Marble Slab Creamery

MARBLE SLAB CREAMERY – A GRAND OCCASION

Penny Thomas is opening a franchise of Marble Slab Creamery in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario, Canada. Marble Slab is known for its fresh ice cream made daily in store and its high quality toppings, known as “mixins”, and the blending of both an a marble granite slab. This franchise will be the 37th for Marble Slab in southern Ontario, but the first opened by Penny Thomas. Thomas has two weeks to devise her detailed marketing plan that is to be submitted to Canadian headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. In devising her plan Thomas has to make the decision of a location for her franchise, her target market, a promotional plan as well as if she is going to offer catering and the prices for that service.

Thomas has many decisions to make regarding her plan, and lots of options. When looking at potential locations, she narrowed it down to Vaughan, Toronto Annex Area, The Beaches & Oakville. Vaughan has a growing population and has increasing development. If she were to choose this location, Thomas was inclined to open the outlet in a new, recently built outdoor complex in Thornhill, a community located within Vaughan. The location is good because its close to many popular spots such as the cinema etc. but if choosing this location, Thomas would have to sign a 10-year term and she would also be near Baskin Robbins, a direct competitor. The second potential location is the Toronto Annex Area; this is the downtown area of Toronto. This area has a high student population and is close to a major shopping area, which almost guarantees heavy traffic. With this location, finding a space would be difficult and expected to be the most expensive out of all the alternatives. The next of the choices would be The Beaches. The Beaches is a popular destination, known for its sandy Lake Ontario shoreline and boardwalk. This would be a good location because it is heavily visited by both locals and tourists, it is also was easily accessible by public transport and had a lot of activities, shopping and dining. This location has some downfalls though, it is much more harshly affected during the winter season, and there are also 5 direct competitors near. The last location being looked at is Oakville, part of the GTA, a lakeside town with approximately 165,000 residents. This location has the least expensive leasing options as well as highest median household income. There is no direct competition near this location, which makes it a good place. This location has some downfalls though as it is far from the owners home, and may not have enough population in order for event catering to succeed.

Next, Thomas has to choose a target market. Her main identified three groups are families, young adults, and women. Families are a good target because going for ice cream is a popular family activity, and children