swot analysis

1
Helen Li
DATE: October 25, 2020

TO: Debra Danielson

FROM: Helen Li

SUBJECT: City of Beverly Hills

Objectives

This report aims to use demographic statistics such as city area, city population, income per capita, resident level of education, male to female ratio, and number of existing dry-cleaning stores operating in the area to determine the most appropriate location for a new store that provides high-end service for garment, shoe and handbag cleaning. The first part of this report includes an overview of some cities’ demographic information and which city I see the most appropriate to investigate deeper. Then I will evaluate the chosen city by looking at its residents’ purchasing power for consumer goods, how many apparels are being purchased in the city, and whether or not people’s need for cleaning their apparels is being met by businesses that are currently operating in the city. At the end of the report, I will provide a brief recommendation based on all the evidence.

Background of the City

I have researched three cities in three different counties, which are City of Irvine in Orange County, National City in San Diego County, and City of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles County. Based on related statistics, I have chosen Beverly Hills City in Los Angeles County to do my market research and analysis report.

City of Beverly Hills, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood, is located in the heart of Southern California (City of Beverly Hills, 2019). It covers 5.71 square miles, which takes up approximately 0.14% of the total land area of Los Angeles County. The estimated population in Los Angeles County is 10,039,107, whereas City of Beverly Hills has 33,792 (United States Census Bureau, 2019). In other words, City of Beverly Hills holds approximately 0.34% of the county’s population. Of the entire population in the city, the male to female ratio is 9:10, indicating a slightly higher number of females.

Within the City of Beverly Hills, 95.9% residents who are aged above 25 have high school diploma and 63% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. From 2014 – 2018, the median household income calculated for residents in the City of Beverly Hills was $103,403 (in 2018 dollars). In the year of 2018, per capita income amounted to $84,147 (in 2018 dollars). These two figures are higher than those calculated for City of Irvine, the whole Orange County, and San Diego County. Furthermore, approximately 9.5% of Beverly Hills residents were in poverty, which is the lowest among all three cities being compared in this report (United State Census Bureau, 2019).

The Purchasing Power of Residents in the City of Beverly Hills

With a population of only 5975.6 per square mile, City of Beverly Hills serves around six millions of visitors every year (Gibson, 2017). Therefore, in addition to the high income per capita among residents, the blooming tourism also provides an opportunity for businesses and stores to open up in the City of Beverly Hills. This phenomenon has created an environment that stresses consumerism.

According to the Beverly Hills Sales Tax Update Report for the fourth quarter of 2019, the top 5 business types in the city are auto lease, casual dining, department stores, family apparel, and fine dining, all of which can take advantage of the huge visitor flow by opening up in the City of Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills, 2020). In addition, of the top producers in the city, which is listed in an alphabetical order in the report, a majority can benefit from the huge visitor flow and all of them are high-end brands, except two private bank and trust companies (Daimler Trust and Toyota Lease Trust) which are also related to wealth. For instance, of the 25 top producers, 3 are hotels (Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Wilshire Hotel), 16 are luxurious brands (such as Cartier, Chanel, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Gearys, and XIV Karats), 3 are department stores (Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue), and 1 is fine dining restaurant (Wally’s Vinoteca). This statistic supports the argument that the City of Beverly Hills sees a huge amount of consumption by residents as well as visitors despite the relatively small land area and population.

How Many Apparels Are Being Purchased in Beverly Hills?

The exact number of garments, shoes, and handbags purchased from designer stores located in the City of Beverly Hills cannot be found. In the Beverly Hills Sales Tax Update Report, sales revenue made by department stores is labelled as confidential (Beverly Hills, 2020). However, related statistics can be used to estimate the amount.

According to the Local Profiles Report 2019, in the year of 2009, the total retail sales in the City of Beverly Hills was $1,717,000,000 and the total retail sales per capita was approximately $50,000. After less than a decade, the real retail sales reached $2,300,000,000 and real retail sales per person amounted to $673,000 in 2017 (Southern California Association of Governments, 2019). In addition, the report claims a continued economic growth in the City of Beverly Hills evident from increases in retail sales as well as employment, home prices, and building permits. Hence, it can be supposed that a relatively large number of designer apparels is being purchased in the City of Beverly Hills.

Who Needs to Get Their Apparels Cleaned?

