The main building of each supermarket must be no less than 5,000 square meters, and the parking lot must be larger, at least three times the size of the main building, and all parking lots are free.

For fruit and vegetable agricultural products, you can go to Kroc Agriculture Group. Their products cover almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits, rice, flour, grains, nuts, meat, seafood, and even flowers.

Other products include food, daily necessities, clothing, toys, various daily necessities, household appliances, cosmetics, firearms, and ammunition.

As for these merchants, Hardy's idea is to implement a contract-based franchising model for providing goods. With tens of thousands of suppliers, it is definitely a huge project to reduce profits and make customers feel that the products are cheap.

Hardy looked at the two presidents.

"Hunter, the logistics company will invest 5 million US dollars, and the 10,000 trucks will be yours. All the staff will be retired soldiers. The construction of the logistics company will be handed over to you. If you encounter any problems that cannot be solved in the process, please contact me."

"Okay, boss." Hunter agreed.

"Sam Walton, the supermarket chain will start with five stores, three in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. I hope it will be completed in a year and a half. The staff will also be veterans. As for the female cashiers, you can recruit them yourself."

"I understand boss."

Once things are arranged, Hardy just has to wait and see the results. If these people don't do a good job, he will replace them with another group of people. He knows that these two industries will have great development in the future, and the failure is only due to human factors.

And these two industries are about more than just making money.

Chain supermarkets are cash cows that can provide large amounts of cash, which can generally support merchants' funds for one to three months. Over time, this money can have a huge impact.

Moreover, by signing contracts with tens of thousands of merchants, he can control an extremely large industrial chain, which is also very important.

The last point is that his employees and customers are all his resources. With an industry that possesses such huge resources, even politicians have to be respectful to him.

The same is true for the logistics industry.

......

Major General Williams was working when the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up and a male voice came from inside, "Major General Williams, this is the White House Office. The President wants to talk to you."

Williams was stunned. The President was looking for him?

Unconsciously, my sitting posture became straighter.

Williams had met with President Johnson, who was nominally the highest commander of the armed forces. When a logistics meeting was held to discuss how to deal with the obsolete supplies, the president also attended the meeting, and Major General Williams was one of them.

At the end of the meeting, it was decided that Major General Williams would be in charge of handling this batch of supplies, and it was President Johnson who made the decision himself.

"Major General Williams." President Johnson's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello, Mr. President, I am Williams."

"I read the report you submitted. It said that you have sold more than 400 million US dollars worth of goods from the first half of this year to now. I am very surprised by this achievement. Major General Williams, you have done a great job." President Johnson praised.

"Thank you, Mr. President, for your compliment. This is what I should do," Williams said modestly.

"Can you tell me what method you used?" the president asked casually.

In fact, he didn't want to know how his subordinates did it, but he couldn't just say a few words over the phone.

"Mr. President, strictly speaking, we have to thank a company for this. In order to expand sales, we cooperated with a company and outsourced the sales tasks to them. They have been helping us with sales recently." Major General Williams said straightforwardly.

The president does not find it strange at all about business outsourcing. This is a tradition in the United States. The U.S. military buys all its weapons from weapons contractors, and it is also reasonable to find dealers to sell waste materials.

“Which company?”

"It's the Hardy Group."

Johnson had naturally heard of the Hardy Group. In the past two years, the Hardy Group had suddenly risen and in a short period of time had become a large group with assets exceeding one billion.

What people know most about ABC is not how much assets they have, but ABC TV. In just one year from its official launch to now, ABC TV has surpassed the other two major broadcasting companies and become the TV station with the highest ratings in the United States.

Together with the Global Times and their magazines, the Hardy Group has now become one of the largest media companies in the United States.

"Are you familiar with that Hardy?" President Johnson asked.

This was a bit difficult to answer. Williams thought for a while and said, "Yes, I have a good relationship with their boss, Jon Hardy. In fact, it was he who proposed the outsourcing of the sales of scrap materials. He said that professional matters should be left to professionals, and the logistics department is not a sales department, so it is better to outsource it.

After a meeting with my colleagues, we felt that he was right. This task might take up a lot of our energy, so we should find a professional company. Later, we gave the business to the Hardy Group. Having them here really saved us a lot of trouble, and the price was more suitable than if we sold it ourselves. "

President Johnson gave Major General Williams some more encouragement and then hung up the phone.

President Johnson stood up and walked to the window, looking at the lawn in front of the White House with his hands behind his back, thinking silently.

Do you want to try it with him?

Will he agree?

He is from California and his political camp is most likely the Republican Party. Now that Dewey is much more popular than him, will he choose to support himself?

Franklin Roosevelt, the only person in history to serve four terms as president, died on the 82nd day after his fourth election. According to the law, Johnson, as vice president, took over directly and became the president of the United States.

This year, 1948, there will be another presidential election. Johnson's opponent is Thomas Dewey of the Republican Party. It can be said that everyone thinks that Dewey will definitely win this time, and Johnson will definitely lose.

The last poll showed that only 32% of voters supported Johnson.

In the newspapers, people were claiming that Dewey would easily defeat Johnson, and there were even signs that read "Welcome Dewey, our next president."

Whether it is election experts, members of Congress, or even inside the White House and even within the Democratic Party, most people feel that Johnson has little hope of being re-elected this time.

Dewey received funding from foundations and gave speeches everywhere, gathering tens of thousands of people wherever he went. However, Johnson had very few supporters and his campaign funds were very tight, making it impossible for him to hold large-scale events.

Some newspapers even commented that this was the least suspenseful election in history.

But how could Johnson be willing to accept this? He wanted to seek re-election, so he kept working hard, putting forward his own ideas, and trying his best to increase his exposure. If he couldn't afford to fly, he would take the train, and even give small speeches at stations and squares.

