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