Acquisition of restaurants
Upon returning from Jingxia Mountain, Fu Zhiqiao received reports from Defu and Cheng Yexuan.
Many restaurants in Beijing are booming, but many others are struggling. Moreover, most restaurants are located in the busiest parts of the street, where there is a large flow of people and no shortage of customers.
While looking through the information on various restaurants, Fu Zhiqiao asked, "How many of these are there?"
Defu: "In reply to you, young lady, there are nineteen large restaurants, one hundred and fifty-one medium-sized eateries, and countless small food stalls."
As expected of the capital city, its competitiveness is truly exceptional.
There are nineteen large restaurants alone. Qiongxianlou, which they visited a few days ago, is one of the large restaurants. There are eighteen other restaurants of the same size as Qiongxianlou. Fu Zhiqiao is already feeling the pressure of trying to get a share of the pie from these restaurants.
Qiongxianlou is an old restaurant that has been operating at the foot of the imperial city for more than 40 years. Its head chef is said to be a descendant of the imperial chefs, and the dishes he makes are mainly exquisite.
With the title of a descendant of the imperial chefs, Qiongxianlou's business is booming.
In the past, only nobles in the palace could eat the dishes prepared by the imperial chefs. Now that people can eat the palace dishes outside, the common people naturally flock to the restaurant, so Qiongxianlou's business has always been very good.
Qiongxianlou was thus regarded as a symbol of status.
The food at Qiongxianlou was not cheap; a simple meal could cost an average family one or two years' worth of expenses. She observed that the guests at Qiongxianlou wore clothes made of good fabric and were very relaxed, without any sign of restraint.
Come to think of it, people who can dine at the best restaurants must be people from wealthy and influential families.
Fu Zhiqiao exclaimed, "This is the effect of accurate positioning!"
Qiongxianlou's positioning is the same as her original positioning for Taibaijiu: targeting the mid-to-high-end market and making money specifically from high-ranking officials and wealthy people.
Given the same positioning, how can she steal business from Qiongxianlou?
Fu Zhiqiao originally wanted to buy land and build a brand new restaurant herself, but after learning about the land prices and restaurant market in Beijing, she gave up. Buying land and building it herself would take too much time, so she turned her attention to acquiring restaurants.
*
Before arriving, Wang Qianxin had already shown the broker his royal badge: "You'll get plenty of benefits after this is done."
He brought the broker to Fu Zhi Qiao's residence. "Miss Fu, I've brought the broker with me."
The broker was thin. He walked in and greeted Fu Zhi Qiao with a cupped-hand salute.
Fu Zhi Qiao explained her requirements for the shop. The broker searched his mind for a suitable shop and, after confirming that one met his criteria, confidently patted his chest and said, "You'll be satisfied!"
"Price is not a problem as long as the house is good."
Because they had been given a sufficient budget, the brokers took them to good locations, but after wandering around the inner circle of the capital for half a day, Fu Zhi Qiao still couldn't find a restaurant that caught her eye.
Shops with good locations and spacious layouts are not easy to find. Shops that meet these two conditions are usually very successful and have no intention of selling them.
"Are there any other shops?" Fu Zhi Qiao didn't want to settle; she wanted to buy the most suitable one.
The broker was also a bit troubled. He had already looked at all the shops in good locations. Suddenly, he thought of something: "I do know of one place that's big, but the location isn't as good. What do you think?"
Liuxiangju is not far from here; it's about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
"Let's go take a look!"
When the carriage stopped at Liuhe Lane, Wang Qianxin dismounted first. This time, he was more experienced and carried a low stool for Fu Zhiqiao to stand on.
Fu Zhiqiao got off the carriage and stood at the entrance for a while. There were quite a few people coming and going at the entrance of Liuhe Lane, but no one stepped into Liuxiangju.
"Uncle Xiang! Uncle Xiang? Are you there?" The broker walked in front and called out twice into the shop.
The interior of Liuxiangju was deserted, with not a single customer in sight. At the counter, there was only a boy dressed in linen clothes, about eleven or twelve years old, who was resting his chin on his hands, lost in thought.
Upon hearing the broker's voice, he called out, "Grandpa, someone's looking for you!"
"Hey, they're here!" An elderly voice came from the back of the inner hall, and a few breaths later, a sprightly old man came out.
“Uncle Xiang, I brought someone to look at the shop today. Didn’t you say before that you wanted to sell this shop? Well, I have a potential buyer who wants to come and take a look.”
Uncle Xiang chuckled and led Fu Zhi Qiao on a tour of Liuxiangju: "Young lady, as you can see, although the location of my shop is a bit outdated, it's spacious enough, and all the tables and chairs are provided..."
Liuxiang Residence is exactly what Fu Zhiqiao had in mind.
The restaurant has three floors, and the entire restaurant and courtyard cover an area of about 400 square meters. Fu Zhiqiao planned the layout in her mind: the first floor could accommodate about a dozen tables, the second floor could be set up as private rooms, and the third floor would be set up as luxury private rooms.
Moreover, the backyard of Liuxiangju is also very spacious, with a well and an ice cellar. In addition to the woodshed and storage room, there are four large rooms that can be used as rest rooms for the waiters.
The only downside is that the location is a bit out of the way, four blocks away from the bustling Suzaku Avenue, but overall she is satisfied.
According to the broker, Uncle Xiang's son was a chef at the restaurant. His son's cooking skills were average, and the restaurant's business was usually neither good nor bad, just enough to make ends meet. However, the imperial court suddenly began conscripting soldiers, and his son was selected to join the army. Without a chef, how could the restaurant continue to operate? Since they couldn't find a chef in a short time, Uncle Xiang had no choice but to fill in himself.
