Bed \& Bath, a retailing company, has two departments-Hardware and Linens. The company's most recent monthly contribution format income statement follows: A study indicates that $379,000 of the fixed expenses being charged to Linens are sunk costs or allocated costs that will continue even if the Linens Department is dropped. In addition, the elimination of the Linens Department will result in a 18% decrease in the sales of the Hardware Department. Required: What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of discontinuing the Linens Department? Thalassines Kataskeves, S.A., of Greece makes marine equipment. The company has been experiencing losses on its bilge pump product line for several years. The most recent quarterly contribution format income statement for the bilge pump product line follows: *Common costs allocated on the basis of machine-hours. Common costs allocated on the basis of sales dollars. Discontinuing the bilge pump product line would not affect sales of other product lines and would have no effect on the company's total general factory overhead or total Purchasing Department expenses. Required: What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) of discontinuing the bilge pump product line