Stalwarts Stores, Inc. runs a huge chain of large discount

Question

Stalwarts Stores, Inc. runs a huge chain of large discount department stores known as Stalwarts and a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs known as Stal’s club. Stalwarts and Stal’s club have been making consistent progress for the past 5 years. Stalwarts contributes 30% of dollar sales and 40% of profit for the Stalwarts Stores and the rest is contributed by Stal’s club.

Which of the following about the performance of the past 5 years of Stalwarts Stores can be inferred from the above?

A. Both Stalwarts and Stal’s club have made the same amount of profit for all 5 years.
B. The products sold in Stal’s club were more expensive compared to products sold in Stalwarts.
C. The product mix offered by Stalwarts and Stal’s club has not changed.
D. For every dollar of sale, Stal’s Club brings less profit then Stalwart does.
E. Stal’s club has faced stiffer competition than Stalwarts has faced.

AkshdeepS · Answer

A. Both are making progress but we can't infer about there yearly profit.
B. Expense is not discussed in the passage.
C. No information about the stuff the offer.
 D. This can be inferred from the percentage above. 
E. No discussion about competition.

Hence (D)

AndrewN · Answer

The correct answer is rooted in the information provided in the last line of the passage.

Fact #1 :  Stalwarts  contributes 30 percent of  dollar sales  for the parent company, Stalwarts Stores, Inc. (presumably over the last 5 years)

Fact #2 :  Stalwarts  contributes 40 percent of  profit  for the parent company

Fact #3 :  Stal's Club  contributes  the rest

Conclusion : Stalwarts contributes 30 percent of dollar sales, so Stal's Club contributes the other 70 percent; Stalwarts contributes 40 percent of profit, so Stal's Club contributes the other 60 percent. The ratio of percent of dollar sales to percent of profit for each subsidiary is as follows:

Stalwarts :  \frac{30}{40}

Stal's Club :  \frac{70}{60}

The ratios show that Stal's Club may generate more dollar sales, but, relative to those sales, the profit generated is smaller than the same relationship for Stalwarts (where selling less leads to a greater share of total profit). Therefore, we can deduce that  for every dollar of sale, Stal’s Club brings less profit then   sic ]  Stalwart does . Choice (D) is the answer.

As for the other answers, (A) produces an unsubstantiated claim. In fact,  the same  amount  of profit  and  making consistent progress  from the passage do not paint a consistent picture. Choice (B) has us compare the cost of products at the two stores, but all the passage provides is information about  dollar sales . We cannot tell what items would cost at either store from this figure. Choice (C) falls into a similar camp as (A), noting a lack of change, but again, we cannot tell anything about the products being sold at either chain of stores. Finally, (E) requires speculation about the relative competition the two chains face when the passage says nothing about any other stores. In short, each answer except for (D) is a straight miss, and the more you have to fill in gaps around the information provided in the passage, the less likely you are to be on the right track.

I hope that helps.

- Andrew

Abhishek009 · Answer

S.W - S = 30% P = 40% , P/S = 1.33
S.C - S = 70% P = 60% , P/S = 0.86

Among the given options only (D) follows....

VerbalBot · Answer

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Stalwarts Stores, Inc. runs a huge chain of large discount

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Stalwarts Stores, Inc. runs a huge chain of large discount

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