Note: Solve any 4 Case Studies

Case 1: Cub Foods

In 2003, Cub Foods had 78 corporate and 30 franchised stores. The chain built its success by focusing on its primary market: families of four or five individuals with adults ages 24 to early 40s who are informed. Value-conscious consumers – consumers like Leslie Wells.

Leslie Wells’s recent expedition to the new Cub Foods store in Melrose Park, Illinois, was no ordinary trip to the grocery store. “You go crazy,” says Wells, sounding a little shell-shocked. Overwhelmed by Cub’s vast selection, tables of samples, and discounts as high as 30 percent, Wells spent $76 on groceries - $36 more than she had planned. Wells fell prey to what a Cub executive calls “the wow factor”. A shopping frenzy brought on by low prices and clever marketing. That’s the reaction Cub’s super warehouse stores strive for and often get.

Cub Foods has been a leader in shaking up the food industry and forcing many conventional supermarkets to lower prices, increase services, or, in some cases go out of business. With Cub and other super warehouse stores springing up across the country, shopping habits are changing too. Some shoppers must drive 50 miles or more to a Cub store instead of going to the nearest neighborhood supermarket and bag their own groceries at Cub Foods. Their payoff is that they find almost everything they need under one roof, and most of it is cheaper than at competing supermarkets. Cub’s low prices, smart marketing, and sheer size encourage shoppers to spend far more than they do in average supermarket.

The difference between Cub and most supermarkets is obvious the minute a shopper walks through Cub’s doors. The entry aisle, called a “power alley” by some, is lined two stories high with specials, such as bean coffee at $2 a pound and half-price apple juice. Above the ceiling joists and girders are