Chapter 8: Volvo in Development
Events:
In 1882, negotiations were held in Vienna between Germany, Austria and Italy, and on May 20 of the same year, the Treaty of the Triple Alliance was signed, marking the formation of the Triple Alliance.
September 30 - Begins operation of the world's first hydroelectric power plant (the dam on the Fox River in Epboton, Wisconsin is the site of the world's first hydroelectric power plant).
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On January 14, Ferdinand convened a meeting on industrial development planning.
The conference included not only the new industries established by Ferdinand, but also the heads of the traditional industries of the Kohali family.
Mainly Ferdinand found that many traditional industries still have great potential. In his planning, there are many places where there is a connection and can complement each other.
For example, like many nobles, the Kohali family had their own wine estate, which was dedicated to their family.
Fiferdinand usually drinks a little bit of it himself, and it tastes very good. He felt that it was a waste, just serving a few people in his own family, raising a large group of people, it was too wasteful.
It is completely possible to scale up and sell to the market. Even if the production is expanded and the taste is reduced, as long as it is not less than the big road goods on the market, he can sell it.
For example, the wheat and potatoes produced on the farm can no longer be sold from this year, and their own factories can completely digest them.
There are also cattle and sheep from the pasture, and you can build a slaughterhouse by yourself and send them to the supermarket to sell.
For example, you can set aside a piece of land near your own city to grow vegetables, produce and sell your own vegetables, and so on.
The pomp and circumstance of the great European aristocracy is often beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Just like Ferdinand now, there are more than a dozen exclusive maids, and there is a team of chefs who are no less than five-star hotels in later generations, and they can cook any Italian, French, Indian and other cuisines of more than a dozen countries.
In the castle where they lived, there were no less than 300 guards and servants. The clothes he wears are kept by a special tailor who serves him alone. There are seven or eight luxury carriages for their own use.
The milk he drinks has his own special pasture, and the best quality cows are selected for him alone. There are also standard wine estates, where only the best quality grapes are used.
Of course, his pomp is nothing, and Princess Clementina's style is big, which is completely in line with her status as a French princess.
Anyway, the Kohali family's income, in addition to the necessary expenses, is no less than 100,000 pounds a year, which is spent on their pomp, and this fee is still rising year by year.
This is also the source of the transformation of the big aristocracy into the big capitalists, and the income of the traditional industry can no longer meet their rising consumer demand.
Ferdinand hated these bad habits and was eager to change them, and as for whether he would lose the face of the nobles, he said that he would wear a waistcoat.
Ferdinand had no intention of challenging the aristocracy, the ass decided the head, and he was the beneficiary himself. On the surface, Ferdinand was still a loyal supporter of the aristocratic system, and the pomp and circumstance that should have remained unchanged have not changed, and at most the maid was made a part-time secretary.
At the same time as Ferdinand's restructuring of the industry, the Viennese retail scene was also changing. Squeezed by Volvo, many grocery stores have lost their profits, and the capitalists behind the scenes have transformed into the supermarket industry.
Beginning in February, a department store called Tinker Bell opened, breaking Volvo's monopoly and starting a hundred schools of thought in the retail industry.
Until October, Vienna, an international metropolis, opened more than 80 new department stores and supermarkets.
At the beginning, everyone chose a location, and they all kept a certain distance, deliberately avoiding short-handed encounters. Although there is competition between each other, they get along harmoniously, and everyone's profits are gone.
However, after entering 1883, rising stars sprung up one after another, and they could no longer be avoided. In some areas, there are seven or eight department stores and supermarkets on a single street, and some supermarkets are directly door-to-door and directly grab business.
Since the supermarket industry has no technical content, capital is rushing. By the end of 1883, Vienna had a density of supermarkets comparable to that of later generations.
The brutal competition began, all kinds of means emerged in an endless stream, the price war was naturally the first choice, the street was full of discount advertisements, and everyone's good life was over.
Volvo is the industry hegemon, with stores in cities large and small in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as in Germany and Italy. Despite the impact, the Vienna store remained profitable.
It was not until 1884 that the department store announced its reorganization in March, and the department store giant officially entered the supermarket field.
Ferdinand was very surprised, the cruel competition in the Vienna supermarket field, he did not add to the trouble, the purpose is to scare off some big capitalists to enter the market.
It was also successful before, and although Volvo's stores in Vienna were hit, in other cities, the relatively conservative capitalists were stopped by this. Volvo's losses in Vienna have been doubled in other cities.
Ferdinand still knows the background of the Cotter Fly department store very well, and the Kohali family is one of the big consortiums of the Kingdom of Hungary behind the scenes.
Since the dominant group is the Hungarian ~ capitalist interest group engaged in the flour milling industry. Although Ferdinand also had flour mills, most of them were self-produced and sold, so he usually didn't pay much attention to this aspect of the situation, and this time he was caught off guard.
Ferdinand, who reacted, immediately used his family connections to figure out the ins and outs.
Due to the rapid expansion of Volvo, it has accounted for an increasing proportion of the retail industry, and the Shuanghui flour mill has naturally followed the rising tide, and its market share has continued to grow.
The sales of Hungarian flour in Austria-Hungary plummeted, and the capitalists engaged in the flour industry could not sit still. If Ferdinand were an ordinary person, he could have found a way to bring him to his knees, or send him to God.
But Ferdinand was also a great Hungarian nobleman, and it belonged to internal competition, and many means could not be used. Except for these capitalists, who have suffered from the pain, others have watched from the sidelines.
Yu is to support the entry of the Kortefir department store, change the situation of Volvo's dominance in the retail industry, and also force Ferdinand to make concessions.
Ferdinand was relieved that as long as it wasn't the meaning of the entire Hungarian consortium, then he wouldn't be afraid of a single department store.
And the news came so quickly, and it clearly revealed that it could be said that it could be reconciled, indicating that the other party did not intend to fight with him.
This incident also taught Ferdinand a lesson, and it was necessary to strengthen the construction of intelligence work. The traverser is not omnipotent, if he usually pays more attention to these old family relationships, it is estimated that the two sides have already made peace, and this incident will not happen.