The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Don't worry too much about the money, it will be much better next year." Chen Zhiwen said after a pause.

"That's good. I'm planning to go to New York to choose a location after Christmas. If I can't keep up with the funding, I'll put it off for a while," Pierce said.

"No, the store opening plan on the east coast is proceeding normally." Chen Zhiwen said.

This year may be the most difficult year for the operation of so many companies under him. The main reason is Hutchison's acquisition, privatization and its huge debt problem. Financial pressure will be eased.

Red Bull will also begin to attack the European market next year with a strategic purpose, and Wal-Mart's stock will continue to rise, which will ease the mortgage debt ratio this year and release some credit loans.

Other types of investment are small investments, and even if they need to be spent, they will not cost much. That is to say, the main focus of next year must be the expansion of Costco, especially the expansion plan on the east coast. , the main wealth and economy of the United States are on the east coast.

"Actually, it's good to take it slow. Our expansion is too fast. Even if you have no problem with the funds, my staffing may not be able to keep up." After hesitating for a moment, Pierce said.

"Didn't we spend a lot of money on talent expansion and training before? Can't keep up with our expansion speed?" Chen Zhiwen asked with a frown. As early as a year ago, Pierce said that the number and quality of the company's team members would not keep up. Therefore, he specially allocated two million US dollars to hire a large number of experienced people from the supermarket counterparts, from the most ordinary salesperson to middle-level managers to high-level branch managers. As long as there are experienced and capable people Yes, for this reason, the dozen or so Costcos on the west coast have been deliberately kept operating with a number of people far exceeding the actual demand, just to ensure that when the new store opens, enough people can be mobilized to go there, and one more, from here Among the group of people, select the future store manager and branch executives, etc.

"It's spent, this is, this is the west coast, and the east coast needs to train a new batch of talents. In addition, considering the problem of the supply chain, the items from the suppliers on the west coast may not necessarily be sent to the east coast. It’s a good deal, so we also need to select suitable suppliers on the east coast, and this time may be about the same as cultivating relevant talents.” Pierce said.

"So, are you planning to expand slowly on the east coast?" Chen Zhiwen also understood what Pierce meant.

There is a long distance between the east and west coasts of the United States. If it is just a nearby city, even a nearby state, under the call of the company, or give some benefits, many people will naturally be willing to go to the new store. This may also be their opportunity.

But if you go to the east coast, thousands of kilometers away, this will make many people hesitate. Maybe you can find a group of people who are willing to go, but the number is definitely not as good as opening a branch on the west coast, so you need to pay attention to the east coast. , Slowly expand, and train relevant talents locally by the way.

As for the suppliers, it is true that some of the suppliers here may not be suitable for the east coast. Fortunately, the trading companies in Hong Kong will not be affected too much. They just need to change the port to go ashore, because the distance has become farther. There may be more shipping costs, but many industries in the United States use trucks for transportation. Even if there are trains, multiple transportations are required. In addition, there is no way to uniform transportation, and the logistics cost will increase seriously.

"Yes, now I have the foundation on the west coast, give me a year, I will open about 3-4 Costcos on the east coast, I also need to sum up the experience there, maybe it is different from the west coast, if it goes well If so, we can start to build more branches in the next year." Pierce analyzed.

"Okay, you've already said that, of course I agree." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, expanding too fast is indeed not good for the company's future. Since there is a shortage of talents due to the distance between the east and west coasts, then you might as well stop For a period of time, Costco can straighten out its own problems, find its own shortcomings, cultivate more talents, find more suitable suppliers, and so on.

Although Chen Zhiwen gave Costco not a lot of funds in the past two years, it was enough compared to ordinary supermarket chains. Compared with the initial development of Wal-Mart, it took ten years to expand and was still heavily in debt. Those who should spend money on investment had to delay due to funding problems. They did not get better until they obtained a large amount of funds after listing. Although Costco is a warehouse-style supermarket, the essence of its operations is similar. Chen Zhiwen's support in all aspects is equivalent to making Costco I just skipped the most difficult years in front of me, and I don’t have to worry about funding issues.

"It's mainly on the east coast. I haven't operated there. Many people's shopping habits may be different from those on the west coast. It's better to be cautious. However, the west coast can still continue to expand. We have to win first. A few nearby states, let the entire West Coast become our territory." Pierce said with a smile.

