1. What type of case is this

2. SWOT analysis using the information from the case

3. What seems to be the decision that needs to be made according to the information in this case and how would you make it.

4. How to segment using the information in the case and how to segment based on customer needs shown in the case?

5. What can Calyx do in the future to improve their company

6. According to the case  Was craylx and Corella more mail operant or should it compete directly against more traditional outlets, which as retail florist and wire services?

7. What steps should Ms. Owades and her associates take next to fully develop the Calyx &
Corolla concept?

8. How to do effective market research so Calyx can understand what customers truly want.
 
 

Calyx & Corolla was an exceptionally innovative direct mail concept. Besides mailing six yearly color catalogs and having an 800 telephone number, its distribution and transportation arrangements were unique. Orders from customers were received by telephone, fax, or mail at the central office in San Francisco and then sent via fax or computer to the 30 flower growers who supplied Calyx & Corolla. They, in turn, packed and shipped individual orders and sent them directly to consumers by Federal Express. Calyx & Corolla customers thus received much fresher flowers, often fresher by as many as seven to ten days, than were available through conventional retailers. Prices, which included the cost of delivery, were competitive with conventional florists. (See Exhibit 2, letters from customers.) If the goal of most entrepreneurs is to build a business that's better than what's already out there, Ruth Owades has done it in spades. In fact, you could say she has created a new market.... Until Calyx & Corolla came along, the hugely lucrative $8.4 billion American flower industry had encountered few innovations. There had been flowers by wire, but not garden- fresh, exotic flowers displayed in a beautiful catalog (you actually get to see what you're ordering), with a money-back guarantee. But as Owades realized early on, having a revolutionary idea is one thing; executing it is something else again. To make her brainchild work, she had to get major industry players to disrupt their established routines and see things her way. The Calyx & Corolla Management Team - Working Woman Magazine, February 1991 Ruth Owades was no stranger to the mail order business. Upon graduation from the Harvard Business School in 1975, she joined the CML Group as director of marketing. The CML group then owned a number of retail and direct mail businesses. Within two years, Owades proposed to CML executives that they launch a direct mail business focused on garden implements and accessories. When they declined, Owades resigned and, under her own auspices, launched "Gardener's Eden." Very quickly, the business grew and prospered. In 1982, Owades sold Gardener's Eden to Williams-Sonoma, an upscale direct mail and retail seller of cookware, serving pieces, and other merchandise associated with the kitchen. For four and a half years Owades directed the Gardener's Eden division of Williams-Sonoma, during which time it continued to grow and prosper. Since the price Williams-Sonoma paid for Gardener's Eden was based in part upon a multiple of sales in the years subsequent to the purchase, the funds Owades ultimately received for Gardener's Eden reflected her stewardship during these years. After about a year of relaxation and rejuvenation following her resignation from Williams- Sonoma, Owades decided to establish Calyx & Corolla. This time, she enlisted Fran Wilson, a 1983 graduate of the Harvard Business School and a former employee of Williams-Sonoma, as vice president of operations. After about a year of operation, Ann Hayes Lee joined Calyx & Corolla as vice president of marketing. Lee was a veteran of the catalog business. She had spent almost twenty years in the industry, most recently with the Roger Horchow Company, a catalog seller of both home goods and apparel, where she was creative director. I was fortunate to convince two of the most talented and experienced people in our industry to join the Calyx & Corolla start-up team-Fran Wilson became vice president of operations and created the unique yet crucial systems that make this