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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2012 version)

  H-E-B: Creating a Movement to Reduce Obesity in Texas

  Jose B. Alvarez, Jason Riis and Walter J. Salmon

  In January 2012, H-E-B Grocery Co., a private retail chain with stores located in Texas and Mexico, was introducing its Healthy at H-E-B program to its customers. The program, which started with the company's employees a few years earlier, was an effort to educate and inform customers on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. What CEO Craig Boyan had in mind was creating a state-wide healthy living movement in Texas, where obesity was high relative to other states in the U.S. But how far to go with its employees and customers was a question that President and COO Craig Boyan and his team struggled with. On one hand Boyan believed that H-E-B, long recognized for its community involvement, had a role to play in Texans' health and well-being. On the other hand, he recognized that H-E-B was first and foremost a retailer that had to compete against the likes of Walmart. He needed to make sure that H-E-B was serving its customers what they wanted while also trying to influence their buying behavior toward healthier foods. Some would say that H-E-B had no role in changing the lifestyle and food choices of its employees or customers. But Boyan and his team thought differently.

  Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Profit; Leading Change; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Texas;

  Citation:

  Alvarez, Jose B., Jason Riis, and Walter J. Salmon. "H-E-B: Creating a Movement to Reduce Obesity in Texas." Harvard Business School Case 512-034, February 2013. (Revised from original April 2012 version.)

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• Chapter | The Global Market: Developing a Strategy to Manage Across Borders | 2004

  Globalization of Retailing

  Rajiv Lal, David E. Bell and Walter J. Salmon

  Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Retail Industry;

  Citation:

  Lal, Rajiv, David E. Bell, and Walter J. Salmon. "Globalization of Retailing." In The Global Market: Developing a Strategy to Manage Across Borders, edited by John A. Quelch, and Rohit Deshpandé. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2004

  L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth

  Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber

  In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior to 1996, sales growth averaged nearly 20% per year. In 1995, sales hit $1 billion, but stagnated for the next six years--growing at less than 2% annually. The company responded with a structural reorganization and investment in its Internet sales channel. In 2002 and early 2003, McCormick led an effort to reduce overhead and improve its internal systems, including the elimination of 1,000 jobs--which reduced year-round headcount by nearly 15%. After these initiatives, the company remained profitable and enjoyed a strong balance sheet, but sales growth remained near zero. Most significantly, between 2000 and 2002, L.L. Bean opened three retail stores in shopping malls outside Maine. McCormick viewed these three stores as the first of a chain of stores that would form a new selling channel and enable L.L. Bean to grow. Early results from the three new stores were below expectations; L.L. Bean spent significant time examining its retail store activities in an attempt to learn where it could improve. As the company began to apply those lessons in the stores, performance picked up, fueling McCormick's optimism that L.L. Bean could grow with retail stores.

  Keywords: History; Leadership Development; Cost Management; Infrastructure; Performance Improvement; Sales; Product Positioning; Diversification; Distribution Channels; Resignation and Termination; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry;

  Citation:

  Lal, Rajiv, Walter J. Salmon, and James Weber. "L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth." Harvard Business School Case 504-080, March 2004.

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