by jim muehlhausen | Jul 19, 2011 | Bankruptcy, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Failure Stories, Public Companies
It looks like the Barnes and Noble business model has caught a break. We suggested that B&N could profit significantly by simply buying the faltering Borders in our column Is Barnes & Noble’s Business Model in Trouble. Evidently, good things come to those...
by jim muehlhausen | May 3, 2011 | Business Model Tips, Business Model Trends, Environmentalism, Failure Stories, Public Companies, Sears, Web Business Models, Yellow Pages
It seems that the green movement is now focused on the Yellow Pages. The city council of San Francisco recently passed an ordinance banning the distribution of Yellow Page books within the city. Whether the San Francisco ordinance holds up or not, the direction is...
by jim muehlhausen | Mar 14, 2011 | Branding, Business Model Innovation, Failure Stories, Playboy, Private Companies, Public Companies
Hugh Heffner started Playboy with a $1000 loan from his mother and turned it into a publishing empire. However, as Mr. Heffner prepares to take Playboy private, one has to ask whether Playboy’s business model is broken? Today, Playboy’s total revenue is around $350...
by jim muehlhausen | Dec 17, 2010 | Barnes & Noble, blockbuster, Borders, Business Model Tips, Failure Stories, Public Companies
Could Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) be the next Blockbuster? The once-dominant Blockbuster business model disintegrated into bankruptcy this year and seems unlikely to ever rebound. A close look at the Barnes & Noble business model yields many of the same issues...
by jim muehlhausen | May 11, 2010 | Burger King, Business Model Tips, Failure Stories, McDonalds, Public Companies, Success Stories
In the latest round of the burger wars, Burger King has apparently given up. As you can see from the following commercial, Burger King has apparently run out of ideas and has changed its model to “Hey, we are not as good as McDonalds, but we are cheaper.” This...
by jim muehlhausen | May 4, 2010 | blockbuster, Business Model Innovation, Business Model Trends, Failure Stories, Private Companies, Public Companies, redbox, Success Stories
Coinstar, the parent company of Redbox announced record earnings this week. Net income tripled from the previous period. Clearly, Redbox’s $1 rental model with 20,000 locations is superior to Blockbuster’s retail store model. In their press release, Redbox is...
