The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Joy, at this rate, how long will it take to acquire 10%?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Joey, the VIP manager of Citigroup, had already prepared, and replied: "In the past few consecutive quarters, Wal-Mart's performance has been very good, and the growth rate has been very impressive. Their stocks have attracted the attention of many investors, and some have already This has caused an increase in our acquisition costs, but fortunately these investors are relatively cautious and are still waiting for the fourth quarter report, and we can reach the established target of 10% before then.”

"Wal-Mart's stock has risen so much during this period, it's normal for Wall Street to find out." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Investors on Wall Street are not fools. In the past, Wal-Mart was small and did not attract much attention. However, with the passage of time, the performance of this company has increased by 40 to 50% every year. Anyone will find this star. Especially the economic crisis after the oil crisis hit almost all industries, which naturally makes Wal-Mart stand out from the crowd.

It's just that for ordinary investments, when the risk is not high, Wall Street's response will not be so quick. They need to wait until a very good trend appears before they may start. And for this group of hungry wolves, they prefer to rely on Using leverage to make short-term profits in the financial market, long-term holding is not their favorite dish.

Joey went on to say: "According to the law, listed companies need to announce the financial situation of the previous quarter within two months, that is to say, Wal-Mart will announce its financial report by the end of February at the latest. According to the previous trend, it should be a Good data."

"Then work harder and acquire 10% of the stock, that's about it." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, for a family business, getting 10% of the other party's shares is basically the limit, if it weren't for Wal-Mart The future rate of return is too high, and in line with his strategic layout, it is impossible for him to invest so much money in the early stages of his career.

"Okay, then I will complete the remaining stock purchases within two months, just because you are not in the United States, I will contact you at night on many special occasions." Joey said.

"Yes, you know my phone number in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this is the time cost of cross-border investment, but fortunately, as long as you set your own needs, you should not be disturbed often. end of month.

Joey paused and asked again: "Mr. Chen, after Wal-Mart acquires the target, do you still need to invest in other stocks? Or foreign exchange funds?"

"I don't need it for the time being, just maintain the balance of Wal-Mart." Chen Zhiwen said lightly. He is basically not familiar with the current US stock market. There are some other companies that have been listed, but they are not listed. If you want to start, you have to pick an opportunity. Besides, he pays more attention to the possible cooperation with Wal-Mart, and the profit in this investment is secondary. After all, the electronic age is coming soon, and you can easily get a return no less than investing in Wal-Mart if you find a few companies and invest 10%.

In Chen Zhiwen's view, investment is secondary, and his own business is the most important. The purpose of investment is also to have more capital to develop his own business in the future. To put it simply, it is similar to Samsung's counter-cyclical price war. Without a large amount of capital, it is impossible to continue playing.

"Okay, Mr. Chen." Joey was a little disappointed. Although Chen Zhiwen used leverage in Citigroup, Wal-Mart's stock has been relatively strong recently. This is already a very good financial collateral. As long as Chen Zhiwen is willing, he can still continue to mortgage to obtain funds of.

Chen Zhiwen saw what he meant, and said with a smile: "If there is a demand in the future, I will consider taking a loan from Citigroup again."

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Joey said with a smile.

After leaving Citigroup, Chen Zhiwen made a special trip to the most famous Twin Towers and stayed in a five-star hotel inside for one night. After enjoying the daily life of European and American rich people, he returned to Los Angeles once again. Many supermarkets.

Costco gained another 1,100 members during the week's departure period.

"Your membership is pretty fast, 1000 a week?" Chen Zhiwen asked in surprise.

"This is the early stage, and it's impossible to go so fast in the future. If I can stabilize 300 new members every week in the future, I will be so happy." Pierce said with a smile.

"With millions of families in Los Angeles, there is still a lot of room for improvement." Chen Zhiwen laughed. Although he knew it was unrealistic, he could still imagine it.

Costco's membership business model determines that once you become a member user, you will place most of your family's daily necessities and food purchases in Costco. According to estimates, a membership card can bring an average of 600 yuan. The annual turnover in US dollars, as long as the number of members reaches 35,000, the annual turnover can be as high as 20 million US dollars.

A supermarket with an annual turnover of 20 million US dollars may be nothing in later generations, but in this era, it is very amazing, but it is very difficult to have 35,000 members. Although there are millions of households in Los Angeles, removing The very rich and the very poor may only have half of the remaining, and a city is flat, and a supermarket can only cover a certain area. Even Costco’s business model is that it can buy enough goods at one time, so that users I don't care much about the distance, but it can only cover a certain area of ​​people around. No matter how favorable the price is, it is difficult for people to drive from the opposite side of the city to buy things.

"Mr. Chen, I want to open a second store." Pierce said.

"So fast?" Chen Zhiwen asked in surprise.

"It must be fast. The procurement cost of a supermarket is too high. Only when we have a large number of supermarkets and a large procurement volume can we reduce the procurement cost." Pierce said. He knows that the boss is rich, and he is also old, so he naturally likes to expand rapidly.

"Then which city are you going to open a new store in?" Chen Zhiwen nodded in agreement. The scale of the supermarket is very important. Only a large number can have enough advantages to keep costs down. Although Costco's model has reduced SKUs and increased The purchase quantity of a single product, but the purchase quantity of a supermarket is still too small, only a large quantity can truly reduce the cost to the extreme.

"San Francisco." Pierce said: "San Francisco's economy is second to that of Los Angeles, and it has a large population. It is close to Los Angeles, which is convenient for our cargo turnover and transportation. It is also close to the port, which is convenient for sea transportation. It is our best choice."

"Okay, it's still the same as Los Angeles. Find a suitable location in the suburbs, then hold it yourself, and simply decorate it, then you can contact the previous supplier for supply." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, the trend in Los Angeles is good, although it is still losing money, But as long as the business model is successful, it will naturally expand. The more you expand, the lower your operating costs will be in the future.

"No problem. In this case, the investment is mainly in the property, and the payment can be defaulted first." Pierce said with a smile.

"Then fix the location and send me all the materials by air." Chen Zhiwen said, one of the advantages of acquiring fedmart is that it has almost all the suppliers, which can be directly quoted when opening a new store, and at the same time, it can be the same as other supermarkets Seize the payment for a period of time, if not, start a business and open Costco directly, the choice of suppliers and the payment for goods will cost him a huge cost.

"Another point is that Costco needs to recruit or train a large number of talents with retail experience. Otherwise, it will open new stores quickly in the future, and personnel will become a big problem." Pierce said.

"It's up to you to decide. Just give me a plan. The most important thing is that I also support people." Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed. In the original history, when Wal-Mart entered into rapid expansion, talent became a very headache. Many fast-expanding companies will encounter such problems, and Chen Zhiwen naturally needs to make preparations in the early stage.