8/7/2019 MIS_IndividualAssignment1_Case_LNT_BBBY
1/2
D: 03/16/2011
LETS TAKE THIS PRIVATE: LINENS N
THINGS VERSUS BED BATH & BEYONDBy Priyank Acharya
Executive SummaryBed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) and Linen n things
are the retailers retailing kitchen, bathroom and other
household items.
BBBY, started in 1971, is USs largest domestics retailer with
more than 740 stores in 46 states and
Puerto Rico. BBBY has been growing through opening of new
stores. It supplies products to its
consumers directly from manufacturers rather than storing them
warehouse. This has helped it keep
agility in the business. It depends on financing through equity
and profits from business. It promises
everyday low prices with excellent customer service with
extensive breadth and depth of assortment.
Linen n Things, started in 1975, is the USs second largest
domestics retailer. It also promises everyday
low prices with no frill shops and excellent customer service.
It had grown through investment in
Inventory management. It has centralized operations with 2
distribution centers opened in 1995 and
1999 respectively. It was acquired by Apollo Management LP.
The case analysis involves the metrics that can be helpful to
both BBBY and Linen n Things. These
metrics need to be the part of their dashboard and monitored on
regular basis.
Case Analysis
Bed, Bath and Beyond Linen n ThingsStrengths Lean Inventory
Greater Flexibility Top position in U.S. Excellent customer
service Pan-America presence
Greater control Second best domestics retailer in U.S. Excellent
customer service Pan-America presence
Weaknesses Heavy dependence of storemanagers for inventory
control
No significant differentiation fromcompetitors
Huge inventory investment No significant differentiation
from
competitors
Opportunities Potential demand amongst echoboomers nearing
marriage
Expansion into tabletop products Potential demand amongst
echo
boomers nearing marriage
Revival of the business by new
8/7/2019 MIS_IndividualAssignment1_Case_LNT_BBBY
2/2
management
Threats Difficult to change the structuredue to publicly traded
company
Less agility as compared to BBBY
Proposed Metrics
Metrics Category BBBY Linen n Things Type of dashboard
element
STORE MANAGEMENT Average Sales Volume
per store
Average Sales Volume
per store
Bar Chart
Average Sales Volume
per region
Average Sales Volume
per region
Bar Chart
Highest grossing store Highest grossing store
Highest grossing store
per region
Highest grossing store
per region
Bar Chart
INVENTORY
MANAGEMENT
Monthly inventory
volume per store
Line Chart
Inventory turnover per
store
Inventory turnover per
store
Speedometer
Average delivery time
per supplier
Speedometer
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Average number of
products purchased per
customer
Average number of
products purchased
per customer
Bar Chart
Product wise volume
per store
Best Selling product
per store
Product wise volume
per region
Best Selling product
per region
