Reborn Tycoon Rise

Throughout Xiangjiang, there are many famous century-old companies, such as the four major foreign banks and HSBC, but when it comes to the company with the longest history and still existing in Xiangjiang, Watsons is definitely the well-deserved number one.

Founded in 1828, Watsons has grown from a distilled water manufacturing factory to a retail giant now spread across Hong Kong. Watsons has become one of the most famous brands in Hong Kong.

Hutchison Whampoa's major shareholder's intention to privatize Watsons did arouse the dissatisfaction of many Xiangjiang shareholders. Although the price given by Xu Zhi was very fair, Hutchison Whampoa's stock price inevitably fell.

Two weeks later, Xu Zhi successfully took over Watsons and became a 100% controlling shareholder. Hutchison Whampoa also received the HK$1.3 billion in cash provided by Xu Zhi.

Although the shares have changed hands, there have been no changes in personnel for Watsons and Hutchison. Ma Shimin still manages the entire Watsons, and there have been no changes in Watsons' management.

"You went to Japan, how did you feel?" he asked with a smile.

"It's not bad. I just walked around a few blocks in Tokyo and found four or five 7-11s. This kind of density does have a strong monopoly power when it becomes large." Ma Shimin nodded and replied, for the sake of Watsons For a large-scale project, he personally went to Japan, mainly to inspect 7-11’s operations in Japan.

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Convenience stores win by quantity. When the scale is large enough and the purchase volume increases, the profits will naturally increase.

But one thing to note is that we adopt a franchise model. Although we want to make money from franchisees, we must not kill the goose that lays the goose to get the eggs. What I want is for both parties to profit and develop together. "

Ma Shimin nodded and smiled: "Don't worry, Chairman, I understand this."

Xu Zhidao: "Okay, the convenience store plan is a very important layout. I have asked Yuan Tianfan to set up a low-interest loan service specifically for this business at the Bank of East Asia. As for store search and decoration, Evergrande Company will also have corresponding support. cooperate."

"With this help, the cost of joining can indeed be reduced." Ma Shimin nodded and smiled.

Xu Zhi said: "Also, I opened a new account at the Bank of East Asia, with 300 million Hong Kong dollars in it, of which 100 million is prepared for the expansion of the convenience store business, and the other 200 million is for Parknshop Supermarket."

"Parknjia Supermarket?" Ma Shimin asked with some confusion: "Chairman, now a large number of supermarkets in Xiangjiang have basically covered most areas of Xiangjiang. If we continue to expand, it will be easy to get too close to other supermarkets. In addition, Outside of China, we can only choose some remote areas. If we invest in these places now, it may not be cost-effective for the time being."

"This fund is not for you to expand." Xu Zhi smiled and said: "Although we can't acquire Wellcome, there are still two to three hundred supermarkets in Xiangjiang in addition to Wellcome and our Parknshop. Some are owned by several chains, some are held individually, and some are brands from Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Although the scales vary, these combined can have a considerable market share."

Ma Shimin asked: "Then the 200 million Hong Kong dollars are intended to acquire these supermarkets?"

Xu Zhi shook his head and smiled: "No, although I want to acquire these supermarkets, if we negotiate one by one, the process will be too troublesome, and it is easy for the news to leak. Once other supermarkets know the news, even if they are willing to be acquired, they will probably sit on the ground. The price is high, so it is the stupidest behavior to just go and buy them one by one.”

Ma Shimin nodded and asked, "What does the chairman mean?"

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "A few days ago, because of some matters related to the Hilton Hotel, I made an appointment with Bao Fuda, the general manager of Landmark, and jokingly stated that he wanted to acquire Wellcome Supermarket, but he refused. However, Bao Fuda's words reminded me , he said that Wellcome Supermarket’s business was very good and Land had no intention of selling it.

Of course I won't sell it if it's profitable. I think the same thing. The same goes for other supermarkets. Now that Xiangjiang's economy is pretty good and some citizens have plenty of cash, the business of supermarkets is naturally good.

So whether you want to acquire Wellcome or other supermarkets, the only way to successfully complete it is to make their business worse.

"Business has deteriorated?" Ma Shimin was stunned for a moment and said, "What does the chairman mean?"

Xu Zhi smiled, did not answer directly, and asked: "What is the current gross profit margin of Wellcome Supermarket?"

"About 40%, which is the average gross profit margin for most goods. Some commonly used items such as rice and eggs are a little lower, and vegetables and meat will be a little higher." Ma Shimin replied that retail business used to be Hutchison Whampoa's main business , he knows this aspect well.

"40% is not bad." Xu Zhi nodded and said. In later generations of supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, the gross profit margin was generally controlled between 20-25%, but that was because of the control of Internet big data. In the 1980s, Western countries The general gross profit margin of supermarkets is about 30%.

As for Xiangjiang, of course it will be much higher. One is because the rent is expensive, and the other is because there are certain monopoly factors.

As for cheap products such as rice and eggs, they are just used to attract customers to come and buy them. Everyone must buy staple food, so supermarkets need to rely on this to attract customers.

After customers come, many people will just browse around. As long as they have enough money in their wallets or dare to spend, they will naturally buy some non-necessities, such as snacks and fast-moving consumer goods, but these are actually the real source of profits for supermarkets.

Xu Zhi continued: "There are many rich people in Xiangjiang, but for ordinary people, the average salary in Xiangjiang has not increased as much as housing prices in recent years, but prices have also kept up with the pace of housing prices. The lives of many Xiangjiang citizens It’s not easy, so I plan to ask Parknshop Supermarket to conduct a large-scale promotion, and the 200 million cash is prepared for this.”

"Big promotion?" Ma Shimin also understood immediately and said: "What the chairman means is to have a price war with Wellcome Supermarket in Xiangjiang, and then completely eliminate all other supermarkets?"

"Yes, these supermarkets are not listed companies, and we cannot make acquisitions according to traditional methods. We can only go to negotiate one by one. Now that Xiangjiang's economy is good, it is obviously impossible to get them all to agree." Xu Zhixiao Liao Xiao said: "So, the only way is to compete with them for funds and make them lose money for several consecutive years. Then it will be natural for us to acquire them again."

"How many years?" Ma Shimin frowned and said, "Chairman, if this price war continues for several years, I'm afraid 200 million may not be enough! And I'm worried that the amount of funds on Land's side will not be lower than ours. "

"If the funds are not enough, I will inject more capital. As for Land, you don't have to worry." Xu Zhi smiled and said, in fact, 200 million funds are enough, because as long as the Sino-British negotiations start in another year, Xiangjiang's real estate economy will There will be a total collapse, which will naturally affect the retail industry.

Whether it is Wellcome or other supermarkets, according to the plan, in the year before the economic crisis, they will be dragged into the shadow of price war by Parknshop. When encountering the economic crisis again, let alone these stragglers, even Land Land will have to kneel down.

"Then what's the discount for our first step?" Ma Shimin nodded and asked. Since Xu Zhi, the boss, has made up his mind, he has no other opinions.

Nowadays, Watsons is a fully privately held enterprise, and it is not short of funds. At this moment, it is burning money to expand the market. For him, the general manager, it is also the best time to expand his influence.

Xu Zhi thought for a while and said: "There is no need to take the first step too big. Let's start with a 50% discount. All products will be discounted, and TVB TV stations will follow suit with advertising.

When other supermarkets catch up, we will lower the price one step further to 10% off. "

Ma Shimin nodded and said, "Okay, then I will go to Watsons immediately and hold a meeting to discuss this matter."