Copperfield Books Inc.

I. INTERNAL ANALYSIS

a. Present Situation:

i. Current Strategies include expand Copperfield’s Books Inc. from 8 million to 15million in four years. To grow in size so they can develop a level of efficiency quickly to avoid unwanted administration costs. They plan to become a favorite in the community based around their new slogan “Creating community, connecting with you”

ii. Current Strengths are not what Copperfield Books Inc. would like them to be at but they do possess several that are very promising for their future of the business. The most important ones are as follows:

1. The company has been known for having a great employee turnover ratio. A great example of this is Art Kusnetz, manager of Copperfield’s Petaluma Used and Rare Bookstore, who has over 20 years of experience as a book scout working with book dealers. Montan knows the value of managers like Art and has offered equity with managers in two bookstores

2. They have a strong reputation in the Sonoma county area as being the hometown bookseller, who is involved in the community through cultural events. Not being a superstore having this recognition is very important in the future of the company if they so choose to not become a superstore

3. Breaking into the internet provided value and services to its existing customer base were they could order books 24 hours a day. They also allowed for in store returns on books that were purchased online, which was also offered by competitors

4. Copperfield’s inventory of used and rare books was considered to be the largest in the county. Copperfield looked at this as a strength because they can bring in a different breed of book people, ones who know what they want and don’t care about the best sellers

5. Copperfield’s board of directors granted a Montan broad discretionary power which was a great move to start the transition of Copperfield into the future of growth

iii. Current Weaknesses are more apparent to Copperfield Books Inc. than the strengths seem to be. The weakness that are holding the company back are as follows:

1. The store layout and construction of the Copperfield stores were poorly kept and all ran differently. Store layouts and product offerings varied significantly from store to store. The store advertisements such as signs were done on cut out poster boards that were hand drawn. There was no extra lighting in the stores they were light only by the basic ceiling lights, and they played jazz music

2. Copperfield still used a MS-DOS software program, while other chains had developed software that permitted them to be more connected with the wholesalers. Different levels in the supply chain were able to communicate which cut back on cost so Copperfield was at a huge disadvantage

3. Copperfield’s marketing and advertising was very weak. They were unable to get there name out beyond the counties were they had stores located at. They did small advertising in the local press (Press Democrat) and free published magazine (Bohemian) but that was about the extent of it

4. They only targeted one group of book readers the upscale liberal minded customers, which was only a small portion of the book reading community

iv. Current market conditions, consumer expenditures on books exceeded 37.9 billion in 2003. Analysts expected expenditures to increase by 2.9 percent by the end of 2004 at 39 billion and reach 44 billion by the year 2008

v. Current Products Include:

1. Used Books

2. Rare Books Costing of 20$

3. Antiquarian Books

4. First Editions

vi. Environment: to carry a selection of books and gifts that nurtures the spirit and feeds the mind. And to be a fun place to come in to work

vii. Current Activities Include:

1. Decentralizing many of the buying functions

2. downsize the firms warehouse operations

3. cutting down the staff

4. increase in corporate communication

5. accelerating its investment into the internet to increase online sales

b. Financial Resources:

i. Financial Conditions show that in for the year of 2003, net income was $950,000 up from $21,499 in 2002.