Uncle Xiang is nearly sixty years old. It's fine for him to occasionally help out in the kitchen, but it's too much for him to be in charge of cooking for long periods of time.
Left with no other choice, they had to sell the restaurant.
After much consideration, Fu Zhiqiao decided to buy it: "If the price is right, we can pay the deposit today."
The grandfather and grandson exchanged a glance. "Five thousand taels."
Fu Zhiqiao asked Wang Qianxin with her eyes whether the price was reasonable. Before coming, she had checked the land prices on several bustling streets, but Liuhe Lane was not even on her list. She had no idea about the land prices there.
The price is reasonable, but there is still room for further reduction.
Wang Qianxin gave the broker a look, and the broker, who knew Wang Qianxin's identity, immediately spoke up, "Uncle Xiang, the tables and chairs at Liuxiangju are old and the location is also out of the way. Can the price be lowered?"
Seeing that Fu Zhi Qiao remained silent, Uncle Xiang was also worried that he had asked for too high a price. Looking at the broker's attitude towards them, he could guess that Fu Zhi Qiao probably had some kind of background.
Seeing that the broker had offered a way out, Uncle Xiang quickly said, "The price is negotiable! But I'm not asking for an exorbitant price. Although my Liuxiang Residence is in a somewhat remote location, it's extremely spacious. If you want to buy it, young lady, I'll give you a discount of two hundred taels of silver. How about that?"
Fu Zhiqiao cast a questioning look at the broker.
The broker looked at her, then at Wang Qianxin, "Uncle Xiang, you said you wanted to sell the restaurant, so I found a powerful person to help you. Your sincerity..."
"Four thousand five hundred taels, that's the lowest I can go!" Hearing the broker say that Fu Zhiqiao and Wang Qianxin were important people, Uncle Xiang took a step back, fearing that if he refused Fu Zhiqiao, no one would come to buy the restaurant in the short term.
Liuxiangju is operating at a loss every day. Not only is it not making money, it is also losing money. As things stand, it loses money every extra day it opens.
Fu Zhiqiao thought for a moment and said, "When are you free? We can exchange the money for the contract at the same time."
The final transaction price was four thousand five hundred taels of silver, which Fu Zhi Qiao was quite satisfied with. They went to the government office, paid one tael of silver for paper and pen, and successfully changed the name on the property deed for Liuxiang Residence to her name.
*
Because Taibai liquor is not cheap, Fu Zhiqiao positioned the new restaurant as a mid-to-high-end establishment.
To cater to the consumption habits of the wealthy and powerful, the interior and exterior of the restaurant need to be completely renovated. The quality of the environment directly affects the future development of the restaurant. If you want to earn money from these dignitaries, you have to be willing to invest in the costs.
Now that she has the restaurant in hand, she's ready to go all out and make proper plans.
Fu Zhiqiao asked Wang Qianxin, "Do you know which craftsmen in the capital are reliable?"
Wang Qianxin understood Fu Zhiqiao's meaning: since the restaurant had already been purchased, it would naturally need to be renovated before it could open for business.
He was very efficient, and within a day he had contacted all the carpenters and masons. These craftsmen were the ones who specialized in repairing houses for high-ranking officials and nobles. According to Wang Qianxin, the same people were hired to repair the Prince's Mansion, so their skills were naturally superb.
The craftsmen took down the original signboard of Liuxiangju, and Defu posted a notice at the door stating that the restaurant would be temporarily closed and would reopen after the renovation was completed.
Fu Zhiqiao breathed a sigh of relief as she held the land deed with her name on it.
She roughly sketched out the image of the wine shop in her mind, marked where to put what, and gave the carpenters the chair designs she had already drawn, instructing them to follow her drawings exactly.
The craftsmen who built the restaurant were puzzled when they received the blueprints. Why was a pool to be dug in the hall?
In Fu Zhiqiao's design, a natural landscape was to be created in the lobby on the first floor of the restaurant, so that the first thing guests would see upon entering was a pond with lotus flowers and koi. After the pond was built, a layer of pebbles was laid at the bottom, some lotus flowers were transplanted, and several colorful koi were put in. Then, a miniature rockery was placed next to the pond, which was equivalent to bringing the scenery of the garden into the lobby.
Although the project was quite large, the pool landscape will add a lot of interest to the entire restaurant.
Fu Zhiqiao's drawings were very simple, but fortunately, there are skilled craftsmen in the countryside who, after some explanation, were able to understand her meaning.
Leave the professional work to the professionals. After handing the finished decoration drawings to the craftsmen, Fu Zhiqiao asked Defu to be the supervisor. As a layman, she couldn't see anything special about it, but Defu could report the progress to her regularly!
Of course, she would also personally go to the site to check and confirm many details.
The restaurant's layout had to be completely redone according to her requirements; the tables and chairs had to be new; and she also wanted to buy some exquisite porcelain vases and paintings for interior decoration...
There are already so many things to do during the restaurant's renovation phase alone. Once the restaurant is finished, she will need to hire chefs, waiters, order tableware, and so on. This will be another huge expense. After doing some mental calculations, Fu Zhiqiao sighed at how expensive things are in the capital!
According to the bricklayers' estimate, it will take two months to complete the entire renovation of the restaurant, and it is estimated that the restaurant will not open until after the New Year.
The most urgent task is to make more money!
Just then, the batch of premium Taibai liquor that she planned to use to inflate prices also arrived in Beijing.
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