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The Vermont Teddy Bear Company |
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In "The Vermont Teddy Bear Company: Challenges Facing a New CEO," the authors tell the story of the company's beginnings, its innovative Bear-Gram concept a teddy bear packaged with candies and a personal gift card delivered in a box with airholes for the bear and the changes the company went through as a result of competition and attempts to grow the business. Vermont Teddy Bears were virtually an instant sensation when introduced in 1981, and the jointed, handsewn teddy bears with the lifetime guarantee are still extremely popular today. The company, however, has had its ups and downs, going public, expanding, finding that its sales did not meet its expansion costs, and going through a changeover in upper management. The company responded by meeting every challenge with business savvy and creative ideas. In March 2005, the company's revenues were $25.6 million, an increase of $9.5 million over December 2004, and their profits were $15 million, compared with $9.3 million in December 2004 (Fig. 1). The Vermont Teddy Bear Company has survived in a market that already appeared to be saturated at its inception, and it continues to climb, guided by a heartfelt mission statement (Fig. 2) and a way of reaching the soft spot in the hearts of American consumers. In examining the vision of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, both external and internal environmental scanning was conducted. The external scanning included an analysis of information about
wn, and it has received many awards which lend credibility and cachet to its products. It could improve its response by making its standards better known in general populace (the way Maytag's name is synonymous with quality)
Threats
Competition from other gift gram services such as Pooh Grams and 1-800-Flowers
.15
4.0
0.60
Well positioned, but this market expands continually
Competition from major plush doll manufacturers such as Hasbro and Mattel
.05
4.5
0.23
Well positioned
Competition from upscale teddy bear manufacturers such as Steiff and Gund
.10
4.5
0.45
Well positioned since comparable teddy bears do not have Bear-Grams
Increased delivery costs due to rising gas prices
.05
3.0
0.15
Gas prices are currently extremely high, but this should be temporary; otherwise, this factor would be weighted more heavily.
Rapid-delivery orders from companies such as QVC rival the VTBC in quality and delivery speed
.05
3.8
0.19
Well positioned, and company could eliminate the threat by selling its products on QVC
Total Scores
1.00
4.18
Note: Factors in Column 2 are weighted from 1.0 (Most Important) to 0.0 (Not Important), based on that factor's probable im
Category: Business - T
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Bear Hospital, Bear Company, Factors Column, Teddy Bear, TastyGrams PajamaGrams, External Factors, Steiff Gund, Internal Factors, Teddy Bears, Pooh Grams, , , teddy bear, vermont teddy, vermont teddy bear, teddy bear company, bear company, teddy bears, pooh grams, factors column, well positioned, weighted scores, customer service, 2 weighted 10, weighted 10 00,
 = 1580
 = 6 (250 words per page)
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