Clothing Inc. operates 12 retail department stores. Each department store makes tsown purchasing decisions. You have been promoted to Vice President of Clothing Inc. and you are Interested In managing costs. In the past, the company has allocated the Purchas De rtment costs to products on the basis of the dollar value of merchandise purchased. For example, a $50 tem is allocated 5 times as much purchasing costs associated With the Purchasing Department as a SIO tem_ You find this allocation method to be outdated and have asked the stores to send u the s fic Information as follows. Department Store Omaha Lincoln Des Moines Council Bluffs Kansas C Denver Colorado S ri Topeka Lawrence Wichita St LOUIS Springfield Dollar Value of Merchandise Purchased Number of Purchase Orders po 255 375 279 132 361 369 275 Number of Su hers 13 12 22 19 10 7 14 11 17 16 15 13 Purchasing Department costs s s 68,315 33,456 121,160 119,566 33,505 29,854 102,875 38,674 139,312 60,000 130,944 35 ooo S 1 523 1 100 2 495 2 049 1 056 1 538 1 754 1 612 1 438 1 575 1 200