Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 500 Business Strategies

If you calculate it that way, a stall would be twenty square meters. It seems a bit small by today's standards, but back then it was considered a large stall. A standard stall at that time was only 2.6 meters wide and 3 meters deep. For example, in Fengtian Wu'ai, a stall was 2 meters wide and 2 meters deep.

Chen Hui looked at Xiao Wei, waiting for Xiao Wei to make a decision. Liu Ge, standing to the side, observed the interaction between the two and knew that Chen Hui wasn't lying; this person really was the one making the decision.

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "It's a bit small, how about we take all four? How much is the rent?"

Director Sun paused for a moment, glanced at Xiao Wei, and said, "This place is a bit big. The rent is 50,000 yuan a year. If you rent it outside, it would probably cost close to 100,000 yuan. Do you want to pay monthly or quarterly?"

He was referring to the subletting price. Not all of the initial tenants were running the stalls themselves; many were subletting to earn the difference. Tens of thousands or twenty thousand yuan a year isn't a small amount. However, there's a risk: if the stall remains vacant for too long and can't be sublet, you'll lose money.

Xiao Wei said, "Let's pay annually to avoid trouble. Xiao Hui, write down the account number and transfer the money over when you get back. Is that possible?" He looked at Director Sun.

Director Sun paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, we can make transfers, checks are fine too, we have a separate account."

Xiao Wei said, "Let's transfer the money. It's too much trouble to write a check for 200,000. Which bank do you work for? I'll have someone bring the receipt over after the transfer is complete."

Director Sun said, "ICBC, ICBC, okay, just send me a copy of the remittance slip later. Um, you there, Xiao Liu, Liu?" A staff member outside answered and came over. Director Sun said, "The four corners of the main entrances to the south and north areas have been rented. Have someone go over and mark a line, and have someone set up the counters, facing forward." He thought for a moment, "Five, set up five."

Right now, the stalls and counters are rented out by the rental company. They're the kind of aluminum alloy counters, 1.3 meters each, and not expensive, around 120 yuan each. Whether you actually use them or not is none of their business. Many stalls are just used as partitions to separate their own stalls from others, leaving the front open for people to enter.

Xiao Liu agreed and went out to make the arrangements. Director Sun came out with the contract and said, "Then let's sign it. Once these four corners are out, I'll be able to relax. People come to ask about them all day long, and it's hard to say whether to give them or not. There are four in total, so who should we give them to and who shouldn't we give them to? Now we have some free time." He handed the contract to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei took the contract and looked at it. The rent for the entire mall was 15 yuan per square meter per day, which was quite high these days.

Director Sun said, "That's the published price. There are preferential terms later. You can go with that one." At first, the mall rent wasn't too high. There were discounts for the unemployed and the poor. Then it rose rapidly. By 95, the daily rent had more than doubled. It was take it or leave it.

Xiao Wei smiled but didn't look closely. He found the signature area, took a pen, signed his name, and pressed his fingerprint.

Director Sun took the contract, wrote a few lines on it, stamped it with the official seal, and handed a copy to Xiao Wei, saying, "The account number is here. You can just transfer the money directly. You need to give me a copy of the deposit slip."

Chen Hui took the contract and put it in his bag. He then took out his business card and handed it to Director Sun, saying, "This is my phone number. We probably won't be able to come here often in the future, so please keep an eye on things for us, Brother Sun. If you need anything, just call me or contact Brother Liu." He then gave Brother Liu a business card as well.

Director Sun took the business card, looked at it, took out his own from the drawer, and handed one to Chen Hui and Xiao Wei, one each. He smiled and said, "I can't afford a mobile phone. I only have a pager, which was provided by the company. If you need anything, just call the office. I'm usually there."

After completing the formalities, Xiaowei, Chen Hui, and Brother Liu left the mall and came up the steps from the main entrance. Chen Hui said, "We took four this time. Is that enough manpower? By the way, Brother Liu, do you want to take one? Take one, we have three, that's enough."

Brother Liu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll take one. Just leave me one. I'll have my sister-in-law come over and get it, and I'll give you the money later."

Chen Hui said, "You can give it to me monthly, no need to give it all at once. Anyway, I've already given it to you, so it'll be easier for us to handle things together." Back then, it was difficult for anyone to come up with 50,000 yuan all at once; they all had to borrow it.

Brother Liu laughed and said, "Really? That's great. I really can't afford it, so I'll borrow it sparingly. Okay, I'll give it to you monthly, five thousand a month."

Chen Hui and Xiao Wei didn't try to be modest; neither of them was short of ten thousand yuan, and they knew what they were doing.

After saying goodbye, Xiaowei and Chen Hui returned to the parking lot, and the group stood by the roadside talking. Xiaohong asked, "Did you get it done after all this time?"

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, we rented it for four yuan. Give one yuan to Brother Liu. Are you hungry? Should we eat something before we leave, or should we leave now?"

Geng Hui asked, "What about the two of them?" She pointed to Xinghai and Liu Liu.

Xiao Wei said, "Let's go back to Fengtian together. We should also take them to Wu'ai South Tower to familiarize them with the bus routes and such."

Geng Hui asked Chen Xiao, "Are you hungry?"

Chen Xiao said, "Let's go back to the restaurant to eat. If we eat here now, we'll be hungry again tonight."

Xiao Hong said, "Hmm, it seems like it's been a long time since I've eaten at a restaurant. I think this is a good idea."

The three ladies made their decision, and the men could only remain silent. Everyone got into the car and headed back to Fengtian. The three girls rode together in Xiao Wei's car, while Xia Maosheng and Xinghai Liuliu rode together in Chen Hui's car.

While waiting for Chen Hui and Xiao Wei, Xia Maosheng had already chatted with Xing Hai and Liu Liu. Chen Hui was also very talkative, so the four of them chatted and laughed together while smoking. Now that the weather was warm, they didn't have to worry about the car smelling bad as they smoked with the windows open.

"Selling clothes and shoes, the key is all in the stocking. You have to observe the trends in Shih Hsing and analyze what will sell well, understand? When stocking, you have to talk to the boss and agree to buy from him regularly, but only a small amount can be returned or exchanged. They usually agree to that. That way, if there are any leftover stock, you can bring it back and exchange it for something that sells well." Xia Maosheng explained his business philosophy to Xinghai and Liu Liu.

Chen Hui laughed and teased, "You're making it sound like you did it yourself. Are you even right?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Damn, you look down on me? I may not have done it, but my sister has. Before selling stationery, my sister sold clothes. I hang out in her shop every day, don't you think I understand?"

Xinghai asked, "Will they replace it? What if it's hard to sell after the replacement?"

Xia Maosheng said, "It's different. Just because this doesn't sell well here doesn't mean it won't sell well elsewhere. People from several provinces, big and small, source their goods from Wu'ai and Nanta. The wholesalers there don't have to worry about it."

Chen Hui said, "Stock more women's items. Men's items don't sell as well as women's items. I just walked around inside and noticed that women's clothes and shoes had the most people around them. Women are in charge of the money."

(End of this chapter)