Gopher Gulch Corp. is a little two-store retailer operating in a local market. Its problem is that one store in the company is losing money while the other one is making money, based on company financial reports, causing the company as a whole to lose money. The most recent income statement for Gopher Gulch Corp. is given below:

                                                  Store 1                       Store 2                           Total
Sales                                        $976,000                  $1,145,000                     $2,121,000

Variable costs                         (593,000)                     (685,000)                    (1,278,000)
Contribution margin                383,000                     460,000                          843,000

Traceable fixed costs            (470,000)                     (269,000)                        (739,000)

Store segment margin             ( 87,000)                    191,000                           104,000
Common fixed costs               (116,000)                       (85,000)                         (201,000)

Net operating income (loss)   $(203,000)                   $ 106,000                      $ (97,000)

Because of its poor showing, Gopher Gulch Corp. officials are considering closing Store 1. However, management and the workers at Store 1 say, “Not so fast!” A study by a consultant hired by Gopher Gulch Corp. officials show that if Store 1 is closed, 39 percent of its traceable fixed costs will continue unchanged. The study also shows that closing Store 1 would result in a 28 percent decrease in sales in Store 2. The company allocates common fixed costs, such as your corporate officials’ salaries and advertising costs, to the stores on the basis of square footage of the stores. Management and workers at Store 1 claim that Store 1 is being unfairly targeted for closure.

Your uncle, the CEO of Gopher Gulch Corp., knows that you are a student in the prestigious Delta State University Integrated Master of Business Administration (IMBA) Program, and so has turned to you for advice on what to do.

Required

• Variable costs for each store individually is what percentage of that store’s sales revenue?

• Total fixed costs for each store individually is what percentage of total sales revenue for that store?

• Do fixed costs for each store individually appear to be reasonable, unreasonable, or cannot be determined. Explain your answer.

• Is net operating income as a percentage of sales revenue for Store 2 “reasonable?” Explain your answer.

• Traceable fixed costs for each store individually is what percentage of the individual store’s sales revenue?

• What percentage of total company sales revenue does each store provide?

• What percentage total common fixed costs for Gopher Gulch Corp. is charged individually to each of the stores?

• Does the allocation of common fixed costs to each store appear to be equitable in light of the sales revenue generated individually by each store?

• On what basis do you believe that common costs should be allocated in Gopher Gulch Corp.? (Be specific.)

• Based on your review of various costs for each of the stores individually, why do you think Store 1 has a net operating loss?

• As a turnaround specialist, what steps do you recommend to turn Gopher Gulch Corp. around into a profitable retail company? (Be specific.)

• Do the costs relative to sales revenue appear to your “practiced professional eye” to be excessive, low, or within a “reasonable range”?

• Analyze the distribution of the costs between the two stores. Do you see anything that seems awry?

• What effect does what you identified in the question immediately before this one have on determination of store operating costs?

• In answering the questions above, you have examined sales revenue, various categories of cost, costs relative to sales revenue, the distribution of costs between stores, and the contribution margins of each store. After doing all of these analyses, what is your advice to your uncle on how best to make Gopher Gulch Corp. profitable, or is that not even possible?