Luke's Diner. Today, your company is presenting a set of strategic retail initiatives to Mark Ess, owner/manager, cook/dishwasher of LUKE'S Diner. Mark is the third generation in the Ess family to run the popular diner in downtown Everyville, Ontario. Sales and profitability at LUKE'S Diner peaked a decade ago and the competitive landscape has undergone a major change. Mark is open to a major marketing reboot with the only limitation that the name and the location be retained. Luke Ess bought the building and started LUKE'S Diner in 1945, almost immediately upon returning from military service in Europe to his hometown of Everyville, Ontario, then population 8,000. Over the next thirty years he built a successful business and raised a family; both the business and the family continued to participate and support the local fastball and hockey leagues. After Luke died of a heart attack in 1974, his 28 year old son Jerry retired from a career in minor hockey to take over LUKE'S Diner. He re-invented the diner to target the sports crowd in Everyville, which boasted a population closer to 18,000. Over the next forty years Jerry also grew the business, raised a family and watched Everyville grow to a population of 40,000 +. In 2014 he retired from LUKE'S Diner to oversee his growing real-estate holdings (and growing number of grandchildren) and transferred all ownership, management, cooking and dishwashing duties to his son Mark. Everyville now has three Tim Hortons, two McDonalds, a Coffee Time, an A&W, a Pizza Hut, a Swiss Chalet, four other fast-food restaurants and a dozen family restaurants, all within 15 minutes of LUKE'S Diner. Mark studied business at Georgian College and has worked in the diner since he was a teenager. Sales and profitability peaked ten years ago and has been slowly declining since. The larges losses have been in the I breakfast and lunch traffic and revenues, which have always combined for 80% of the LUKE'S Diner profitability. Though the diner has been physically well maintained interior and exterior, Mark realizes that a reboot, driven by a new retail marketing strategy, is overdue. The competitive landscape has been and still is dramatically changing, mostly driven by the fast food franchises and the growing 'Tim Hortons' coffee shop culture. According to the latest research, lunch is now the most skipped meal of the day (only three years ago it was still breakfast). Today, Canadians pass up the mid-day meal an average of 44 times a year. Analysts attribute the switch mainly to the concerted effort from co-called ouick carve' rectaurants to wat voor daw.ctarted with coffee in one hand and a notable canduich in Luke's March 2019 Financial Statement (5 weeks) Gross sales Opening inventory, at cost Closing inventory, at cost New purchases, at cost Cash Discounts General overhead Advertising Salaries Customer returns and allowances Reductions $133,000 $ 59,500 $ 61,000 $78,500 3% $ 11,000 $ 9,000 $ 20,000 $8,000 2.5% Carol's Coffee: Profit 6% or $7,500, Operating expenses 40% Part 1 - Complete a skeletal statement for each competitor (30pts) Luke's Diner Skeletal Statement (15 pts)