Chapter 319: Assembling Armor and Weapons for the Invasion of Japan
The Hollywood store of the Hardy's supermarket chain has opened and is doing very well. In fact, two other stores in Los Angeles and two stores in San Francisco are also under construction at the same time and are expected to open in one or two months.
The opening of these five stores is actually just a beginning. Hardy's idea is to use them to train the management and logistics teams of chain supermarkets.
Once it has gained experience, Hardee's Group will use its strong capital to quickly expand chain supermarket businesses across the United States.
Later, Wal-Mart had more than 3,000 stores in the United States, in addition there were Costco, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Kmart, Albertsons, etc., totaling five to six thousand stores.
So the domestic market in the United States is very broad.
Hardy has another idea. These supermarket chains do not rent land, but instead purchase all the land and build their own supermarkets. There is no rent, so this is also a land investment.
When the supermarket reaches a certain scale in the future, other supporting services can be developed, such as KFC, McDonald's, Starbucks, Chinese-style Panda fast food, etc.
These can be established based on supermarkets in the early stage, and can be separated in the later stage to form their own brands and then promoted throughout the United States and the world.
You should know that these four companies will become Fortune 500 companies in the future, but they have not appeared yet.
......
A few days later.
Hardy inspected all industries in Los Angeles, just like a lion inspecting his territory. He had to make a round from time to time to check, otherwise some people would forget the existence of his boss and become lazy.
Laziness is a big taboo for an enterprise.
hd security.
Hardy listened to Lanster's report. Four months later, HD Security started to expand again. After consolidating its base in California, the security business began to enter other cities.
Especially in cities where gang families that have cooperated with the Hardy Group are located, security companies can quickly gain a foothold with the help of local bosses.
The main service targets are still banks.
In fact, in the traditional business of gangs, the majority of money is earned in the gray industry. Very few people really make their fortunes through robbery, and it cannot last long.
Moreover, those families have increasingly realized that making money through business is much faster and less troublesome than robbery and extortion.
The security companies cooperate with them privately in those cities. If anyone dares to rob, the gang family will provide information and Hardy Security will contact the local police to cooperate and launch a crazy crackdown on those robbers.
After several incidents, all banks saw the determination and strength of HD Security and were willing to choose to cooperate with them, so the business developed very smoothly.
Another focus is defense companies.
"The base is still under construction and it is estimated that it will take half a year to be fully completed. The warships can only temporarily use the civilian ports in those areas, and fuel and supplies are also purchased at high prices."
"We have contacted many shipping companies to promote shipping security services. Now, except for a few shipping companies in the group that have signed contracts, no other shipping companies are willing to cooperate because they think the price is too expensive," said Lanster.
"How well does the intelligence department know about the pirate situation in various places?" Hardy asked.
“We already have some information.”
Hardy smiled and said, "Haha, don't worry. Now is just the development stage. The income from protecting our own shipping company is enough to support the operation of the base. As for the pirates, we can keep them around for a while. When other shipping companies suffer, they will naturally choose to cooperate with us."
......
Hardy came to the movie company.
Edward reported on the business status of film companies, brokerage companies, and record companies.
Hardy Films has always produced a small number of films, only two or three each year, and mainly focuses on high-quality films. So far, there are only a few such as "The Wild One", "Léon", "Ghost", "Across the World" and "Singin' in the Rain".
The only live-action animated film currently in production, Beauty and the Beast, starring Taylor, is in late production.
"Boss, the rights for Some Like It Hot are being prepared. We are selecting the right director and actor. Other companies are having a tough time right now, but the directors and actors are very busy. We can pick and choose."
"I selected it carefully. I hope this movie can become a classic, Monroe can become an overnight hit, and create a perfect start," said Hardy.
"Don't worry, boss. I will do my best." Edward said respectfully.
How dare you not be attentive to your boss’s woman?
Apart from Some Like It Hot, the film company did not have any more film shooting projects. Hardy felt it was too monotonous and took out a few pieces of paper and handed them to Edward.
"Yesterday, I had nothing to do and suddenly came up with an idea for a story. It tells the story of an archaeology professor named Indiana Jones who helped the US army crack the German telegram and then went on a treasure hunt adventure. Here is the outline of the story. It can be made into a movie or a TV series." Hardy said.
The story outline is only about four or five thousand words.
The screenwriters can fill in the specific story content.
Edward quickly took it, read it briefly, thought for a moment, and said, "Boss, I think this story will be very exciting whether it is made into a movie or a TV series. As for the role of Professor Indiana Jones, I think Eastwood is very suitable for it."
Hardy smiled softly, "I wrote the character with him in mind."
The two hit it off immediately.
......
Hardy then went to other companies, including television factories, Hardy Mining Company, toy factories, Marvel Studios, airlines, the Universal Times headquarters, ABC TV, etc.
Then fly to San Francisco.
