York Town Case Study
Case Write-Up: Yorktown
Situation Analysis of Industry:
There are only a couple hundred freshwater ornamental fish in the United States (Peterson 413).
Approximately 200 million freshwater ornamental fish are produced and sold annually in the United States (Peterson 413).
The consumer market for freshwater ornamental fish and related products exceeds $700 million annually, and in increasing at 9% per year (Peterson 414).
5-D Tropical and Segrest Farms sell GloFish Red Zebra Danios at wholesale price of $1.75, suggested retail price $5.00 (Peterson 414).
Average consumer spends about $27.00 (Peterson 414).
Majority of freshwater ornamental fish sold in the United States are purchased from major retail chains such as Walmart, PetSmart, and PETCO (Peterson 413).
Situation Analysis of Company:
Alan Blake and Richard Crockett founded Yorktown Technologies in November of 2001 (Peterson 407).
National University of Singapore agreed to provide rights to GloFish colors and patent it (Peterson 408).
Yorktown announced it would be selling genetically modified tropical zebra fish (Peterson 408).
In November 2003,Yorktown had a $5 million estimate with more than three- dozen investors (Peterson 409).
Situation Analysis of Trends:
California Fish and Game Commission prohibited possession of genetically modified fish within the state of California (Peterson 409).
The announcement of Yorktown selling genetically modified zebra fish became highly publicized (Peterson 409).
Company profits for 2004 were estimated at $4 million, however only reached $500,000 (Peterson 406).
There was $620,000 in expenses, producing a loss of more than $120,000 (Peterson 406).
Problem:
Trying to find a marketing and distribution strategy that would help the company reach its revenue goals. Yorktown is losing money in the beginning of the period and not capitalizing at the end.
Alternatives:
1-Alternative One:
Opening a GloFish Kiosk in a shopping mall
Advantages
Shopping mall kiosks have enjoyed explosive growth in terms of revenue and numbers
Offering GloFish