Within Central City, the high-end retailer RiverRock ...

Within Central City, the high-end retailer RiverRock makes most of its sales at its flagship store in Central Plaza, a major commuter center in the business district. Nevertheless, marketing strategists at RiverRock propose increasing revenues by closing the lease on this high-rent location and focusing on its smaller satellite stores throughout the region.

Which of the following, if true, casts most doubt on the viability of the plan by RiverRock's marketing strategists to focus on smaller satellite stores?

(A) Most of the merchandise available at RiverRock's flagship store is also available at each of its satellite stores.

(B) The frequency with which consumers who live near Central Plaza shop at RiverRock is roughly equal to that of consumers who live in the suburbs, where most of the satellite stores are located.

(C) When RiverRock opened its flagship store fifteen years ago, it closed two smaller stores in the Central City area.

(D) Retailers such as RiverRock find that smaller suburban stores experience more consistent sales from year to year than do flagship stores, which depend on huge sales in November and December.

(E) The sales of the flagship RiverRock store allow the company to devote large sums to television advertising in Central City, which has a significant positive impact on satellite store sales.

GH-12.25.12 - OE to follow