The following is a recommendation from the Board of Directors of Monarch Books.

“We recommend that Monarch Books open a café in its store. Monarch, having been in business at the same location for more than twenty years, has a large customer base because it is known for its wide selection of books on all subjects. Clearly, opening the café would attract more customers. Space could be made for the café by discontinuing the children’s book section, which will probably become less popular given that the most recent national census indicated a significant decline in the percentage of the population under age ten. Opening a café will allow Monarch to attract more customers and better compete with Regal Books, which recently opened its own café.”

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

In the argument, the author concludes that Monarch Books should initiate a café in its store. To support the conclusion, the author cites evidence about the current situation of the store, the national census about the public’s interest in children’s books, and the policy taken by the competitor, Regal Books. Nevertheless, the argument is not convincing enough for many important questions have not been answered by the author.

In the first place, the author does not consider the question that whether loyal readers like the presence of a café in the store or whether they want to drink coffee, instead of other beverages, while reading. If customers are willing to get a café in the store and get a cup of coffee to help them concentrate on reading, the measure will attract more people to come. But the opposite situation is also possible. For example, one of the reasons for many readers come to Monarch Books may be that they like the pure atmosphere of reading. When coffee is available, there, inevitably, will be smell which may disrupt readers to read a book. Furthermore, it is also likely that many customers prefer tea to coffee. In this case, hardly will the café satisfy their customers. Under these two scenarios, not only will Monarch Books fail to attract more customers but also will they lose the current customer base.

In the second place, the author ignores the question that if the national census can reflect the true situation in the particular city. Generally speaking, the national census is done to indicate an overall picture of the whole country but cannot roll out some exceptions. Therefore, although for the country, the percentage of the population under age ten is experiencing a decline, it can be not the case in the city where Monarch Books exists. For example, the city can be in Silicon Valley where many lucrative companies attract plentiful young people from all over the country to chase dreams. Consequently, the greater percentage of children under age ten happens there and the demands for children’s books are great. When displacing the children’s book section, the book store will give up a large sum of revenue.

In the third place, the author forgets to answer the question that whether the rival’s decision will succeed or whether the experience will work in Monarch Books. Since Regal Books put the plan into effect just now, we cannot predict the efficiency of it. It is better to judge it after a year when the practicality gets clear. Moreover, if Regal Books has some special methods to make coffee outstandingly tasty, Monarch Books cannot attract customers who like coffee when simply imitating the measure to open a café.

To sum up, the argument lacks credibility because the evidence, the author cites, does not lend strong support to the opinion. To strengthen the argument, the author should proffer more information about customers’ attitudes towards the provision of coffee in a book store, the percentage of the population under age ten of the city, the outcomes of Regal Books’ new plan, and whether the plan will be suitable for Monarch Books.