Dollinger index

INTRODUCTION

Suzy’s Zoo, a closely held greeting card com-

pany located in San Diego, California, is now

approaching its 40th year of operations.

Owner and Chief Executive Officer Suzy

Spafford is the creative and driving force

behind the menagerie of characters that make

up Suzy’s Zoo. In its early years, the com-

pany managed to secure a profitable and safe

niche with a devoted following among its

customers. The “Zoo” features a happy and

colorful group of cartoon animals who live in

the imaginary town of Duckport, including

482 ENTREPRENEURSHIP CASE

competitors, Endicia and Pitney Bowes, in

both areas. It is important to point out that

Stamps.com is dependent on licensing by the

U.S. Postal Service: Its photo stamps pro-

gram is currently operating on a trail basis,

and the USPS terminated that trial program

unexpectedly once before.

The company’s financial report also shows

that while Stamps.com was able to enroll

approximately 41,000 to 69,000 new paid

customers during each quarter of 2005 and

2006, it also lost approximately 40,000 to

67,000 paid customers during the same

quarters. Retaining more customers will

undoubtedly be important to both future

growth and profitability. Financially (com-

pletely separate from the cost of the

Stamps.com service), the price of U. S.

postage is rising, which may motivate more

individuals and businesses to find cheaper

alternatives to mail.

Bibliography

DeWeese, Chelsea. “Zazzle, a Seller of Custom

Goods, Gets Venture-Capital Backing.”

Retrieved from the Web July 18, 2005.

http://www.online.wsj.com/article_print/0,

,SB112164185982687851,00.html.

Dow Jones Newswires. “UPDATE:

Stamps.com Up: Net Jumps As

PhotoStamps Rise.” Retrieved from the

Web February 21, 2006. http://online.wsj.

com/article_print/BT-CO-20060208-

007296.html.

Mintz, Jessica. “Your Face on a Stamp Again?

Custom Photo Postage Is Back,” The Wall

Street Journal, April 27, 2005: B1.

Selected Stories, UCLA Magazine, Summer

2000. Retrieved from the Web February
      20, 2007. http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/
      year2000/summer00_03_09.html.
      Smart Computing. “Buying Postage Online,”


2001. Retrieved from the Web February
      20, 2007. http://www.smartcomputing.
      com/editorial/article.asp?article=Articles/
      Archieve/G0801/15x01/44g01.asp&guid=
      The Smoking Gun. “Stamps of Approval,”


2002. Retrieved from the Web February 2,


2003. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
      archive.0831041_photostamps_1.html.
      Social Tech. Interview with Jim McDermott,
      cofounder of Stamps.com, l999. Retrieved
      from the Web February 20, 2007, http://
      http://www.socialtech.com/fullstory/0001406.ht
      ml.
      Web Sites for Additional Research
      http://www.stamps.com
      http://www.usps.gov
      http://www.endicia.com
      http://www.pb.com
      http://www.eBay.com
      http://www.zazzle.com

CASE 6

Suzy’s Zoo

Source:This case was prepared in 1992 by Professor
Kenneth E. Marino of San Diego State University with the
assistance of graduate student Terry Wittbrot. It has been
updated for this edition by Mimi and Marc Dollinger from
public sources of information. It is intended as a basis for
class discussion rather than an illustration of effective or
ineffective handling of an administrative situation.