Marilyn Helm Retailers is attempting to decide on a location for a new retail outlet. At the moment, the firm has three alternatives—stay where it is but enlarge the facility; locate along the main street in nearby Newbury; or locate in a new shopping mall in Hyde Park. The company has selected the four factors listed in the following table as the basis for evaluation and has assigned weights as shown:

FACTOR FACTOR DESCRIPTION WEIGHT 1 Average community income .30 2 Community growth potential .15 3 Availability of public transportation .20 4 Labor availability, attitude, and cost .35 Helm has rated each location for each factor, on a 100-point basis. These ratings are given below:

LOCATION FACTOR PRESENT LOCATION NEWBURY HYDE PARK 1 40 60 50 2 20 20 80 3 30 60 50 4 80 50 50

a) What should Helm do?

b) A new subway station is scheduled to open across the street from the present location in about a month, so its third factor score should be raised to 40. How does this change your answer? Lop9