Sports Unlimited, a hypothetical retail sporting goods chain with a flagship store in New York's Union Square, wants to significantly increase store revenues by overhauling its markdown policy. The company hires a marketing consultant and recent MBA graduate to develop basic decision metrics that will help the store's merchants determine which items should be discounted, how much the discount should be, and when the discount should be made - without relying on the high-priced, sophisticated software many stores use for this purpose. Note: A follow-up case, Markdown Management at Sports Unlimited: Part B, is also available.

Case id: 100205