets off to a 4-0 start, and the team everyone expected to contend for the Super Bowl is losing games. Suddenly I have 1000s of jerseys I can’t sell and 1000s of orders I can’t fill.”

Tony is responsible for the inventory of NFL replica jerseys that Reebok maintains in

their central distribution center. It is early October, and the NFL season is well underway. “No wonder we call this the chase, I feel like I have been running for months, I’m exhausted. I wish there was someway to plan inventory that would allow me to react faster to hot players and teams. But with player demand changing so much from year to year, I really can’t increase inventory, in fact I like to minimize inventory at year-end.” Background Reebok International Ltd. is headquartered in Canton, Mass. The company employs approximately 7400 people, and is widely known for their sports apparel and footwear brands. Reebok was still a small British shoe company in 1979, when Paul Fireman acquired the exclusive North American license to sell Reebok shoes.2 In 1985 Reebok USA acquired the original British Reebok, and Reebok International went public. Reebok in 2003 had total revenues of $ 3,485 M and realized income from operations of $157 M. Paul Fireman continues to be the chairman and CEO. In December 2000 Reebok signed a 10-year contract with the National Football League (NFL) that granted an exclusive license to Reebok to manufacture, market, and sell NFL licensed merchandise including on-field uniforms, sideline apparel, practice apparel, footwear and an NFL-branded apparel line. The National Football League...