Family Shopping

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Case Study Prompt

A major retailer is thinking about expanding a new retail concept in the United States. Two years ago, this client noticed that in Mexico, shopping was a family affair. Entire families would travel to the stores together.

The stores catered to these customers by providing music and activities for children, as if it were an entertainment center. Our client copied the concept and invested in a major clothing store/entertainment center in Southern Texas targeted at the Mexican-American population. “Extras” such as hot Mexican food are sold and live music is provided.

The resulting sales from this “pilot” store are at acceptable levels. However, few Mexican-Americans shop there and when they do, they buy only highly discounted items. In fact, many Mexican-Americans in the area still prefer to buy clothes in local discount stores.

The client wants to expand the stores across the entire Southwestern US, but wants guidance on how to undertake this.

Case Study Overview

In this Market Study case from the BCG case library, the client is a US retailer looking to expand with a new retail concept. Your job is to figure out how the client should move forward with the expansion.

If you are prepping for a first round BCG interview, the Market Study Framework is a good place to start with your framework. However, don’t try to force the case to fit into a particular framework. Use your knowledge of the basic frameworks and your own business understanding in order to create a custom structure best suited to the case.

There are no math diagrams in the case. With a qualitative difficulty score of 2/4, this is a case study that will set you up for a BCG first round interview.

BCG Interview Tips

What does BCG value in its future consultants? Highly-tuned communication and structuring abilities.

In this specific case, focus on a couple of things:

• Creating a structure that is MECE
• Communicating your structure in a clear and concise manner

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