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A Case Analysis Of Calyx And Corolla

A Case Analysis of Calyx and Corolla

This analysis focuses on the case study of Calyx & Corolla, a mail order flower company.
Calyx & Corolla is a relatively new company that utilizes a different distribution channel than conventional companies for fresh flowers. Calyx & Corolla mails flowers direct from the growers to the customers via Federal Express and eliminates the middleman (Appendix A). This permits Calyx & Corolla to provide fresher, longer-lasting flowers to consumers. The management of Calyx & Corolla is contemplating a change in their long-term business strategy as they examine their ability to compete with more traditional outlets such as retail flower shops and wire services like FTD. Ruth Owades, the founder of Calyx & Corolla, has hired Marketing Consultants (MarCo) to assess the strengths and weaknesses of her business and make recommendations on how her company can fully develop their mail order concept.

Background:

Calyx & Corolla is a small mail order flower company that was founded in 1988 by Ruth
Owades. Ms. Owades secured $2 million in capital from approximately 18 different investors in order to launch the company. By 1991, Calyx & Corolla exceeded $10 million in annual sales and Owades and her associates were reassessing the firm's long-term growth strategy (Wylie and Salmon, 1991). Up to this point, Calyx & Corolla was primarily a mail order company, but management is now considering expanding their market and is unsure of how they should proceed. Recently, a well-financed venture capital-backed start-up failed and Calyx & Corolla acquired some of its assets. Another unproven competitor recently entered the market, financed by a large Japanese conglomerate.

The company's success is primarily due to a few key employees. Ruth Owades plays a
major part in the selection and pricing of flowers and other merchandise that appears in the catalog. Fran Wilson, the vice president of operations, is responsible for customer...