Chapter 69 Chapter 69 Fried Chicken Shop Opening
The dance hall's publicity for a week was very effective, and the popularity of the western restaurant was greatly improved. It happened to be the Spring Festival, and many people had some money in their pockets, so they were willing to go to the western restaurant in groups to try the food.
Xu Haitang was not idle during the Spring Festival. Together with the chef of the Western restaurant, he optimized and upgraded the restaurant's menu.
The restaurant's chef was personally recruited by Manager Chen and sent to Gangcheng for training. They'd gotten to know some people there, and during the Spring Festival, while visiting them, they'd inquire about some of the city's trendy dishes and experimented with recreating them. After tasting them, Liu Mianmian offered some feedback, and the resulting improvements proved to be quite good.
The new menu has received unanimous praise from customers, especially the two improved desserts, which can almost be called the "Internet celebrity" products of the Western restaurant. Many people come here specifically just to try them.
After taking over the shop at the entrance of the alley, Liu Mianmian immediately asked someone to print a dozen coupons for the fried chicken shop and put them in the Western restaurant. Every time a customer made a purchase at the Western restaurant, he would receive a free coupon for a snack.
After a period of time, many customers have these free coupons, especially some old customers of Western restaurants, who have accumulated quite a few.
At that time, foreign fast food had not yet entered China, and there were naturally no fried chicken restaurants in South City. Everyone was quite curious about fried chicken.
In particular, the fried chicken shop's advertisement, "Fried chicken and soda, the more you eat, the better it tastes," has been posted for quite some time. Recently, a poster of a whole chicken fried to a golden hue was even posted on the wall next to the door. The painting is so realistic that almost everyone who passes by can't help but take a look, and then naturally swallow their saliva secretly.
The kids in the neighborhood are even more exaggerated. They come over almost every day to see if the store is open.
Parents who have children who have been to Western restaurants are lucky. They already have free coupons in their pockets, waiting for the fried chicken shop to open. Children who don't have free coupons will go home and cry. We are all neighbors and have similar living standards. Why should other children have free coupons but I don't?
So without waiting for the fried chicken shop to open, the financially well-off family took their children to have a Western meal.
It is indeed expensive, but if you order less, it is actually not that bad.
Moreover, the waiters in the restaurant are very nice. Even if you order a small amount, they will not show any displeasure and will be polite.
You can have a Western meal and get a free coupon, which means both adults and children are satisfied. It is quite cost-effective.
With the promotion of the dance hall and the support of free coupons from the fried chicken shop, the business of the Western restaurant has been rising steadily since the beginning of the year, and the turnover exceeded 100,000 in the month after the holiday.
You have to know that before Liu Mianmian took over, the restaurant's turnover was only about 60,000 at its peak. Even so, this is very impressive in today's South City.
Now it has exceeded two-thirds in one go.
Some people were secretly worried that after Liu Mianmian took over, the restaurant would go bankrupt and they would lose their jobs. Now it seems that not only will the restaurant not go bankrupt, but it is doing better and better.
Just when everyone in the Western restaurant was delighted with the recent booming business, the fried chicken shop was finally completed and opened.
Three days before the opening, Liu Mianmian printed a batch of flyers and hired people to distribute them on the busiest streets and at the entrances of schools in South City. She also sent coupons to several Jingjing clothing stores and launched a series of free gifts with purchases, creating a full-scale promotion.
On the opening day, before the oil pan was even heated, there was already a long line at the door.
It happened to be Sunday, and there was no work or school. Some of the naughty kids would have stayed in bed and slept in, but today they got up early, called their friends, and ran to line up with free coupons in hand.
The firecrackers for the opening ceremony had been set off, and the red cloth covering the sign had been torn off. Everyone finally knew the name of this fried chicken shop: Xiangzikou Fried Chicken Shop.
"Hahaha, it's at the entrance of the alley, so it's called the Alley Entrance Fried Chicken Shop."
"It's an easy and interesting name."
"Boss sister, when can we eat fried chicken? I'm starving!"
…
The children in the front of the line were chattering. Liu Mianmian, who had woken up early, couldn't help but yawn. Then she smiled and asked everyone to step back so as not to get too close and accidentally get splashed with oil: "It will be ready soon. We can sell it as soon as it is fried!"
She really didn't expect that these little ones would not even eat breakfast and would come to line up to buy "junk food".
However, people weren't very wealthy these days, and even dual-income families couldn't necessarily afford to eat meat every day. Without enough fat in their stomachs, no one considered fried food junk food, let alone skipping breakfast and eating fried chicken. Youtiao (fried dough sticks) were eaten just the same, right?
Thinking that these little ones might not have had breakfast, Liu Mianmian asked Wang Jiajia, who was in charge of packing the food, to give them a small piece of bread first.
