Argument

Nature's Way, a chain of stores selling health food and other health-related products, is
opening its next franchise in the town of Plainsville. The store should prove to be very
successful: Nature's Way franchises tend to be most profitable in areas where residents
lead healthy lives, and clearly Plainsville is such an area. Plainsville merchants report
that sales of running shoes and exercise clothing are at all-time highs. The local health
club has more members than ever, and the weight training and aerobics classes are always full.
Finally, Plainsville's schoolchildren represent a new generation of potential customers:
these schoolchildren are required to participate in a fitness-for-life program, which emphasizes
the benefits of regular exercise at an early age.

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument.
Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are
for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

Its quite common for any business while opening its franchise to be optimistic,this argument
goes on to predict that the new store would be very successful based on few weak assumptions
and its quite possible that these assumptions may not lead to the intended result.

The author assumes that since Nature's way has been profitable in areas where the residents
lead healthy lives it would be the case in Plainsville too as it is such an area.We are not
given any concrete evidence that plainsville residents lead a healthy life,like healthiness index
of its residents or other reports like minimum to nil absenteeism in workplace or schools due
to reasons of poor health.Even if the chain has conducted some survey on this angle before
opening its franchise it would be seem to support the argument's prediction but no where we
are given information about such survey.

Moreover the author claims that running shoes and exercise clothing are at all time high
as reported by some merchants to base his argument that the store will be profitable.Here again
the author assumes that since the people bought shoes and other accessories they will have a
long term market for their products as well.It may be that the residents bought those as part of their
new year resolution at the start of the year and are not in fact using them at all.If thats the
case then profitability of store in the long run is definitely shaken up.

Finally the author assumes that school children would be the store's potential customers as
they have been asked to participate in fitness for life program.As the program emphasizes on
benefits of regular exercise,it may be the case also that they may be taught to eat natural
foods like fruits and vegetables to stay healthy and not to turn towards packed healthy foods
like health supplements or drinks which may be one of the major products of this store.If thats
the case then success is highly doubtful.

Thus the author makes assumptions which have many flaws thereby weakening the prediction
that the store would be successful.Rather on basing its claim on weak assumptions had the
store taken efforts to systematically study the area through questionnaires,mapping of
residents choices towards its products it would have been a successful venture.