Established in 1998 in California, Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) is a local premier gourmet grocery store specializing in the sale of the finest meats, produce, cheeses, and wine (Apollo, 2007). Own and operated by Kathy Kudler, the grocery chain is dedicated to providing its customers with the finest assortment of foods and wines (Apollo, 2007). After Kudler Fine Foods opened its doors for the first time in La Jolla, California, the grocery store chain has since expanded to Del Mar, California and Encinitas, California. Currently, Kathy is heading up all the businesses’ operations. She is responsible for selecting and ordering all products for each of the three stores. She also handles inventory tracking which is very time consuming given the companies deals mainly in perishable goods.. Recently, the Del Mar location is not performing as predicted and Kathy believes this is due to the small population in the Del Mar area. Once the new Carlsbad location is up and running, the Del Mar store will be shut down. Kathy’s future plans for the company are to increase profits and expand into other areas of California, while at the same time “providing fine quality foods to the local area” (Apollo Group, 2007, para 7).
In an effort to identify opportunities and address some of the issues facing Kudler, Learning Team C collaborated and discussed the major problems hindering Kudler Fine Foods from reaching its ultimate goal. As we brainstormed, team members identified several issues within Kudler Fine Foods. Many of these issues included poor operations management, lack of efficient inventory management, the fact that the gourmet concept may fail, the need to market to a wider consumer group, the need to implement training for the employees, and the need to hire a human resource manger. As the company continues to flourish over the next few years, Kathy will need to make some major changes in the company to stay aligned with the company’s values. I defined the...