Abstract

The caselet “Vitamin Shoppe’s Reinvention Efforts Fail?” talks about the failed attempt of Vitamin Shoppe Industries Inc. (VSI) to reinvent itself in a bid to improve its business prospects. The case starts out with the circumstances that forced VSI to think about reinventing itself. It then explains the various measures taken by the company, as a part of its reinvention strategy. The case goes on to delve into the reasons for the reinvention strategy failing to improve the company’s sales and financial position. It ends with the additional steps VSI was taking to avoid having such a failure again and takes a brief look at the possibility of the company’s prospects brightening. Does VSI need to continue reinventing itself or not?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the factors that lead a company to take up a repositioning strategy
• Explore the competitive forces encountered by a company in a dynamically changing marketplace

Keywords

Vitamin Shoppe; Reinvention; Brand Management; Repositioning; Failure of Reinvention; Omni – channel Retailer; Online Retail; SPARK Auto Delivery; Competition; Pricing Strategy; Commoditization; Cost Cutting; Brick-and-mortar business; Partnerships