Homestead Corporation sells a line of power tools to home improvement chains, generating a cost of goods sold equal to 70% of net sales. The selected data that follow relate to the period just ended for the company's three largest customers: Weekend Project, Tool Mart, and Fix-It City.

Homestead's management recently attended a seminar and learned that customers with excessive requests and demands can have a significant, negative impact on corporate profitability. Required: A. For each of the three chains, compute: 1. Total customer-related costs as a percentage of gross margin. 2. The average order size (ignoring sales returns). 3. The ratio of regular orders to rush orders. 4. The number of sales returns as a percentage of the number of total orders. B. Prepare a brief summary of your findings. Should Homestead work with any of the chains in an effort to improve results? Explain.