Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1111 This money was well spent

In September 93, Yansha had just formed a joint venture and had been open for five months.

It's the most upscale shopping mall in the entire Beijing area, or even the whole country, offering the most comprehensive services. It caters to foreigners, after all. For Chinese people at this time, this place can be summed up in one word: expensive.

Although there are quite a few foreign brands in Yansha, there aren't many well-known luxury brands yet. Luxury brands are in Wangfujing and Guomao.

But the things sold here are more expensive than luxury goods. They're selling prestige and service.

However, the overall layout and environment here are indeed far superior to shopping malls of this era.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui carefully examined the place from the outside in, nodding repeatedly. It was truly an eye-opening experience; they had never imagined that shopping malls could be arranged and decorated in this way.

Inside, it's currently an open-shelf area with a large atrium, boutique sections, jewelry and cosmetics sections, where all kinds of goods are neatly categorized, making it both eye-catching and convenient.

However, there weren't many customers inside, and even fewer Chinese. You could see a few women dressed up looking up at Xiao Wei and his friends.

The salespeople's occasional glances carried a peculiar meaning, as if they sensed this was a group of tourists who had wandered into the wrong place, and that they were waiting for them to see the prices and immediately run away with their children. That's what Xiaowei thought.

His face definitely changed color. Xiu'er tugged at Xiao Wei's sleeve: "Brother, this is way too expensive!"

Xiao Wei said, "You feel it's not worth it? Look how comfortable this environment is. Foreigners are really better at this than we are."

Chen Hui said, "Let's go back and revise the plan, and do it this way for the entire mall from now on. Let Manager Zhang and Manager Chen come and take a look. Is there enough time to revise the plan?"

Xiao Wei said, "There's still time. But we don't need to change much. All we're lacking is the lighting and setup; the floor was originally planned to be tiles, just a different color. Do you think this lighter color is better?"

Chen Hui squatted down, touched it, and said, "This kind of space looks bright. Don't you think bright spaces make a room seem bigger?"

Xiao Hong said, "I think the lighting here is well-designed; it's bright but not glaring, and the background music is so soothing. The atrium is so spacious that it doesn't feel crowded no matter how many people come in, and it's also quick to evacuate in case of an emergency."

Chen Hui clapped his hands and said, "It's different. Did you feel there were fewer people in Wangfujing just now? The prices there aren't cheaper than in China. Here, there are fewer people; most people don't dare to come in, which makes it seem more spacious. We can't possibly sell at such a high price."

That makes sense, though; I also find the lighting arrangement comfortable. And this large atrium with smaller sections does accommodate more people. People gather here first, then their goals change, and when they're divided into specific merchandise areas, there's less space, unlike the crowded department stores where everyone has to walk through everything.

Xiao Wei fixed Bei Bei's hair and said, "This atrium can also be used for events. Look at the design above, it's clearly designed for events, with lighting and scaffolding. All we need to do is set up a small stage temporarily. I think this is a good idea."

Xiuer looked up and said, "It's so tall here." Actually, it's not that tall. Yansha only has five floors in total, and the sales area is only a little over 20,000 square meters, which is smaller than many shopping malls in China. However, the different spatial designs make the visual difference huge.

Seven people with two children stood on the side of the atrium, admiring the view. Passersby and sales staff would occasionally glance over and whisper among themselves, secretly amused, but the seven people didn't seem to care.

Chen Hui said, "Let's call Manager Zhang over and take a look. All the managers should come too. Oh, and do you think we should have Dean Cheng's side come as well?"

Xiao Wei shook his head: "We don't need Dean Cheng's side. They're architectural designers; they can figure out the interior design by just a few words. This building is so ugly, what's the point of showing it to Dean Cheng? Which of our buildings isn't better than this?"

Chen Hui took out his phone and made a call.

"Brother Zhang, Xiaowei and I are in Kyoto. We arrived around noon. We're currently near Liangmahe, at the Yansha Friendship Shopping Mall, you know?"

Manager Zhang said, "I know, it opened in April, right? It was in the newspapers, what's wrong?"

Chen Hui said, "Arrange things at home and gather a few people to come over and take a look at the business layout here. Xiao Wei and I both think it's pretty good, and we should learn from it."

Manager Zhang said, "Okay. I've been thinking about where to go for some training lately; I was originally planning to go to Hong Kong."

Chen Hui said, "We should go to Hong Kong if we want to. We should get out and see more of the world. I see there are a lot of foreign products here. The brands are from seven or eight different countries. You guys can take a look and see if we should buy them. Investigate the channels and prices, etc."

Manager Zhang said, "I've discussed this with Xiao Liu, and she's already working on it. She should have a report for you and Xiao Wei before the end of the year. Our purchasing center has an overseas trip planned, so you should be able to see it when you get back."

Chen Hui said, "Okay, then you make the arrangements. Come over tomorrow. Before you come, get a letter of introduction and stay at the Kyoto Hotel. Xiao Wei and I will be there."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Hui said, "They'll come tomorrow."

Xiao Hong said, "It's really extravagant. Just to come here for a quick look, a few people make the trip, and it costs several thousand yuan per person for food, accommodation, and airfare."

Xiao Wei said, "This money was well spent. It's useless to just listen to people talk about it without actually seeing it for yourself. It's like doing things; if you don't try it yourself, you'll never understand even after listening for a lifetime."

Chen Xiao asked, "What's the Xidu Dalian shopping mall like?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's also open-shelf sales, but overall, it's not as good as this, though it's better than most department stores in China. Let's see how they adjust things later."

Chen Hui nodded and said, "We need to work on it. There are quite a few things that need to be changed. Let's have a meeting when we get back to discuss it and see how to do it better."

Xiuer said, "If we do it this way, won't the costs be incredibly high? Won't the products have to be sold at ridiculously high prices? How can that possibly work?"

Xiao Wei said, "Construction costs will definitely be higher. If you're renting a building to run a shopping mall, the costs will indeed be much higher. But it's fine for us. It's our own space and our own shopping mall, so a slightly higher or lower construction cost won't make a big difference. It won't affect the retail price."

Xiaohong said, "Your venue costs have increased while the rent remains the same? Doesn't the shopping mall have to pay rent to the property management?"

Xiao Wei said, "What I use to make money is really just a matter of earning a little more or a little less. Why don't we go back and discuss it?"

Beibei, holding Xiaoxiaohui's hand, and the two siblings squatted on the ground looking at their reflections. Then they looked up and asked, "Daddy, what are we looking at here? We've been standing here for ages. Haven't we seen enough?"

Xiao Hong knelt down and fixed Bei Bei and Xiao Xiao Hui's hair: "Doesn't this look good? How about we do it like this at home?"

Beibei looked around with her little face up and said, "No. Our house... our house isn't that big. If we do this, it won't feel like a home anymore."

(End of this chapter)