Hello,

Shedding light on facts and figures has always remained the core competence of Marketspeek. This competence is captured in this week’s peek. We burnt midnight oil to enlighten you, our readers, about the growing Candle industry.

It goes without saying that this peek sheds ample light on the market size, types of candles, buyers, what’s in, what’s out and the like.

Like always, the first to come is our regular peek into our economy.

Home Sales

Sales of existing single-family homes in the U.S rose 6.9% in December. A healthy growth of 8.9% compared to the prior year. Sales of existing homes in 2003 set a record, crossing 6.1 million units. The number of units sold in the prior fiscal stands at 5.56 million.

Re-sales were also on a high in December. In the Northeast, resale increased by 2.9%. In the Midwest, it grew by 9.4% while in the South and the West; it went up by 5.31% and 7.9%, respectively.

Retail Sales

Sales of retail and food services posted a rise of 0.5% in December. A strong demand for automotives pushed the growth up by 0.4% during the month. Gasoline service station sales added a meager 0.1%. However, excluding auto dealer sales, retail sales for December rose only by 0.1%.

Happy Peeking!

Editor
Marketspeek
Executive Editor - Dr. Sharon Livingston
Editor - Vijay

Analysis

• As the demand for candles increases substantially during the holiday season the manufacturers of candles can devise broadened product lines.
• Fragrances play an important role in purchase decisions, so manufacturers can introduce exotic fragrances to augment sales.
• Manufacturers can commission fresh research on consumer behavior to understand occasions that go without candles and attempt to promote lighting of candles during those occasions.
• The candle accessories can be made to work for the manufacturers’ favor, in sync with themes – both existing and new.

Pacific Coast Foam

Pacific Coast Foam was sinking! Sales were increasing, profits were not, and owner Jerry Mooney was on tenterhooks. He’d plunged into the venture with great enthusiasm but was disillusioned with the direction his one-year old foam product company was heading.

Jerry started his career in the navy. In 1989, he left it to join a San Diego building supplies firm. He started as a painter applying protective coatings to Styrofoam architectural products and soon rose to managing the coating department. Now, he itched for more.

In October 1995, he launched Pacific Coast Foam (PCF) in a 6,500 square-foot industrial space. Jerry and a helper cut foam, while his wife, Heather, helped with the administrative tasks. It took off well and sales were increasing, but profits were low. A worried Jerry tried to figure out what was wrong but could not trace the problem.

He remembered an old friend’s advice and consulted a local business consultancy firm. They sent observers who observed operations and made suggestions.It was "one of the best business decisions of my life" recalls Jerry. They brought clarity into his business plan, taught him about spreadsheets, creating profit plans, setting prices and developing a reference guide for manufacturing operations. Seminars gave Jerry valuable insights into business management and strategic thinking for entrepreneurs. He also made visits to other companies and learnt from them.

Four years later, Mooney's dreams came true. The company made a whopping $2 million in 1999 and continues to grow. It expanded by acquiring smaller companies . Later, it diversified into PCF INSIDE, to develop and manufactures interior and architectural products. Today, the company is strong in Southern California having even built structures for local Native American tribes, sets for TV stations,local theaters and a full-scale foam helicopter and F-18 aircraft for the Marine Corps.

Success has not stopped Jerry from updating himself with the latest techniques and he is today a self-made multi-millionaire!

For further reading:

www.score.org

www.pcfoam.com

http://www.sandiegometro.com/1999/nov/madeinsd.html

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