Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 905 Warehouse

A sudden burst of fire.

After the grand opening ceremony concluded successfully and the leaders and guests departed, the stage was handed over to the event planning company. Following this, there were song and dance performances and a lucky draw. Then, the Sanhao store officially opened for business. Some students from Northeast Institute of Technology, wearing shirts printed with the Fuyingmen logo, distributed flyers outside.

In fact, there's no need to hand out any flyers at all. Ordinary people don't even look at them, and they don't even care what you're selling.

In the early 90s, ordinary people had very little leisure time. They mainly went shopping in malls and then to parks. People couldn't go to parks every day, and shopping malls were not a big deal. This was a consequence of decades of scarcity.

The moment the door opened, the store was packed, and there were still huge crowds of people squeezing in from outside.

The biggest difference between supermarkets and shopping malls is that supermarkets have a larger capacity, but people also spend more time there. They look at this and that, touch it, pick and choose, and time flies by. In those days, shopping malls were often packed with people, but they had counters, so people could only be pushed forward.

Fortunately, most of the shops here are old establishments from the trade city, used to such large crowds, and they weren't flustered at all. If they were newcomers, they would probably have run into big trouble. Also, there were more staff on duty today, and the manager immediately made adjustments as soon as he saw the situation, asking the police officers from the local police station who hadn't left yet to help guard the entrance and limit the flow of people.

There were no shopping carts yet, only baskets. They operated on a basket-by-basket basis; when they ran out of baskets, they limited entry. They'd move in groups of a few dozen people as they came out, and two male employees were assigned to search for baskets. The rest of the employees, except those at the checkout, were scattered throughout the supermarket, using megaphones to guide customers and supervise. Did they really think people wouldn't steal at this hour?

People of this era are simple, kind, warm-hearted, and have a strong sense of justice, but they are also generally calculating, fond of taking advantage of others, and love to join in the fun. These are the marks of the times.

"Please keep your distance and do not crowd in one direction. The shelves are not fixed; if you knock them over, you will be liable for the damage."

"Please don't join the crowd if you don't need to buy anything. There are too many people today. We're open every day, so you'll have plenty of time to browse later."

"Don't push! I'm talking to you! Can't you at least look after the elderly women? What are you doing getting involved in the cosmetics industry, a grown man like you?"

"Hey kid, you really went for it! You have to buy it before you can eat it. Watch your child, you'll be fined if you take it. Look up, do you see that? It's a security camera. Every move you make here is being recorded over there. There are police watching you."

Several police officers who were walking around the supermarket chimed in, "Keep an eye on your kids. Even if they take something, it's still stealing. Don't think it's too much trouble because there are so many people around. There are security cameras. If I see you on the footage and find your house, it won't look good for anyone." They pointed to a wall on the side.

The wall was now projecting a picture of the bustling supermarket interior. It was a re-projection of CCTV footage. With the place so crowded, no one was paying attention to whether it was real-time or not. Besides, nobody knew anything about it. As soon as they saw that there was a video, some people quietly put their things back.

People slowly walked out, the entrance was blocked, and the supermarket gradually emptied out. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Theft was inevitable, but this was anticipated; most of the items were loose candies or similar goods, and no one dared to take anything large.

The staff immediately organized the shelves and replenished the goods. The prices here are cheaper than in the mall, and daily necessities such as rice, flour, oil, sugar, and other household goods sell very quickly.

After the first wave of people passed, the cashiers were exhausted, their hands were cramping. The manager immediately arranged for replacements, saying there were too many people today and they could use whoever they wanted.

At this time, there was no card swiping or QR code scanning; it was all cash. The money was counted and change was given manually. The cashier, which was supposed to be staffed by two people, was now staffed by three and they were exhausted.

The manager mentally calculated the speed of the cash collection, then ran to the entrance and spoke with the security staff and the police officers who were temporarily helping out, explaining the number and speed of people to be released. With the help of multiple departments, order was gradually restored in the supermarket.

The situation was similar at the Liaoning University store; students were more inclined to join in the fun, but their basic manners were generally better than those of ordinary citizens. The student union also came to help, so it wasn't as chaotic as the Sanhao area. Many local residents were also attracted, making it a successful start.

There were quite a few people at the old man's shop, but Xiao Wei arranged for his students to help out early on and notified the factory employees not to go and join the crowd, which prevented any trouble.

Those in business in this era are well aware of crowds. Department stores are always this crowded; just look at the massive reinforced racks on the counters in joint ventures and trade cities. Beneath each of these racks, there have been several counters that collapsed from the crush.

……

After seeing off the leaders and guests, Xiaowei and Chen Hui returned to the company. They stood by the roadside for a while and watched the old man's convenience store, but there were too many people, so they didn't go over and went straight upstairs.

The secretary made tea for him, and Xiaowei sat on the sofa and said to Chen Hui, "I feel that we need to build a dedicated warehouse. Shopping malls, supermarkets, and convenience stores all need a large warehouse. Why don't we find a place to build a big one?" Right now, all the goods are piled up in the empty floors downstairs, taking up six floors, mainly because there are too many kinds and too many small items.

Chen Hui said, "Why don't we just build it in Liguan Lane? That area is already a garage, and there will be motorcycles and bicycles there in the future. Let's just build the whole warehouse there and make it big."

Xiao Wei asked, "Isn't it too remote?"

Chen Hui said, "The Commerce Bureau's warehouse is in Minglian, not far away. It's not like you can just carry it by car. The traffic here is much better than there, at least it's spacious, and big trucks can drive around freely. You haven't been there, those narrow alleys, the illegal buildings are like a honeycomb, even a small loaf of bread would take a while to get out."

Xiao Wei said, "It's not as exaggerated as you say. Okay, then let's go with Li Guan. How big will it be? How will it be built?"

Chen Hui said, "Let's find Lao Cheng. He's experienced and shrewd, and he'll think things through more thoroughly than we do. But I still suggest we go for a bigger one. Even if we leave one section empty first, we can build a large courtyard. We can build residential buildings on the four sides, and put the staircase outside the courtyard. We can also build a row of shops around the outside."

He casually picked up a piece of paper, sketched a few lines on it with a ballpoint pen, and drew a rough draft.

A large, square courtyard is divided into several areas for storing different items, with wide, crisscrossing roads in the middle that allow large vehicles to pass through. A light industrial goods warehouse forms the perimeter wall, above which residential buildings are built, with parapet walls on both sides. One side of the wall is slightly higher to block the view, while the other side is lower and allows a view of what's below.

(End of this chapter)