Masao Sugiyama is the recently elected president of the Chamber of Commerce in Park Falls, Wisconsin. He is the long-term owner of the only full-service hardware store in this small farming town. Being president of the Chamber of Commerce has been considered largely a ceremonial post because business conditions have not changed in Park Falls for as long as anyone can remember. However, Masao has just read an article in The Wall Street Journal that has made him think he needs to take a more active interest in the business conditions of his town.

The article concerned Walmart, the largest retailer in the U.S. Walmart has expanded primarily by locating in small towns and avoiding large suburban areas. The Park Falls merchants have not had to deal with either Lowes or Home Depot because these companies have located primarily in large urban centers. In addition, a supplier has recently told Masao that both Lowes and Home Depot are considering locating stores in smaller towns. Sugiyama knows that Walmart has moved into the outskirts of metropolitan areas and now is considering stores for smaller, untapped markets. He also has heard that Lowes and Home Depot have recently had difficulty.

Masao decided he needs to know more about all three retailers. He asked his son of a friend to locate the following sales data, which are also in a file called Park Falls.

Annual Sales Values in Millions of Dollars
Year	Lowes	Home Depot	Walmart
Fiscal 2009	15,905	38,434	137,634
Fiscal 2010	18,778	45,738	165,013
Fiscal 2011	22,111	53,553	191,329
Fiscal 2012	26,491	58,247	217,799
Fiscal 2013	30,838	64,816	229,617
Fiscal 2014	36,464	73,094	256,329
Fiscal 2015	43,242	91,511	285,22

Masao is interested in what all these data tell him and he needs some help in analyzing these data. How much faster has Walmart grown than the other two firms? Is there any evidence Walmart’s growth has leveled off? Does Lowes seem to be rebounding, based on sales? What would be the most accurate sales prediction for 2017 for each retailer? Prepare a business memo that includes forecasting analysis, graphs, conclusions (you should identify which forecasting method is the most appropriate per the metric of your choice), and specific recommendations for Mr. Sugiyama.