Hallstead Jewelers Case Study Essay example

Words: 1389
Pages: 6

Submitted by Yellow Team
Eunice King
Ronda Klassen
Joshua Krupnick
Larry McCraw
Ronald Mills

BUS 5431 Managerial Accounting
Professor Nancy Shoemake
April 18, 2010

1.0 Summary
Hallstead Jewelers was one of the largest jewelry and gift stores in the United States for 83 years. Customers came from throughout the region to buy from extensive collections in each department. Any gift from Hallstead’s had an extra cache attached to it as they were known for having the best.
Even though the principal retail shopping areas shifted two blocks west, Hallstead’s reputation and selection still brought in customers. In 1999 however, sales became stagnate and profits were starting to slip. The owners (two sisters, Gretchen and
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Breakeven in sales tickets is 9,337 – an increase of 1,832 from the previous year. Breakeven in sales dollars raises $1.47 million to a total of $13.12 million needed.
7.0 Recommendations
In our analysis of Hallstead Jewelers we found that Income was steadily declining and the move to the new location, with increased fixed costs, resulted in a loss for 2006. We implemented several options to see what variances would occur. A consultant recommended a 10% reduction in prices which would lead to an increase in sales. We showed this to be a bad idea as operating income significantly decreased with the price reduction. Another idea was to eliminate sales commission.