Estructura de la tesis

The following appeared in a letter from a part-owner of a small retail clothing chain to her business partner:

"Commercial real estate prices have been rising steadily in the Sandida Heights neighbor-hood for several years, while the prices in the adjacent neighborneighbor-hood of Palm Grove have remained the same. It seems obvious, then, that a retail space in Sandida Heights must now be much more expensive than a similar space in Palm Grove, which was not the case several years ago. So, it appears that retail spaces in Sandida Heights are now overpriced relative to those in Palm Grove. Therefore, it would be in our financial interest to purchase a retail space in Palm Grove rather than in Sandida Heights."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

Understand the argument

A part-owner of a small retail clothing chain raises a concern about the rising commercial real estate prices in the Sandida Heights neighborhood where the store is located. Citing the steady real estate prices in the adjacent neighborhood of Palm Grove, the argument makes a case for relocating to the reasonably priced neighborhood Palm Grove. The business partner making the argument does so in accordance with the financial interests of the business.

Faulty assumptions

• Financial interests of a business are commensurate with merely the costs rather than profits or revenues

• There will be an appropriate property available for sale at Palm Grove

• Shifting to Palm Grove will not take away the current established client base at Sandida Heights and the revenue after relocating to Palm Grove will be unaffected

• Palm Grove residents have the same demographics as those of Sandida Heights

• Palm Grove does not have fierce competition for their clothing business

Missing evidence

• Evidence that real estate prices at Sandida Heights will not fall in the future, thus hurting the financial interests of the business

• Evidence that sales/revenue will not be adversely affected at the new location

• Data that the new neighbourhood is similar in terms of its demographics of the old neighbourhood and does not already have fierce competition

• Data about whether currently the property is rented or owned and exactly what would be the relocation’s impact on the bottom line

Counter-examples

• What if the rise in prices in the current neighbourhood is because of an increase in demand (a promising trend for any business)?

• What if the store already has an established client base in the current location?

• What if moving to a new neighbourhood will cause a loss in customer base?

• What if the new locality does not have adequate target customers of the clothing line that the store retails?

• What if the reason the commercial real estate is not going up at the neighbouring locality is that is not conducive to businesses due to perhaps vandalism?

The essay

The part-owner of a small retail clothing store proposes that the store be relocated from San-dida Heights, which is showing increase in prices, to Palm Grove, which has steady real estate prices. The case made is that of the financial interests of the business. The recommendation involves purchasing a retail property at Palm Grove. To evaluate this argument, more details are required with respect to the current financial situation of the store, including whether it is being rented currently or is self-owned, demographic details of their clientele, and any evalu-ation of how the relocevalu-ation will impact not just their costs but also their revenues.

First, more details are required about the current situation of the business. Details would in-clude whether the retail space at Sandida Heights is self-owned or rented. If it is self-owned, the business will perhaps require a buyer for the property before a new property can be pur-chased at Palm Grove. If it is rented, then how long the lease agreement is needs to be looked into. If the lease is valid for next several years and the exit clause with respect to the lease is prohibitive then it might not be a good idea financially to relocate at this time. And by the time the lease ends in some distant future, the scenario about property rates might have changed drastically and will have to be given a fresh look. Also, the plan is also incumbent upon whether an appropriate commercial retail space is available for sale at Palm Grove.

Further, even if it is established that the property prices are better and it is feasible to move to Palm Grove, what needs to be evaluated is whether the overall profits will increase. What if, although the bottom line improves, the topline reduces and overall there is an adverse impact on the total profits of the store? The sales could be adversely affected due to factors such as loss of current client base, inadequate numbers of relevant demographics of Palm Grove residents, or fierce existing competition at Palm Grove? What if the store is carrying luxury brands, which has the relevant clientele at Sandida Heights but not at Palm Grove?

In conclusion, although at first glance the argument to purchase a property at the neighbor-ing Palm Grove locality sounds convincneighbor-ing on account of differences in property rates, the argument requires further proof and examination of assumptions to evaluate whether it is a tenable plan and will lead to the desired goal of furthering financial interests.