There are currently two employees at the fried chicken shop, in addition to Wang Jiajia, there is also a young man named Liu Bo, both of whom came from the Western restaurant.
The working environment here is naturally not as good as that of a Western restaurant, but there are commissions here, and Liu Mianmian also said that they will open branches in other places in the future. If they do well, they will have the opportunity to become store managers, so naturally there are people willing to come here.
In addition to the free coupons given away, there is a 20% discount on all items in the first three days of opening, so some people who have not been to the Western restaurant and do not have free coupons also want to try it out for this discount.
The main reason is that the oil in the pan smells really good.
The fragrance makes you unable to walk when passing by.
So gradually, more and more people lined up at the door.
Others who were unaware of the situation would come over to take a look out of curiosity when they saw so many people queuing up, and then they would be unable to move forward.
Soon, the group of kids in the front holding coupons received their free snacks. Each of them got five pieces of chicken nuggets, a bag of French fries, two small pieces of bread and a bottle of soda.
This is a snack set in the store. If you buy it normally, it will cost one dollar and fifty cents.
Both adults and children think that this free voucher is a great deal.
As for the others who didn't have free coupons, they thought that buying something that cost 1.5 yuan for only 1.2 yuan today was quite a bargain. As for the free coupons, they were earned by others who spent a lot of money on Western food, so they didn't envy them.
The little kids who got the meal ran home happily, making countless people drool along the way.
In addition to the snack set, some wealthy people also directly ordered the signature chicken leg, especially the signature chicken leg, which is a whole big chicken leg!
The first person who bought the big chicken leg even started eating it in front of everyone. With one bite, he could taste the whole piece of crispy chicken leg meat on the outside and tender on the inside, juicy and full of meaty aroma. It was so delicious!
This kind of stimulation is really unbearable for many people. It’s just a chicken leg, buy it!
Of course, some people prefer the signature chicken wings, which have more tender meat and crispier skin.
Gradually, more and more people bought fried chicken, and after eating it, almost everyone felt that the money was well spent.
Although the price is higher than ordinary snacks, this is real meat and it is really delicious.
Many people even wonder why they have never thought of frying chicken before. However, as soon as this idea comes up, most people know that even if they think of frying chicken, it is impossible to make it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and they can't recreate the taste of chicken nuggets.
As the first wave of fried chicken was sold, the number of people queuing up behind did not decrease, but increased instead.
It was a cold day, but Liu Bo and Wang Jiajia were busy and sweating.
Soon, the first bucket of chicken was sold out, and Liu Bo started frying the chicken in the second bucket.
When Jingjing Clothing Store first opened, Liu Mianmian had experienced this: collecting money was so frustrating that it nearly cramped her. So this time, she was well prepared. She had Aunt Liu call in a group of middle-aged women to help out early. They had been helping kill and marinate chickens since last night, and even now, they were frying chickens in the front storefront, while the middle-aged women in the back yard were still killing and marinating chickens.
Back to the point, ever since Aunt Liu started selling radish strips, she's been leading the older women around her down the road of hard work and prosperity. Whether selling radish strips, handing out flyers, or doing odd jobs, the aunties are all working with enthusiasm.
Everyone is focused on making money, and there are fewer quarrels and gossips. Even Aunt Cao, who used to be gossipy and unpleasant, now works with Aunt Liu to make money, and her words become much nicer. Sometimes when she meets Liu Mianmian, she will rack her brains to praise her.
At this moment, the aunties were killing chickens in the back and were also discussing the business of Liu Mianmian's fried chicken shop.
"Oh my! One coupon gave away several pieces of chicken, potato chips, bread, and soda. Doesn't this mean the better the business, the greater the losses?"
Someone secretly went to the front to take a look and was frightened by the endless queue. At the same time, they felt distressed. These chickens were all killed, chopped and marinated by them. Although the money would not go into their pockets, they still felt very distressed.
Aunt Liu had already figured out the ins and outs of this, and she said calmly, "That's only a small part. Think about it, in our South City, are there more people willing to eat at Western restaurants, or more people who can't? Most of them don't have coupons. Besides, those coupons are given only after people pay for their meals, so they're not given for free."
Liu Mianmian had already explained to her clearly that the wool comes from the sheep.
But I won’t tell this to these old sisters.
Aunt Cao stretched her neck to look ahead and sighed, "With so many people queuing up, how much money can she make in a day? But it's also thanks to us helping to kill and marinate the chickens, otherwise we wouldn't have enough time." As she spoke, she seemed a little proud.
Aunt Liu glanced at her and said, "You can get three yuan for a day's work. It's such a good job. If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will do it. Killing chickens and chopping meat, what old woman can't do it?"
