Business 400 Trader Joes

Answer the following questions after reading the case

1. How do firms in the supermarket industry make money? 
   1. Please conduct a financial ratio analysis using the data in Exhibit 2. 
   2. How do the results reflect the different strategies pursued by those four firms?  
   3. What do the results say about how firms in this industry can deliver strong financial returns in different ways?    
2. What are the key sources of Trader Joe’s competitive advantage?  Is their advantage sustainable?
3. What are the main threats to Trader Joe’s competitive advantage? 
4. How would you modify Trader Joe’s strategy moving forward?
5. Please read the following articles and comment on the strategies of Whole Foods. Are they a competitor to Trader’s Joe?

http://fortune.com/2015/02/11/whole-foods-same-store-sales/

http://fortune.com/video/2014/11/06/whole-foods-reports-9-growth-over-last-year/

http://fortune.com/2014/11/05/strong-sales-at-whole-foods-allays-concerns-about-rivals/

1. Comment on this research about the food consumption in America:

http://fortune.com/2014/09/04/waste-not-want-not/