A few days ago, Dewey accepted an exclusive interview with NBC and spoke freely on TV. Later, according to a survey, hundreds of thousands of households watched the program.

Johnson knew that the power of television, a new media, was already showing signs of surpassing newspapers because it allowed people to express themselves more freely, just like giving speeches in various places, allowing people to see you more intuitively.

Rather than the dry campaign rhetoric and political policies in the newspapers.

When Major General Williams told him about the Hardy Group, it was like a flash of lightning in Johnson's mind.

In fact, he only listened to the general idea of ​​what Williams said afterwards. At that time, there was only one thought in his mind: Hardy Group was the owner of ABC. If he could do an exclusive interview on ABC TV, the effect would definitely be far better than Dewey's exclusive interview with NBC.

Because he knows that ABC TV's ratings are now the undisputed number one in the United States, even exceeding the combined ratings of the other two major TV stations.

Several of their major programs have long been among the top five most popular programs among the audience. Now they have launched a talent show called "Super Idol". It is said that once this show came out, other programs lost their ratings. The other two major TV stations were so scared that they replaced the "Super Idol" program on ABC with junk programs to avoid its attention.

But he was worried, would Hardy help him?

This is not just a business act. Because it involves the election, many people will regard it as a political act. If Hardy agrees to appear on ABC TV, it will be tantamount to supporting him.

As a successful businessman.

Hardy will be cautious.

As a member of the California Conglomerate, he is naturally close to the Republican Party, and the probability of him becoming his supporter is very low.

This is where Johnson struggles most.

suddenly.

The street lights in the White House yard came on.

Lighting up the White House forecourt.

President Johnson then realized in surprise that it was already dark and he had been standing there for a long time.

Johnson looked at the light and suddenly made up his mind.

So what if I fail?

I contacted the other party, and it is their problem to decide how to make the decision.

He returned to the President's office, sat down at the "Decision Table", picked up the phone and called the White House Office, "Please contact Major General Williams of the Logistics Department for me again."

Major General Williams saw that it was getting late and was about to go back for dinner. But just as he was about to stand up, the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up and answered, "Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, Major General Williams. This is the White House Office. The President wants to see you. Please answer the phone."

Williams was very surprised. Didn’t he call two hours ago? Why did he call again? Could it be that he didn’t praise himself enough just now and was going to praise himself again?

The call was connected, and President Johnson's voice came through the receiver again: "Major General Williams, you just said that you are very familiar with Mr. Hardy of the Hardy Group, right?"

"Yes, Mr. President," Williams said.

I thought to myself, does he feel that it is inappropriate for me to do business with Hardy?

"Williams, I have something I want to talk to Mr. Hardy about. Can you help me contact him?" President Johnson said.

"Oh, of course, but I don't know what the President wants to talk to Mr. Hardy about?" Williams asked.

"I hope ABC TV can arrange an interview program for me. I wonder if Hardy would be convenient for that," said President Johnson.

Major General Williams had been in the government for a long time, so he knew what the president meant by these words. "Mr. President, I will help you contact Hardy."

"Thank you for your reply."

After hanging up the phone, many thoughts went through Major General Williams' mind. He naturally knew that the president's recent situation was not good, his approval rating was very low, and he was looking for supporters everywhere.

But will Hadi support President Johnson?

He had no idea what Hadi's political stance was, but he had to make the call. He was just a contact person, and the decision depended on Hadi himself.

When Hardy received a call from Major General Williams, he initially thought he was going to ask about the recent sales of scrap materials. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, General. Sales are going well. The second wave of materials has been shipped out."

"Hardy, that's not what I'm asking." said Major General Williams.

"Oh, what do you want to ask?"

"It's President Johnson. President Johnson called me and asked me to contact you. He wants to do an exclusive interview program on ABC TV and asked if you could arrange it for him." said Major General Williams.

"President Johnson!"

Hardy was very surprised to hear what Williams said. He really didn't expect that President Johnson would take the initiative to find him.

Hardy was thinking.

Major General Williams did not rush, because Williams knew that this kind of political investment was very important for a businessman and might affect future development or even the survival of the company.

For a moment, both of them were silent.

Hardy's mind was racing.

He naturally knew about President Johnson. Except for the fact that his name was different from that of Master Du in later generations, his other deeds were similar. Even his competitor was still called Dewey.

Johnson's approval rating is very low right now. There are many reasons for this, both international and domestic. In short, almost no one thinks Johnson can be re-elected. Dewey's popularity is very high. Until the last survey in history, Master Dewey's approval rating was still far lower than his opponent.

But in the end, a miracle happened. During the voting, there was a big reversal and Master Du unexpectedly won.

It surprised countless people.

There are also many people who bought orders because of their investment failures, including a bald man.

President Johnson in this world is in the same situation as Master Du, but no one can guarantee whether he can turn the tables.

Hardy's support for him can be considered a very risky investment.

Hardy is from the California Consortium, and California is naturally a Republican camp. But now he is supporting Johnson. If Johnson fails, Hardy's life will become very difficult. It is normal for him to be excluded by Republican politicians, and he may even be kicked out of the California Consortium.

Hardy thought for ten minutes.

Major General Williams stayed with Hardy in silence for ten minutes.

Finally Hardy spoke.

"General Williams, I hope you can arrange a meeting between me and His Excellency the President so that I can have a serious talk with him," said Hardy.

"Okay, I'll help you contact the president."

President Johnson received a call from Williams and heard that Hardy wanted to talk to him. Johnson felt that this was an opportunity. "I want to talk to him, too. Tell Hardy that I'll make an appointment with him to play golf at a private golf course in Washington tomorrow."

......