Aunt Cao immediately shrank back like a quail and kept silent.
Three dollars a day, that's ninety dollars for thirty days. If she could work for a full month, it would be enough to cover her son's salary.
How could she not want to do it? She wished she could do it every day.
The other aunties naturally took notice. Indeed, what old woman couldn't do the job of butchering chickens and chopping meat? Normally, two yuan for a day's work would be considered generous, but Liu Mianmian offered three yuan. This job was truly a job people were eager to do.
The others quickly expressed their opinions: "That's right. If it weren't for you, Lao Liu, thinking about us, we wouldn't have gotten such a good thing."
"Oh my, I'm eager to work every day. You don't know, ever since I've been able to earn some money, I've become louder at home. My husband used to say I never brought a penny home, but now he can't say that. Sometimes when I go home, he even pours me some water."
For their generation, it is a huge change if their men can take the initiative to serve tea or water.
Someone with a quick mind quietly approached Aunt Liu and said, "Old Liu, this shop is doing so well, they must need help killing chickens and marinating chickens every day. We have such a good relationship, so you must recommend some to me later."
Aunt Liu never thought that at her age, she would one day be asked to work by her old sisters through backdoor channels.
However, she naturally would not agree to such a thing. Even if she wanted to find someone to kill chickens for a long time, that was Liu Mianmian's decision, and she could not make the decision.
Besides, Liu Mianmian also told Aunt Liu that in the second half of the year, there should be companies specializing in the frozen meat business in the country. By then, their fried chicken shop will not need to kill live chickens on the spot. They can just get a freezer to store the frozen chicken for sale, so the store will not need people to kill chickens for a long time.
But before that, we still need the help of the aunts.
Aunt Liu thought to herself that she could probably do the job of slaughtering chickens for another half a year, but business was usually not that busy, so one or two people would be enough to help. Then each of them could share the cost per month to avoid these old women making a fuss.
If you just want to make money, you don’t have to focus on the fried chicken shop. There are other ways.
A few days ago, Xiao Xu said that the dance hall was looking for two cleaners. Isn’t that a good idea?
Aunt Liu was muttering in her heart, but her hands were not affected at all. She arranged a chicken clearly in a few seconds.
The number of people queuing in front of the fried chicken shop never decreased throughout the day. There were a lot of people in the morning, and in the afternoon, the number increased instead of decreased.
The front and back kitchens worked together and were busy until almost eight o'clock in the evening. The only time everyone took turns to rest was during lunch and dinner.
Fortunately, we had sufficient stock, and in the end almost everything was sold out.
Liu Mianmian doubled the wages of the aunts and gave each of them six yuan.
It was the first time in the lives of the aunties to kill so many chickens, and they were very tired. But when they got six dollars, they felt that the fatigue was not important.
I only earned six dollars for doing this little bit of work. That’s too easy to earn. My husband at home can’t earn that much money in a whole day’s work!
The aunts immediately became full of energy.
Liu Bo and Wang Jiajia are also very motivated. They get commissions. The better the business is, the more commission they will get. The two of them have already discussed it secretly. With the fried chicken shop business, the wages they get there will definitely be more than those in a Western restaurant!
Business in the next two days was even better than the first day.
Liu Mianmian simply asked Aunt Liu to call a few more people to help kill the chickens, and also asked someone from the Western restaurant to help pack the food and collect money. Wang Jiajia fried chicken nuggets with Liu Bo.
Fortunately, the Western restaurant has a mature raw material supply channel, so chicken can be supplied all the time.
On the last day, Liu Mianmian gave the aunties eight yuan. For those who worked for three days, they received twenty yuan directly. This made them very happy.
Liu Mianmian also gave Liu Bo and Wang Jiajia a red envelope as an extra reward, and the two were overjoyed.
In fact, Liu Mianmian herself was also overjoyed. She thought that running a fried chicken business could make money, but she didn't expect it to be so profitable.
The daily turnover has exceeded two thousand in the past few days. Although the total amount is not as much as that of a Western restaurant, after deducting all costs such as rent, labor, water, electricity, etc., the net profit of the fried chicken shop is actually higher than that of a Western restaurant.
Liu Mianmian observed for another half a month. Seeing that the fried chicken shop's turnover gradually stabilized, but still made about a thousand yuan a day, she decided to open a branch!
She has been looking for a store. She can open one near Gongren Road and another near the First Department Store. For the time being, she will open two branches.
So Liu Mianmian started looking for a store, decorating it, and preparing for the opening.
Just as she was preparing to open a branch, a small stall selling fried chicken appeared at the intersection of Maoer Hutong. The variety of items was similar to that of the fried chicken shop at the entrance of the alley, but the price was almost half of that.
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