CASE Alison Barnard Having spent her Saturday morning redesigning window displays, folding inventory, and following up with a supplier who seemed disinclined to take back an entire shipment she felt was unacceptable, Alison Barnard, 27, was finally settled at her desk in the cornerfully intending to make some progress on her growing management task list. Chief among those neglected missions was getting up to speed on her software system for monitoring sales and inventory. In-jean-ius , her upscale jeans and t-shirt boutique in Boston’s North End, was attracting professional and wealthy women from Maine to Rhode Island. As one of many satisfied customers wrote, Alison has an uncanny ability to match up the right person with the perfect pair of jeans. If you have ever gone jean shopping you know that that is not an easy thing to do! Experience In-jean-ius for yourself. You won’t shop for jeans anywhere else again. March 2006. Alison looked up from her work with a weary smile. Open just over six months, and actuals are tracking nearly twice my projections . As it had from the very beginning, running her hit venture continued to consume nearly every waking hour. The creative, high-energy founder was far less concerned with burning out than with having the day-to-day concerns usurp her ability to plan and manage for growth. And with only one full-time employeenot yet fully trainedAlison couldn’t expect much relief anytime soon. Her attention was suddenly drawn to an exchange between her salesperson and a well-dressed, middle-aged woman who was favoring a sleek pair of low rises. From where she sat, Alison could see that the woman was built for something a bit less daring. When the associate began fishing for the correct size in that style, Alison left her desk (and her task list) to steer the sale toward a more conservative brand that would ultimately prove to offer the best fit. Another satisfied customer . Alison Barnard: Shopper Like many rural-suburban American teens, young Alison Barnard had been an avid shopper. But there was something more. The daughter of a serial entrepreneur and an enterprising mother, she had developed an eye for opportunity and value-add that she ceaselessly trained on the business of creating a unique upscale shopping experience: trends, service, selection, presentation, decor. Despite her keen interest in retailing, she headed off for college with a more conservative career track in mind: I really thought I wanted to be in brand management, marketing, or retail consulting. I figured that someday I would have a store but thought it might be something I’d do when I retired, like you kind of hung out in your store. But I had all of these ideas. I like clothing, I like the shopping experience, and I like dealing with people. One idea was to have an all-black store because black apparel is such a staple for any woman’s wardrobe. In May 2002, Alison received her undergraduate degree in business from the University of Richmond. Back in the Boston area, her first job was with a dot-com startup. She left there for an interesting opportunity with another high-potential venture. While the work environment there was most definitely not for her, that mistake would have a major impact on her career trajectory. Catalysts Hired as part of the seminar development team at a medical device company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Alison quickly discovered that her talents weren’t exactly appreciated: They were part of this old boy network that really looked down on females. They told me, for example, that I needed to cover on Thursdays for the receptionist when she went to lunch. Swell. I hated that place, and I immediately began interviewing for something better. At one point, I went on a job interview, and since my boss approved of higher education, I told her I had gone to Babson College to investigate their MBA program. When I checked into it in order to support my little lie, I found out that Ba…
Looking for a solution written from scratch with No plagiarism and No AI?
WHY CHOOSE US?
We deliver quality original papers |
Our experts write quality original papers using academic databases.We dont use AI in our work. We refund your money if AI is detected |
Free revisions |
We offer our clients multiple free revisions just to ensure you get what you want. |
Discounted prices |
All our prices are discounted which makes it affordable to you. Use code FIRST15 to get your discount |
100% originality |
We deliver papers that are written from scratch to deliver 100% originality. Our papers are free from plagiarism and NO similarity.We have ZERO TOLERANCE TO USE OF AI |
On-time delivery |
We will deliver your paper on time even on short notice or short deadline, overnight essay or even an urgent essay |