Makeup Industry as an Oligopoly 

On May 8 Nicolle Beiglarbeigi made a previous about the makeup industry being an oligopoly because there are only a few major makeup companies that make up this industry and the others are way smaller. L'Oréal S A is the leading firm in the global makeup market holding 25.8% of market share. L'Oréal divides into five sectors and there are 28 international brands. Their makeup sector alone made $4.616 million and consolidated salads were $22.98 billion. There are a few dominant firms with market power. There is brand loyalty, products are differentiated very well, firms are interdependent, the barriers to entering the market is not hard, and the industries hold up to 60% of the concentration ratio. Dominant firms are L'Oréal S A, Estée Lauder, Revlon, Inc. and Procter, and Gamble company. They hold 72.6% of the market share. Products are differentiated depending on if they are high end or drugstore and what brand it is. The nature of the industry a causes high elasticity demand. All products are substituted. For example, Nars radiant creamy concealer is $29 at Sephora. Maybelline Fit Me concealer is $6.99 at Ulta. High end brands have created a reputation that has caused them to have a high price to match their credibility. Consumers that are brand loyal don't find substitutes for their products. Usually the higher the brand loyalty the less likely a consumer will leave because of a price raise because they feel like there are no substitutes. Brand loyalty creates inelacticity. 

https://prezi.com/m/lpwklbdyfoav/makeup-industry-as-an-oligopoly/

Americans' Coffe Guzzling Is Pushing Bean Prices Higher 

Laura Lorenzetti wrote an article about prices raising for coffee in America on July 1,2016. Because more people are wanting coffee, the demand is now way higher making the prices skyrocket. The world demand for coffee is on its way to being a new world record and America is in the lead to helping make that happen. Global coffee consumption is expected to grow 1.2% over the next year starting with October, and American consumption is expected to be up 1.5% this year alone, according to Bloomberg. Coffe has also reached peak popularity in China, Japan, and India, which are expected to demand more java than ever locally. The price for arabica coffe features was up 20% in June, making the biggest monthly gain since Frebruary 2014. Arabica coffee futures are estimated to reach $1.50 by the second half of 2017. Prices for robusta coffee beans that are used in instant coffee, are also up, gaining 4.2% last month. Because cropping season for the beans that are mostly used there is a huge possibility that coffee could now cost an arm and leg. Farmers might have to plant even more so that the coffe never runs out or they would have to come up with another product that is more fulfilling for buyers.
Gretchboettcher@gmail.com











http://fortune.com/2016/07/01/americans-coffee-prices/

Gretchboettcher@gmail.com
Blue Bell Recals Two Ice Cream Flavors Over Listeria Concern



On September 21 Karen Robinson-Jacobs wrote a article about blue bell ice cream. Over the summer there was a nation wide recall on the famous blue bell ice cream. The ice cream was said to have listeria concerns. In the past year this has been the second recall this well known ice cream company. Although the recall was only within chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies and cream, blue bell took all flavors off of the store shelves. This was reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia. Blue Bell has lost over 100,000 in worth o profit and 150,000 in product due to this recall no illnesses have been reported as we speak, but buyers are still on the look out, and being more cautious when buying the worlds favorite ice cream.











http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2016/09/21/blue-bell-recalls-ice-cream-listeria-concerns

Fears of the Zika virus Demand For Mosquito Repellent Products 

On August 5, 2016, Laura Entis wrote and article about how there started to be fear over the Zika

Drive demand for mosquito-repellent products. Usually the demand for bug-repellent in the U.S in

February is low but the sales for Invisaband's signature blue wrist band, which is known for mostly

repelling mosquitos were up by 400% in only the month of August alone. The virus originated in the

1940s and didn't speed into the Western Hemisphere until this spring.The virus flared up really bad in

south and Central America and though no one has gotten a mosquito bite everyone is still really

skeptical about it. The companies that produce mosquito repellent like Invisaband have had to

increase the amount of supplies that they buy and double the amount of wristbands that he was going

to order at first.This has also made the producer come up with different products like a mosquito net

to catch them. Because of this virus the sellers had to start producing more products and also had to

coke up with new products because the factory that they use is in China and it was closed for there

products and also the shipment wasn't gonna come until March. Articles like this makes you really

think about all that it takes to become a seller, producer, entrepreneur, or anything like that.Gretchboettcher@gmail.com

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270687

Current Event

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/26/gas-prices-up-4-cents-to-225-a-gallon.html

The Author of this article, Sergio Flores talks about how the average price of gasoline has risen four cents over the past two weeks to $2.25 a gallon for regular grade. Trilby Lunderberg an industry analyst said that Sunday retailers and refiners have upped their prices in response to a rise in the cost of crude oil. This article was written 15 hours ago according to source CNBC.