TEXT C Reebok executives do not
like to hear their stylish athletic shoes called" footwear for yuppies
(雅皮士，少壮高薪职业人士)". They contend that Reebok shoes appeal to diverse market
segments, especially now that the company offers basketball and children’s shoes
for the under-18 set and walking shoes for older customers not interested in
aerobics(健身操)or running. The executives also point out that through recent
acquisitions they have added hiking boots, dress and casual shoes, and
high-performance athletic footwear to their product lines, all of which should
attract new and varied groups of customers. Still, despite its
emphasis on new markets, Reebok plans few changes in the upmarket (高档消费人群的)
retailing network that helped push sales to ＄1 billion annually, ahead of all
other sports shoe marketers. Reebok shoes, which are priced from ＄27 to ＄85,
will continue to be sold only in better specialty, sporting goods, and
department stores, in accordance with the company’s view that consumers judge
the quality of the brand by the quality of its distribution. In
the past few years, the Massachusetts-based company has imposed limits on the
number of its distributors (and the number of shoes supplied to stores), partly
out of necessity. At times the unexpected demand for Reebok’s exceeded supply,
and the company could barely keep up with orders from the dealers it already
had. These fulfillment problems seem to be under control now, but the company is
still selective about its distributors. At present, Reebok shoes are available
in about five thousand retail stores in the United States.
Reebok has already anticipated that walking shoes will be the next fitness
related craze, replacing aerobics shoes the same way its brightly colored, soft
leather exercise footwear replaced conventional running shoes. Through product
diversification and careful market research, Reebok hopes to avoid the
distribution problems Nike came across several years ago, when Nike misjudged
the strength of the aerobics shoe craze and was forced to unload huge
inventories of running shoes through discount stores. What lesson has Reebok learned from Nike’s distribution problems
A．A company should not sell its high quality shoes in discount stores. B．A company should not limit its distribution network. C．A company should do follow up surveys of its products. D．A company should correctly evaluate the impact of a new craze on the market.