ts prices to $2.49 per rental, which is still below Blockbuster's, and maintain market share because customers would be better off shopping at Video Concepts.
Alternatively, the owner could sell the business and start a new one; however, finding a potential buyer with Blockbuster as the main competition would be difficult. Because of this, the option of selling the business to Blockbuster has considerable appeal. Blockbuster would effectively eliminate its biggest competitor and could begin charging rental fees more in line with the rest of the company. The owner of Video Concepts would be able to raise enough capital to pay his loans and start a new business. This provides a win-win situation for all parties (except the consumers in the area) until the video rental stores become companies of the past.
RykS is a manufacturer and distributor of athletic shoes for women. Founded by Sheri Poe and her then-husband, the company has effectively carved a niche for itself marketing to women in the walking, running and aerobic shoe categories. While the company produces variations on these shoes, this is where its strength lies.
Internally, the company has a strong management team in the form of Poe and Roy Kelvin, a former New York investment banker. Kelvin's background is particularly useful to a company which has raised considerable capital through stock, and which continues to have strong capital needs. The company's strategy of outsourcing the manufacturing of its shoes (a strategy followed by its largest rivals) also means that it can respond quickly to changes in the market and in designs.
However, the company's size is a significant weakness in this mature market. While RykS has successfully found a target market for its product, this fact has not gone unnoticed by much larger competitors, who can put more resources into promoting goods in this target than RykS sells annually. Thus the larger organizations are bette...