"That's naturally good, but don't worry too much. In the short term, no one will invest in our industry." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In the original history, Costco was the first warehouse-style supermarket in a broad sense. It was established in 1976. The second was the Sam’s Club under Wal-Mart. It was established in 1983. During this period, apart from the discerning Sam Walton, no one else found this potential star.

Although Sam Walton discovered Costco earlier, Chen Zhiwen, as a major shareholder of Wal-Mart, also knows about Wal-Mart's financial situation. All funds are tight for Wal-Mart's expansion, and there is no room for entering No matter how optimistic Walton is in the unfamiliar field of warehouse supermarkets, he has no ability to develop them. Besides, he is optimistic about the market, but it is impossible to guarantee that it will surpass the current development speed of Wal-Mart.

It may be possible to wait another six or seven years until Wal-Mart develops enough funds, but at that time, Costco will naturally gain a firm foothold in its own field. When all the megacities in the United States are occupied by Costco At that time, after obtaining a large number of local city members, it is very difficult for anyone to beat Costco in the same field.

Let’s not talk about whether the cost can be compared with Costco. The proportion of people who are willing to spend money to buy members in a city alone is not very high, and they have been developed into members by Costco, and their shopping habits have been eliminated. Cultivation, other similar supermarkets want to grab people? Even in the age of the Internet, it is difficult to do so.

But there is another possibility, because the current Costco is developing very fast. Although the financial situation has not been made public, it may attract some people's attention, but non-professionals want to beat Costco that has already entered the track The possibility is not as good as Wal-Mart, which will challenge itself a few years later.

"Then I can also experience the dominance of Celtic Supermarket." Pierce said with a smile.

Chen Zhiwen nodded and said: "Yes, sooner or later, we will become one of the overlords of the US retail business, but because of the limitation of warehouse supermarkets, it is impossible for us to build so many quantities. It’s not as good as a normal supermarket.”

"Being one of them is already very good, and I am very satisfied." Pierce said.

Chen Zhiwen shrugged and said: "No, no one will. Everyone has something to pursue. When we get to that position, we will pursue more."

"Hahaha, maybe, but it's also your era, boss. My biggest pursuit is to open Costco in every big city in the United States." Pierce said with a smile.

"Then you will also become the super rich in the United States." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. When he bought Fedmart from Pierce's team and hired them back to become the management of Costco, he promised that their entire team would get a certain amount of shares. Now, as more than two years have passed, Costco has developed very smoothly, and the Pierce team has also obtained 4% of the shares as promised.

It’s just that for development, Chen Zhiwen needs to inject capital multiple times, which will dilute their shareholding ratio. Today, the entire Pierce team still has 2.69% of the shares. Although it doesn’t seem like much, if Costco goes public in the future, these shares can be Easily turn into tons of USD cash.

"Choosing to follow you, boss, may be the most correct path in my life." Pierce said with a smile, following Chen Zhiwen, not only gained a huge amount of wealth, but also controlled a supermarket with such a large potential star, which for countless people , is unthinkable.

"The most correct choice for each other." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Without Pierce's team, even if Chen Zhiwen was stationed in the United States, he would not be able to build Costco. If so, he could only focus on acquiring Wal-Mart shares, or acquiring shares in European supermarkets.

It's a pity that several future retail giants in Europe developed earlier than Wal-Mart, and their scale is also larger than Wal-Mart, but their future potential is far inferior to Wal-Mart. More precious, and wouldn't choose to spend on them, maybe wait until 80 years from now to think about it.

Pierce went on to say: "Eric, for the development plan on the east coast, I plan to establish a branch in New York first. The area must be large enough, even larger than the one in Los Angeles, so that the New York branch will become our Costco's house number." storefront."

"Yes, you can handle this kind of thing yourself. New York's economy is much stronger than that of Los Angeles. It is also suitable for building a large supermarket. You should also prepare more parking spaces. Now there are more funds than before, more people, and more experience. There are many, we need to prepare a bigger branch." Chen Zhiwen naturally agrees with this idea.

"Then wait until the architectural drawings come out, and I'll send it to you by air." Pierce nodded and said.

In the past, when Costco expanded, it always focused on convenience. Sometimes it just took a fancy to a warehouse, bought it directly, and then remodeled it. Now it is different. It is basically self-made and has a unified architectural style.

"How far is the new logistics center from here?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"It's not very far, about 20 miles, but it's just been bought over there, and it's still a wasteland. Eric, do you want to go and see it?" Pierce asked.

"Go and have a look, there's nothing wrong anyway." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.