Master International Franchising in China: Athlete’s Foot, Inc. 503might not survive this confluence of major
problems.RICK WANG AND RETAILCO INC.Rick Wang was a typical American-born
Chinese, able to speak both American
English and Chinese. His parents had immi-
grated to Taiwan and then America when
they were fairly young; regardless of their
geographic location, however, the family
maintained strong cultural ties to its home-
land. Wang was raised in a traditional
Chinese family in the United States. After
graduating from the University of Southern
California with a degree in communications,
he began his career as an account director at
Lintas, a well-regarded international adver-
tising agency. He then transferred to
Foremost Dairies Ltd., a leading manufactur-
er of milk and ice cream in Taiwan, as its
marketing director, and thus gained experi-
ence in short-shelf-life consumer goods.
In 1992, he moved to his parents’ home-
town, Shanghai, and worked for Shanghai
Fuller Foods Ltd. as vice president of market-
ing. He assisted in the building of the com-
pany’s factory in Jinqiao district and devel-
oped new brands of Fuller milk and ice
cream. Under Wang’s leadership, the brands
“Qian Shi Nai” (milk) and “San Marlo” (ice
cream) quickly achieved market leadership in
the area, known by almost all the residents in
Shanghai. In late 1997, Shanghai Fuller
Foods Ltd. was sold to Nestle; Wang decid-
ed to strike out on his own.
As a result of a chance encounter, Rick
Wang became acquainted with the athletic
footwear industry and became a retailer.
Wang retains a vivid memory of the day he
was introduced to the possibilities of this
retailing niche:PA RT A
One day in late 2001, Rick Wang, the man-
aging director of RetailCo Inc., the master
franchisee for The Athlete’s Foot in China,
was reviewing the most recent sales report of
his company. He found that the sales volume
for the past six months had declined precipi-
tously, down almost one-third from what it
had been only one year ago. Inevitably, Wang
was concerned.
RetailCo Inc. had enjoyed a banner year
in 2000; however, the company had experi-
enced a cascade of problems beginning
in 2001. At the start of that year, the compa-
ny was forced to deal with pressure due to
a supply shortage of major products,
which could deal a deathblow to any small
retailer. In quick succession, financial crises
and sales problems related to the lack of
product created a systemic disaster. Unless
Wang acted quickly and decisively, RetailCo.CASE 8
Master International Franchising in China:
The Athlete’s Foot, Inc.
by Ilan Alon and Amber XuSource:Amber Xu prepared Part A of this case under
the supervision of Professor Ilan Alon solely to provide
material for class discussion. The author does not intend
to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a
managerial situation. The author may have disguised
certain names and other identifying information to pro-
tect confidentiality.
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national Business School), Version: (A) 2006-09-07