Jan Nordstrom, a small ski equipment retailer in Utah, is planning inventory for a new pair of ski goggles for the upcoming ski season. He will purchase the ski goggles for $50 each and sell the goggles for $110 each. The supplier estimates that it costs $40 to make each pair of goggles and offers to buy back unsold inventory from Jan at the end of the ski season for $35 each.

The lead time to buy goggles from the supplier is very long, so the newsvendor model is applicable to this inventory decision process. The demand for the goggles is forecasted to be normally distributed, with a mean of 210 and a standard deviation of 120. Using this information and the newsvendor formula, Jan's optimal order quantity is 311 pairs of goggles, and expected sales are 196 pairs of goggles.

a. What is the expected profit Jan Nordstrom can anticipate from the sale of goggles in his small ski equipment retail operation this coming ski season?

b. If Jan orders at the optimal order quantity and achieves his expected sales, is this a good deal for the supplier? Why or why not?