Final Orders?

I'm a big Jamba Juice fan, and I also (kind of) like reading financial statements, so David Phillips gives me a twopher (link). One, JJ (which now trades at a good deal less than its cheapest beverage) does something almost unheard of in the annals of corporate reporting: admits a mistake. Per management, JJ has been growing too fast, or at least too heedlessly, and cannibalizing its own growth. As Phillips says, one almost never finds that kind of candor in the company numbers.

But two, per Phillips, there may not be a good way out of the problem. In two words, "product diferentiation"--or the absence thereof:

I question whether their business model itself can offer sustainable profitability. The Jamba branding message of encouraging "healthy living," though notable, is an easily duplicated strategy, with few barriers to entry — as any purveyor of quick, convenient food and beverage products, such as coffee shops, donut shops and grocery stores, can offer similar fruit drinks and healthy food items.

Sounds persuasive, but I remember thinking the same thing about Subway--can't anybody make a sandwich?--but today (I hear) there are more Subways in Manhattan than there are subway stations in Manhattan. So there must be something in the name.

Disclaimer:This is not financial advice. Indeed, anyone who takes financial advice--or indeed, any other kind of advice--from me is a stark raving lunatic.