I suppressed my emotions and chose the most polite way to say "thank you." Ye Zhi, as always, didn't say anything unnecessary, so she didn't reply to me. This allowed me to continue my meal with Sun Jiwei, which was still in progress, with a calm mind.
I put my phone aside and changed the subject, saying to Sun Jiwei, "Brother, there's something I want to ask you."
"Say it."
Do you know that there's a commercial street called Jiulongju in this part of the old city?
Sun Jiwei smiled and replied, "We who work in environmental protection, let alone a commercial street, we need to know what environmental standards even the larger shops in the ancient city can meet."
“Then I’ve come to the right person. I think this commercial street is quite strange. It’s located between the two busiest streets in the ancient city, yet it’s incredibly deserted… I don’t believe in any supernatural explanations. I think there must be some unknown reason behind it, probably related to the layout of this street.”
Sun Jiwei didn't rush to answer. Instead, like everyone else, he asked me, "Are you planning to go inside and do business?"
I nodded, and then replied subjectively, "I do have that idea, mainly because the rent here is cheap, so there won't be much pressure... Now, in any lively part of the old city, the transfer fee for a shop is hundreds of thousands. With my current ability and financial conditions, it is definitely unrealistic to take over those shops."
Sun Jiwei nodded, then said to me, "I'll call and ask which company developed this commercial street. I think we need to get to the bottom of this to be the most convincing."
I responded, and Sun Jiwei then made the call.
After talking for about ten minutes, he hung up the phone and said to me, "I've found out that this street was developed by a local real estate company in Dali. They encountered a lot of difficulties during the development process, some of which are still unresolved... Let's have lunch first, and then we can talk about it on-site later, otherwise it's hard to explain."
...
Half an hour later, Sun Jiwei and I arrived at the street entrance of "Jiulongju". He looked inside before me and then pointed to the very narrow alley and said to me: "According to the previous project plan, this alley should not exist, because there should be at least a two-way road of 10 meters leading into the pedestrian street, and there should also be some landscaping at the street entrance... But now all these plans have been scrapped."
"Yes, I also think there's a problem with this alley. Its existence makes the entire commercial street less noticeable. Unless you're really looking in, you won't even notice that this commercial street exists... But, brother, what exactly caused the original plan to be unable to be implemented?"
"Didn't you notice that there are a few shops in this alley? I heard that the property rights of these shops are all owned by the same person. At the time, the developer's representative talked to him many times and offered good terms, but he just wouldn't agree to the demolition. The developer did try some methods, but this boss's background is really strong, so after a few back and forths, the developer gave up... I think the first reason why the whole Jiulongju area isn't thriving is this alley."
I looked at it carefully again, then nodded and replied, "This alley blocking the way does have a significant impact... but I don't think that's the main reason. After all, the entrance to the commercial street near Renmin Road is quite eye-catching, and that should serve as a way to attract customers."
Sun Jiwei laughed and said, "You're right. The main reason is related to the market conditions in Dali at the time. In 2014, Dali experienced the biggest boom in its local tourism history... The influx of tourists brought unlimited business opportunities, and at the same time, it caused the rents of some shops in the ancient city to skyrocket. Many people from Beijing and Shanghai saw the potential for profit and started investing... Jiulongju Commercial Street was developed at that time. My friend told me that the most powerful person from Beijing at the time bought twenty shops on this street in one go, and others with less financial strength bought at least four or five... And that's where the problem lies... Because the houses were snapped up, the developers didn't put much effort into promotion. You know, if the promotion is inadequate, it will affect the subsequent investment promotion work... In addition, the owners of these shops are all from other places and are not here all year round. It is very inconvenient for investors to come and see the shops and sign contracts, so over time, it has affected everyone's enthusiasm for investment..."
Sun Jiwei's explanation finally gave me an idea of why the street wasn't taking off. After processing what he said, I asked Sun Jiwei, "Was the rent expensive when this commercial street first opened?"
"Of course, after all, the location here is not bad, and the environment is good... I heard that when it first opened, the rent per square meter for the shops closer to the entrance was almost as high as that for shops on Renmin Road and Yangren Street, but it still attracted several big brands to open stores here... Later, several big brands went bankrupt, and some mysterious rumors started to circulate, saying that the feng shui was bad and the place was evil, which made things even worse for this place... You know, most people doing business now still believe in feng shui."
As I nodded, I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it. At the same time, I was pessimistic about the future of this commercial area because it had too many problems, and each one was difficult to solve. For example, the promotion was something that even the developer hadn't paid attention to at the time. As someone who invests in shops, how could I possibly have the resources to boost the reputation of the entire street?
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