He also inspected Wells Fargo Bank, Hardy Shipping and other companies. After the inspection, Hardy met with Giannini, the president of Bank of America and the head of the California Consortium.
Meeting Giannini was actually the main reason for his visit to San Francisco.
Giannini invited Hardy to lunch. After lunch, the two walked and chatted in the garden. Giannini said, "Hardy, I heard that you have made a large investment in Hong Kong. Are you confident about the future there? The newspapers reported that the North is constantly seizing cities. I am afraid that it will soon reach Hong Kong. The British may not be able to keep Hong Kong."
Hardy shook his head.
"It's more of a risk investment. No one can fully grasp politics, let alone the future. There will be a lot of gambling going on. I'm just betting on one of the possibilities."
"If I lose, I will withdraw my assets in time to reduce the loss. If I win, Hong Kong will be saved. I believe my investment there will increase by 5 to 10 times in 5 years."
Giannini looked at the young man.
I thought that young people are still more impetuous and dare to take such a big risk. Maybe he would have done so when he was young, but now that he is older, he has become more stable deep down in his heart.
This is the biggest difference between the elderly and the young.
More stable than pioneering.
The two continued walking forward, and Hardy said, "Mr. Giannini, I have another idea. This time when I went to Hong Kong and passed by Japan, I went down to take a look around and asked someone to collect some information about Japan. I think investing in Japan should be a good direction."
Hardy stated the main purpose of his visit.
“Invest in Japan?”
Giannini really never thought about that Eastern country. Japan can be said to be the only country that has attacked the US mainland, attacking Pearl Harbor, so most people in this country have a very bad impression of Japan.
Even Africa is stronger than Japan.
Recently, Africa fever has been popular in the United States, and even many movies have been shot in Africa, such as the movie The Snows of Kilimanjaro shot by Ava this time.
"Why do you think Japan is worth investing in?" Giannini asked.
“Based on several aspects.”
"Japan used to have a complete industrial system and a mature industrial worker group. The current economic downturn is mainly due to the impact of post-war economic sanctions."
"In terms of the international situation, have you noticed, Mr. Giannini, that the United States and the Soviet Union have gradually formed a confrontational pattern recently? A commentator from the New York Times mentioned the term 'Cold War', and I think it is very correct. This confrontation will probably continue to intensify."
"The government will not ignore the containment of the East, so it will build a bridgehead. Who do you think is more suitable? Of course, Japan, which is controlled by the United States, is more suitable."
"So I predict that the government will definitely relax its control over Japan in the future, and Japan's economy will recover quickly. Now is a good time for us to invest. We can take advantage of their economic downturn and absorb their industries. When they recover, our assets will grow geometrically."
Janini looked at Hadi in surprise.
He found that he had underestimated this young man before. Many entrepreneurs looked at problems from the perspective of economic laws, but Hardy had already begun to look at problems from a strategic perspective.
It is more than one level higher than those entrepreneurs.
Because by looking at the problem from the perspective of the overall situation, predictions can be made earlier and we can see further ahead.
"What are you going to do?" Giannini asked.
"The United States has the Marshall Plan for Europe, and I think we can definitely come up with an economic plan specifically for Japan."
"I plan to persuade President Johnson to launch a 'Japan Study Tour' and bring an economic team to invest in Japan."
Giannini thought for a while.
"Hadi, I support your idea. If you think there are any companies in the California consortium that are suitable for investment in Japan, you can bring them along."
Now that Japan is under the complete control of the United States, Giannini thought that even if the return on investment is not high, it will not be a loss, and there is not much risk, so he agreed to Hardy's proposal.
Hardy was happy. Convincing Giannini was a good start.
"Not only the California Foundation, I also plan to bring in other foundations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation and even the Morgan Foundation."
Hadi's ideas are far bigger than those of Giannini.
And longer.
Japan's own strength is by no means comparable to that of Hong Kong. It is a country with a population of 80 million and a land area that is one-third larger than that of the United Kingdom.
Japan also has very strong domestic conglomerates, including Mitsui Group, Mitsubishi Group, Sumitomo Group, Fuji Group, Sanwa Group, and Dai-ichi Corporation, to name a few.
If you want to control the Japanese economy, it is far from enough to rely solely on the Hardy Group or even the California Consortium. Although they are now sanctioned by the United States and appear very weak, they will show their fangs and even strike back at their master after they recover in the future.
To suppress them, a stronger force is needed.
Therefore, Hardy plans to bring more American conglomerates to form a powerful synergy. Even if Japan develops in the future, they will not dare to act recklessly in the face of a bunch of powerful conglomerates.
Some people may think that
By doing this, will Hardy benefit others?
In fact, it may help others make money, but the biggest beneficiary will definitely be Hardy, the organizer and host.
By bringing those consortiums with him, Hardy was equipping himself with weapons and armor, which would improve his combat power by several levels.