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CASE 17 Hutch: Locating a New Store
Synopsis: This case deals with a large chain of popularly priced women’s apparel stores that are
generally located in small towns in the Southeast, Midwest, and eastern fringe of the
Southwest. The company strategy is to sell to women between the ages of 18 and 40 who
Use:
Chapter 8 The principal objective of this case is to give students an opportunity to use concepts
learned in class to make location decisions. A second objective is to make students
Discussion Questions
1. How do the people living in the trade areas compare with Hutch’s target customer?
Hutch customers are price-conscious women between the ages of 18 and 40 who live in small
towns, like to wear the latest fashions, and are in the low- to middle-income range.
Although Dalton is generally more affluent in terms of household incomes, their level of
education is much lower (Exhibit 2). 41 percent of the population in Dalton over 25 have no
high school diploma. The employment picture mirrors Dalton’s education (Exhibit 2). 42.3
percent of the population work in manufacturing, mostly in the carpet mills and related firms.
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2. How do the proposed locations, including the cities, tenant mix, and the locations within
the malls, fit with Hutch’s location requirements?
We should assume that these locations are within a 400-mile radius of one of their distribution
centers.
The stores should be located in communities with a population range from 10,000 to 50,000 and
a trade area of 50,000 to 150,000. Although both towns meet these criteria, Dalton is
Hutch requires a tenant mix of several nationally recognized and popular local tenants. The
Dalton center generally meets this requirement, although they don’t particularly like the
or the Century 21 training school because they don’t bring shoppers into the
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3. Which location would you select? Why?
All things considered, Dalton is a stronger market from a demand perspective. Dalton has more
women within the target age categories. Dalton is also more affluent. It appears that the people