In the whole of Hong Kong, there are many famous century-old enterprises, such as the four major foreign companies and HSBC, but when it comes to the oldest and still existing company in Hong Kong, Watsons is definitely a well-deserved first place.

Founded in 1828, A.S. Watson has become one of the most famous brands in Hong Kong, from its humble beginnings as a distilled water factory to a retail giant throughout Hong Kong.

Hutchison's major shareholder's intention to privatize Watsons did cause dissatisfaction among many Xiangjiang shareholders, and although Xu Zhi's price was very fair, Hutchison's share price inevitably fell.

Two weeks later, Xu Zhi successfully took over Watsons, fully 100% control, and Hutchison Whampoa also received 1.3 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash from Xu Zhi.

Although the shareholding changed hands, there was no change in personnel for Watsons and Hutchisons, Ma Shimin still managed the entire Watsons, and there was no change in the management of Watsons.

"How did you feel about going to Japan?" he asked with a smile.

"It's not bad, just a few blocks around the Tokyo neighborhood, I found four or five 7-Elevens, and this density does have a strong monopoly power after it becomes a scale. Ma Shimin nodded and replied that for Watson's next large-scale project, he personally went to Japan, mainly to inspect the operation of 7-11 in Japan.

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Convenience stores win by volume, and when the scale is large enough and the purchase volume comes up, the profits will naturally go up."

However, one thing to note is that we adopt the franchise model, although we want to make money from the franchisee, but don't kill the chicken and take the eggs, what I want is for both parties to make profits together and develop together. ”

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

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 for this business at the Bank of East Asia, and Evergrande will also have corresponding cooperation in store search and decoration." ”

"If you have these helps, you can really reduce the cost of joining. Ma Shimin nodded and smiled.

"Also, I opened a new account with the Bank of East Asia, which has HK$300 million, of which 100 million is for the expansion of the convenience store business and the other 200 million is for PARKnSHOP," Xu said. ”

"PARKnSHOP Supermarket?" Ma Shimin asked with some incomprehension: "Chairman, now a large number of supermarkets in Xiangjiang have basically covered most of Xiangjiang, and if you continue to expand, it is easy to get too close to other supermarkets, and you can only choose some remote areas, if you invest in these places now, it may not be cost-effective for the time being." ”

"This money isn't for you to expand. Xu Zhi smiled and said: "Although we can't buy Wellcome, but in addition to Wellcome and our Parknshop, there are two or three hundred supermarkets in the whole Xiangjiang, some of which are several chains, some are held separately, and some are brands from Japan and Southeast Asian countries. ”

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

Xu Zhi shook his head and smiled: "No, although I want to buy these supermarkets, but if the negotiation one by one, the process is too troublesome, and it is easy to leak the news, once other supermarkets know the news, even if they are willing to be acquired, it is estimated that they will sit on the ground and raise the price, so it is the stupidest behavior to go directly to the acquisition one by one." ”

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

Xu Zhi said with a smile: "A few days ago, because of some things about the Hilton Hotel, I made an appointment with Bao Fuda, the general manager of Hongkong Land, and jokingly stated that he wanted to buy Wellcome Supermarket, but he refused, but Bao Fuda's words reminded me, he said that Wellcome's business is very good, and Hongkong Land has no intention of selling.

Of course, the benefits are good, I will not sell, I will also have such an idea, other supermarkets are the same, now the economy of Xiangjiang is not bad, some citizens have more cash in their hands, the supermarket business is naturally good.

So whether you want to buy Wellcome or other supermarkets, the only way to get it done smoothly is to make their business worse.

"Business is going bad?" Ma Shimin was stunned for a moment and said, "What does the chairman mean?"

Xu Zhi smiled, didn't answer directly, and asked again: "What is the current gross profit margin of Wellcome Supermarket?"

"About 40%, which is the average gross profit margin of most goods, some common necessities such as rice and eggs are a little lower, and vegetables and meat will be a little higher. Ma replied that the retail business used to be Hutchison's main business, and he knew this aspect inside out.

"40%, not bad. Xu Zhi nodded and said, in later generations Wal-Mart and other supermarkets, the gross profit margin is generally controlled between 20-25%, but that is because of the control of Internet big data, and in the 80s, the general gross profit margin of supermarkets in Western countries was about 30%.

As for Xiangjiang, of course, it will be much higher, one is because the rent is expensive, and the second is that there is a certain monopoly factor.

As for cheap products such as rice and eggs, they are used to attract customers, and everyone must buy staple foods, so supermarkets need to rely on this to attract customers.

After customers come, many people will go shopping, as long as they have enough funds in their wallets, or dare to spend, then they will naturally buy some non-essential goods, such as snacks and FMCG, but these are actually the real sources of profit for supermarkets.

Xu Zhi continued: "There are a lot of rich people in Xiangjiang, but for ordinary people, the average salary in Xiangjiang has not increased compared to housing prices over the years, and prices have also kept up with the rhythm of housing prices. ”

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

"Yes, these supermarkets are not listed companies, and we can't make acquisitions according to the traditional method, so we can only negotiate one by one. Xu Zhi smiled and said: "So, the only way is to fight with them for funds, let them lose money for several years in a row, and then we will naturally acquire it again." ”

"How many years?" Ma Shimin frowned and said: "Chairman, if this price war lasts for a few years, I'm afraid 200 million may not be enough! ”

"If the funds are not enough, I will inject funds, and as for the land, you don't have to worry. Xu Zhi smiled and said, in fact, 200 million yuan is enough, because as long as the Sino-British negotiations open in another year, the real estate economy of Xiangjiang will collapse completely, 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 the price war by Parknshop, and then encounter the economic crisis, not to mention these stragglers, even if they buy land, they have to kneel.

"Then what is the discount for our first step?" Ma Shimin nodded and asked, since Xu Zhi, the boss, had already made up his mind, he had no other opinions.

Now Watsons is already a privately held enterprise, and it is not bad for funds, and it is the best time for him, the general manager, to expand his influence by burning money to expand the market at this moment.

Xu Zhi thought for a while and said: "The first step doesn't need to be too big, just start with 95% off, all products will be discounted, and TVB will also follow the advertisement."

When other supermarkets follow suit, we'll drop it one step further, to 9% off. ”

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