Today, not only females are purchasing apparels that need to be cleaned or even regularly maintained by professional cleaning stores, males are increasingly buying such commodities, especially designer shoes. For example, an article published on Forbes discusses about “the new male power shopper”. Today men are exposed to more options as an increasing number of specialty brands begin to appear on the market. As a result, they are more willing to open up their wallets as well as minds to buy what they want. In response to this trend, brands are also striving to offer men a wider selection of assortment and merchandise (Petro, 2019). Furthermore, another article published on CNBC claims that the holiday season in 2018 saw a 5.1% increase in sales and part of this increase was due to the male shopping trend. This is because men are purchasing beyond what they need, moving on to purchase what they wish to own (Thomas, 2018).

About everyone regardless of gender buys garments, shoes, and handbags. In a city such as Beverly Hills that has high average income and a large number of department stores, just about everyone, no matter female or male, may purchase apparels from high-end brands which require regular maintenance and professional cleaning. This indicates a need for businesses that provide such services.

Is the City’s Need for Cleaning Stores Being Met?

There are 30 dry-cleaning stores registered on Google Maps within the City of Beverly Hills. Since people tend to search Google Maps for the closest stores and stores that provide quality service tend to be registered on the Internet, this figure can be used for the purposes of this report. Furthermore, I also researched on Google Maps to evaluate each dry-cleaning store located in the City of Beverly Hills to see how many offer services in shoe and handbag cleaning and how many provide high-end services that are favored by people who own highly priced apparels from luxurious brands. I found that 11 dry-cleaning stores provide services in garment cleaning, but only one specifies leather cleaning available. In addition, none of the stores offer cleaning service for shoes and handbags. I do not see high quality service provided by any of the 30 dry-cleaning stores that show up on Google Maps. In this case, residents’ need for cleaning designer shoes and handbags are not being met in the City of Beverly Hills, indicating a business opportunity.

Considering the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic intruded our lives since the beginning of 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020). This virus outbreak has created a major crisis that requires extreme measures such as quarantine, social distancing, and lockdown of public places, all of which have significant impacts on our lives. As a result, all businesses needed to adjust their modes of operation (Power, 2020).

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I suggest the cleaning store to adopt more approaches for operation. For example, the store should accept walk-in orders as well as mailed orders and set up a drop-off box so that customers can remain contactless. The store should also allow customers to choose from pick-up or delivery. For the delivery service, orders should be delivered to door to ensure a high-quality service. Providing these options may be perceived as a care for the community, thereby improving the reputation of the business and attracting more customers.

Recommendations

Based on my demographic and business research in the City of Beverly Hills, I think this city’s population is missing a cleaning business. From affordable brands to luxury brands and high-end boutiques, the City of Beverly Hills has walkable districts that can satisfy all kinds of consumers who are willing to spend. With a high purchasing power and visitor flow, a large number of apparels is being sold in Beverly Hills, but nowhere can people find a store to professionally clean their apparels. Therefore, it is a qualified city to open a business that provides quality service in cleaning designer apparels such as garments made of all materials, shoes, handbags, purses, and wallets.

References

Beverly Hills. (2020). Beverly Hills sales tax update: First quarter receipts for fourth quarter
sales (October – December 2019).

http://beverlyhills.org/cbhfiles/storage/files/10713537701298996735/SalesTax2019Q4.pdf

City of Beverly Hills. (2019). About Beverly Hills.

www.beverlyhills.org/citymanager/aboutbeverlyhills

Gibson, A. (2017). Beverly Hills. Asiaspa,153 – 155.

http://ambergibson.com/Magazine%20PDFs/24%20Hours_JANFEB2017.pdf

Petro, G. (2019). The rise of the new male power shopper. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2019/01/25/the-rise-of-the-new-male-power-shopper/#412f05b43367

Power, R. (2020). How 5 businesses are adapting to life in a pandemic. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettpower/2020/04/26/how-5-businesses-are-adapting-to-life-in-a-pandemic/#fafa2454f5ad

Southern California Association of Governments. (2019). Local profiles report 2019. SCAG.

https://www.scag.ca.gov/Documents/BeverlyHills.pdf

Thomas, L. (2018). Retail is having its best holiday season in 6 years. CNBC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/26/retail-is-having-its-best-holiday-season-in-6-years.html

United State Census of Bureau. (2019). QuickFacts.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/nationalcitycitycalifornia,irvinecitycalifornia,beverlyhillscitycalifornia,orangecountycalifornia,sandiegocountycalifornia,losangelescountycalifornia/PST045219#

United State Census of Bureau. (2019). Population and Housing Unite Estimates Tables.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2019.html

World Health Organization. (2020). Timeline: WHO’s COVID-19 response.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline?gclid=Cj0KCQjw28T8BRDbARIsAEOMBcwum29VgIydtXviwW-Z65fbWyGKmX_6EMZOarXItGXacEJxr2c4_vYaAoL0EALw_wcB#!