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

Joy, the VIP manager of Citigroup's industry, had already been prepared and replied: "In these consecutive quarters, Walmart's performance has been very good, the increase is very considerable, their shares have attracted the attention of many investors, and some have already started, which has caused an increase in our acquisition costs, but fortunately, these investors are relatively cautious, and are still waiting for the fourth quarter report, we can reach the set target of 10% before that." ”

"Wal-Mart's stock has risen like this during this time, and it's normal for Wall Street to be able to find out." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

Wall Street investors are not stupid, Wal-Mart was small before, and it didn't attract much attention, but as time went on, the company's performance could rise by 40 or 50 percent every year, and anyone would find this star, especially the economic crisis after the oil crisis, which hit almost all industries, which naturally made Wal-Mart stand out from the crowd.

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

Joy continued: "According to the law, listed companies need to report the financial results of the previous quarter within two months, that is, Walmart will release its financial results by the end of February at the latest, which should be a good figure according to the previous trend." ”

"Then fight again, buy the stock to 10%, and that's about it." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said that for a family business, being able to obtain 10% of the other party's shares is basically the limit, if it were not for Wal-Mart's 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 stage of his career.

"Okay, then I'll complete the rest of the stock acquisition within two months, just because you're not in the U.S., and I'll contact you at night for many special times." 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 shouldn't be disturbed often, and besides, it will be over in two months at most.

Joy paused and asked, "Mr. Chen, do you need to invest in other stocks after Walmart acquires the target?" Or the Exchange Fund? ”

"Not for the time being, just maintain the balance of Walmart." Chen Zhiwen said lightly, the current U.S. stock market, he is basically not familiar with it, investing in Wal-Mart, also because it is one of the few companies established in the 60s to rise in the 90s, and it is also a company that has been listed, and there are some others, but they are not listed, if you want to start, you have to pick an opportunity, besides, he attaches more importance to the possible cooperation with Wal-Mart, and profits in this investment are secondary, after all, the electronic age is coming soon, find a few to invest in 10% can easily get a return that is no less than investing in Walmart.

In Chen Zhiwen's view, investment is secondary, your own career is the most important, the purpose of investment is also to have more capital to develop your own business in the future, in the simplest terms, similar to Samsung's counter-cyclical price war, without a large amount of capital, you can't play at all.

"Okay, Mr. Chen." Joey was a little disappointed, although Chen Zhiwen used leverage in Citi, but Walmart's stock has been relatively strong recently, which is already a very good financial collateral, as long as Chen Zhiwen is willing, he can still continue to mortgage to obtain funds.

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 Citi again." ”

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

After coming out of Citi, Chen Zhiwen went to the most famous Twin Towers, stayed in a five-star hotel for one night, enjoyed the daily life of the wealthy in Europe and the United States, and returned to the Costco supermarket in Los Angeles again.

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

"You're a fast member, 1000 a week?" Chen Zhiwen asked with some surprise.

"This is the early stage, it can't be so fast in the future, if I can stabilize 300 new members a week in the future, I can die happily." Pierce said with a smile.

"There are millions of families in Los Angeles, and there is still a lot of room for growth." Chen Zhiwen laughed, although he knew that it was a little unrealistic, he could still fantasize about it.

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

A supermarket has a turnover of 20 million US dollars a year, which may be nothing in the future, but in this era, it is very amazing, but it is very difficult to have 35,000 members, although there are millions of families in Los Angeles, but if you remove the very rich and very poor, there may be half left, and a city is flat, a supermarket can only cover a certain range, even if Costco's business model is to buy enough goods at one time, so that users don't care too much about the distance, But it can only cover a certain area of people around, and no matter how good the price is, it will be 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 with some surprise.

"It must be fast, the procurement cost of a supermarket is too high, only if we have a large number of supermarkets and a large purchase volume, can we reduce the procurement cost." Pierce said. He knew that the boss was rich, and he was also old, so he naturally liked to expand quickly.

"In which city are you going to open a new store?" Chen Zhiwen nodded in agreement, the size of the supermarket is very important, only the number of more can have enough advantages to reduce costs, although Costco's model has reduced the SKU and increased the number of single product purchases, but the purchase volume of a supermarket is still too small, only the number of large, can really reduce the cost to the extreme.

"San Francisco." "San Francisco's economy is second to that of Los Angeles, and its population is large, so it's close to Los Angeles, which makes it easy for us to move our goods, and it's close to the port for easy shipping, so it's the best choice for us," Pierce said. ”

"Okay, that's still the same as Los Angeles, looking for a suitable location in the suburbs, and then self-sustaining, simple renovation, you can contact the previous supplier to 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, and the more it expands, the lower the operating costs in the future.

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

"Then set a location and send me all kinds of materials by air." Chen Zhiwen said that one of the advantages of acquiring Fedmart is that it undertakes almost all the suppliers, which can be directly quoted when opening a new store, and at the same time, it can also withhold the payment for a period of time like other supermarkets.

"Another point is that Costco needs to recruit or train a lot of people with retail experience, otherwise, it will become a big problem to open new stores quickly in the future." Pierce said.

"It's up to you to decide, just give me a plan, and I support people is the most important thing." Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed, in the original history, when Wal-Mart entered the rapid expansion, talent became a very headache, which will be encountered in many rapidly expanding enterprises, Chen Zhiwen naturally needs to be prepared in the early stage.

(End of chapter)