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In 2008, Mary Pendergast-Singh and her brother George Pendergast had recently inherited 51% and 49% respectively of their family business started by their great-grandmother in Toronto in 1902. Pendergast Department Stores (PDS) had grown from a single general store to three large department stores in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Although Mary and George are personally wealthy, the family business is experiencing declining revenue and, for the first time in 107 years, showed a net loss on its 2008 income statement. Mary and George decided they must change with the times in order for the family business to survive another generation. OPTION 1-INVEST IN ONLINE STORES Mary's husband Soman sees that some "brick and mortar" businesses are adopting "e- commerce / online platforms and feels that PDS should invest in online shopping to create a seamless shopping experience for their customers. Soman is urging PDS to invest in software development, warehousing & inventory to support online shopping sales coast to coast to coast. He feels the following data support his position: Number of online orders made by households millions of orders 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 13.4 2001 21.1 2003 Household Internet Use Survey 2006 2007 Canadian Internet Use Survey Source(s): Statistics Canada, Household and Canadian Internet Use Surveys.