The following appeared in a memo from the owner of a chain of cheese stores located throughout the United States For many years all the stores in our chain have stocked a wide variety of both domestic and imported cheeses Last year however all of the five

The aforementioned argument is well-presented and appears to be relatively sound at first glance: since the recent survey indicates an increasing preference for domestic cheeses among its participants, it seems plausible to argue that discontinue stocking a wide array of imported cheese are not profitable. However, as more light is shed on the issue and more detailed facts are concerned, the lack of answers through the argument leads me to question the validity of it.

First, the author needs to answer the question whether the five best-selling cheeses at the newest stores indicates people’s tendency to buy domestic cheeses. Since the most popular cheese in newly opened stores were domestic cheddar cheeses from Wisconsin, the author assumes that customers are incline to buy domestic cheese over the imported cheeses. However, in all likelihood, those five best-selling cheeses might be popular not because they were domestic cheese, but because they were on a special discount. If this would be the case, it might be natural for customers to purchase more those discounted cheeses over relatively expensive imported cheeses. Even if those cheeses were not on sale, it is likely that those cheeses were sold well because they were cheddar cheeses, not because they were domestic cheeses. Therefore, more information is necessary to attest the soundness of the author’s assertion.

Another question the author should answer is whether the result of the survey can be taken at face value. A resent survey disclosed subscribers’ increasing preference for domestic cheeses over imported cheeses. However, it should be taken into consider that people’s preference is not equivalent to their action to purchase cheeses. To be more specific, although they might be inclined to buy domestic cheese for relatively cheaper prices, they might opt to purchase imported cheese for its better quality. In such a case, people would still imported cheeses and therefore, it is illogical to for the owner of the cheese stores to adopt a new policy to discontinue stocking imported cheeses.

Lastly, the author should answer the soundness of the conclusion that the best way to improve profits in all of stores is to discontinue stocking various imported cheeses. However, the author should consider the possibility that many consumers who are coming for a wide array of imported cheeses might stop coming to the store. If so, it is possible that the lost profit from those consumers may override the profit gains from the customers coming for the imported cheeses. In addition, it is far-fetched to implement this policy to all stores, since each store have different inherent characteristics. Therefore, more detailed information on each cheese stores is necessary.

The argument above is not cogent on many grounds. To bolster the argument, the author should answer all the aforementioned questions.