20 years of restarting life

Chapter 4036 Streets Clogged
"The problem is, if we tell our customers now that we're not open today, how will we vent the anger of the tens of thousands of people who have come here? Especially those thousands who have been queuing since last night, and those who have traveled hundreds of kilometers from the surrounding counties and cities, we can't afford to take such a huge responsibility!"

Mike, of course, disagreed and immediately retorted, "Right now, we need you to send a large number of people to maintain order and ensure a successful conclusion to BlackBerry's launch today, not to demand that our normal business activities be suspended. We are taxpayers; every year BlackBerry pays money in Toronto, Canada. Are you just here to suggest we close down? What use are you then?"

Mike's words made Vladika blush and swell with anger. He suppressed his rage and said, "I was just suggesting it from the perspective of the public and your company's reputation."

"No need. I just need you to quickly send more people to maintain order. There are still one hour and twenty minutes before the gates open, which is enough time for you to coordinate and transfer people from other neighborhoods."

Watching Vladika walk towards the back door, Mike said angrily, "I really don't know what they do besides wandering around aimlessly every day?"

"There were hundreds of people queuing up last night?"

Zhao Chang'an looked at the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors outside, which were completely blocked by a crowd, and couldn't tell where the queue was.

"It was washed away long ago."

Qi Xidong explained with a worried look: "Last night, people started lining up before it got dark, but there weren't many. By nightfall, there were only a little over a hundred people, and we didn't pay much attention. We even had the staff buy them water and persuade them to come back this morning. Many were persuaded to leave, but a few dozen persisted, so we bought them blankets and water. As a result, when we came this morning, we couldn't even get in through the front door, so we had to come in through the back door. According to Vladika, the local police who patrolled last night said that by almost dawn, the line had stretched for nearly a kilometer."

“If we had known last night, we could have used a number system. The problem is that the whole team has already collapsed. The only thing that can prove it is those dozens of blankets, but such blankets can be bought in many shops nearby, so there is no way to prove it.”

The manager, still covered in sweat, explained.

People in Toronto love to go camping and hiking on weekends, and a small blanket is an essential item. Bay Street is a commercial center in Canada, and the people working here are under a lot of pressure during the week. On weekends, they hope to get close to nature, relieve stress, and release their inner pressure.

Just then, the manager's phone rang. He whispered a few words and reported to Zhao Chang'an, Qi Xidong, and Mike: "The performers have arrived, but they can't squeeze in from the front. We need to take them through the back door."

Then he said to a young man in a shop assistant uniform standing next to him, "Go and bring them in."

"Let's go upstairs and talk."

At this moment, several people stood in the hall, facing countless pairs of eager eyes outside. Everyone felt their scalps tingle and couldn't imagine how tens of thousands of people would fill this less than 300-square-meter first-floor hall by 9:30.

Mike was thrilled by the positive feedback from so many users on his product, but also worried about what to do next. He suggested that they go up and discuss the matter further.

"This time it was my oversight, so I just moved the original store to Wan Street and closed the original store."

Qi Xidong was the first to step forward, conduct a self-examination, and admit his mistakes.

"Now is not the time to talk about that. How many employees are there? Are they working full-time or part-time?"

Zhao Chang'an interrupted Qi Xidong. The situation was already extremely urgent, and he was in no mood to talk about this. Even if he wanted to talk about it, he would do so after the business closed tonight.

"There are two front desk cashiers, eleven sales staff, one front-of-house supervisor, and two technical consultants. They work in two shifts, and the other shift is staffed in the same way."

manager.

"Get all the staff in that shift here and on duty immediately."

Zhao Chang'an.

"it is good."

The manager stood up and went downstairs. He certainly didn't have every employee's phone number on him, but the front desk had a record. "How much inventory do we have here right now?"

This was the second question Zhao Chang'an asked.

"There are over 300 Pager 950s, less than 100 PADs, 200 BlackBerry 5810s, and 5000 BlackBerry 6230+s."

Upon hearing the number 5000, Zhao Chang'an felt much more at ease; if it were only one or two thousand, that would have been troublesome.

"Have all 21 BlackBerry 6230+ units produced been distributed?"

Looking at the scene today, Zhao Chang'an felt that these 21 BlackBerry 6230+ phones probably wouldn't be enough to power Tencent for even a day.

BlackBerry has only nine stores in North America: the Bay Street store in Toronto, which corresponds to a city population of 710 million; the Montreal store, which corresponds to a city population of 460 million; and the Vancouver store, which corresponds to a city population of 311 million.

The remaining cities are New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and the cities south of Seattle.

Another option is to partner with some supermarkets in North America, where they make the purchases and then resell them at the prices agreed upon by both parties.

Zhao Chang'an didn't care about the situation at the entrances of these shopping malls at this time. If any problems arose, these shopping malls would be the ones to take the blame.

However, the prerequisite is that BlackBerry's nine stores do not cause any problems. If problems do occur, then any issues that arise at the supermarkets will also be attributed to BlackBerry.

"They've all been distributed. In Canada, there are three locations: 4000 BlackBerry 6230+ units in Montreal, 8000 units in Vancouver, and 10000 units each in the six locations to the south."

Qi Xidong answered.

The reason for this large-scale distribution is that Toronto and Montreal are very close to the BlackBerry mobile phone factory in Waterloo. In Qi Xidong's view, a daily output of 2000 units is sufficient to support its temporary needs.

Vancouver is located on the eastern Pacific coast, while the six cities to the south are in the United States, so the turnover rate is much slower.

This means that these nine retailers had 7.7 BlackBerry 6230+ units in stock, while the remaining 23.3 units were distributed among various resellers in North American supermarkets.

The United States and Canada in North America have a combined population of 3.9 million, which is equivalent to approximately 1860 people. BlackBerry could provide one BlackBerry 6230+, and it's quite possible that it could clear out the inventory in a day.

“We all guessed that the BlackBerry 6230+ would sell very well after its initial release, and that these 21 BlackBerry 6230+ units wouldn’t last long. But the current situation has really exceeded my expectations.”

Mike admitted with a headache that he had misjudged the situation.

He was experiencing a bittersweet feeling. He was happy that so many people were snapping up the phones, but he also felt pained because he didn't actually have that many phones in his hands. He felt he had let down these enthusiastic customers.

"The second phase of the factory and equipment needs to be expedited!"

Qi Xidong was also feeling a chill run down his spine and his blood was boiling. Even after he had been dazed by the sight of the dense crowd on the street that morning, he was still a little dizzy and not fully awake. He then uttered another pointless remark.

At this moment, everyone present reached a consensus: the shortage of BlackBerry 6230+ and even BlackBerry 5810 would continue for an unknown period of time.

The problem is, we can put this matter aside for now, but how do we deal with and resolve this current situation?