Shu Yan came with quite a few other people this time. They held a meeting together, and the others went to various departments to learn about the situation in Guangzhou. Shu Yan, on the other hand, occupied General Manager Yu's office and listened to his report on this year's work.
"Currently, we have 36 franchise stores in Guangzhou, including first- and second-tier cities. Overall, business is very good. Our directly operated store is on the first floor of Guoguang Department Store. You mentioned before that directly operated stores must be located in the most bustling and high-traffic areas, so we found Guoguang Department Store."
“The idea is correct. Where a directly operated store is located signifies the brand positioning. The more upscale the location, the higher the brand's prestige. Mr. Hu and I have high expectations for Qianxue. Besides sales, you also need to take care of the brand image.” Shu Yan was worried that her subordinates would indiscriminately recruit franchisees for the sake of sales targets. “Pricing must be strictly controlled. Franchisees cannot be allowed to change prices or offer discounts on their own. We can have some people conduct undercover investigations, and if any are found, their qualifications will be revoked immediately.”
The biggest taboo for chain stores is inconsistent pricing. Although there is no internet now and the speed of information dissemination is not fast, it is too late to discover such problems by the time they are discovered. It must be strictly controlled from the beginning.
"Don't worry, Mr. Shu, I've had someone keeping an eye on this. However, recently a brand similar to our Qianxue has appeared in Guangzhou. The entire business model is exactly the same as ours. I've asked around, and it's owned by a local Guangzhou underwear factory owner. The factory is very large, and the underwear they produce is shipped both domestically and internationally. They are very powerful. In just a few days, they've already opened six stores, and they're right across from our franchisees. The franchisees only knew that the store across the street was under renovation; they didn't know it was an underwear store until it opened."
Shu Yan had long considered imitating their lingerie store. After the first batch of franchise stores successfully opened, many imitators appeared, but those were all small-scale operations. This time, the opponent seems to be very strong.
"Don't worry about him, just focus on doing our own thing." Qianxue is no small workshop, so why would they be afraid of being squeezed out by competitors? They advertise on major TV stations across the country, especially CCTV, where they have been advertising for so long that they have long been a household name in the underwear industry.
As the first lingerie brand to advertise, and with such a bombardment and brainwashing style of advertising, it's very difficult for others to surpass them.
Of course, they can't rest easy. They must keep improving, optimizing their brand, and constantly updating their designs to stay ahead of the competition.
Mr. Yu nodded, but he didn't seem alarmed. He simply told Mr. Shu about the matter.
"Another matter is the branch factory. Last time I went back to headquarters for a meeting, they said they were going to establish branch factories in Beijing and Guangzhou. I didn't know about this?" President Yu had been keeping this in mind, but it seemed like headquarters had forgotten about it.
"We do have such a plan, but the company just acquired two plots of land in Nancheng. After discussing it with General Manager Hu, we decided to build the main factory first, and the branch factories will have to wait for now." Actually, the current production pressure is still quite high, because most of the company's funds have been invested in building the main factory.
“There are a lot of garment factories in Guangzhou. New garment factories open every day, and many garment factories also go out of business. My idea is to acquire one of these garment factories. The price would be cheaper than if I set one up myself. In addition, the machines and skilled workers would be available. Once the deal is finalized, we can start production immediately.” He had thought about this plan for a long time and felt that it wouldn’t cost much money.
Shu Yan prefers to directly obtain land from the government, get approval, and build the house herself, but such an investment would be too large.
"Could we find a contract manufacturer to temporarily replace them?" Shu Yan asked, glancing lightly at the table with her index finger.
Mr. Yu was somewhat disappointed. It seemed that the headquarters really didn't plan to build any more branch factories. "I've already found a few good contract manufacturers. I can have the people from headquarters go and inspect them later."
Shu Yan smiled at him, "How did things go with Manager Wang's girl last time?"
"You mean Yingying? She's doing exceptionally well here, and she recently became the group leader." General Manager Yu had a strong impression of Yingying.
"Don't give her special treatment because of me. Just give her a position based on her abilities." Shu Yan thought that President Yu was only promoting her because of her.
"Please don't misunderstand, this is the result of her own hard work. I only found out after she was promoted. The store manager there had no idea that we knew each other," General Manager Yu said with a smile.
This is quite unexpected. He only came from Nancheng and has already been promoted to team leader in just a few months.
Don't think being a team leader is easy. The directly operated store in Guangzhou is over 200 square meters. Besides the store manager, there are 10 employees, divided into two groups of five each, working morning and evening shifts, rotating every two weeks. In addition, the two groups compare performance, and a bonus is awarded monthly to the group with the highest sales. The team leader receives commission from the entire group, so her sales performance is usually the best within the group; otherwise, the team members would definitely disagree.
When Yingying was working for her, her performance was never as good as Zhang Huaxiu's. Shu Yan never expected that she would become a team leader after only a few months here.
Everyone gathered for dinner that evening. At first, there was a bit of awkwardness, but after a toast, the atmosphere relaxed considerably. If it were a male boss, many employees would have come up to toast him by now. Shu Yan toasted and then said she couldn't drink, so some of the male employees didn't dare to object and just ate. The atmosphere was quite good, mainly because the branch office's senior management were all quite eloquent.
After they had almost finished eating, Shu Yan waved for her assistant to come over. There was a karaoke bar nearby, and if any company employees wanted to go, they could put it on her tab.
Most of them were young people, and when they heard that the boss was going to treat them to karaoke, they immediately went.
"Aren't you going to have fun?" Shu Yan asked President Yu, turning her head to the side.
"I'm tone-deaf, so I won't bother anyone," President Yu waved his hand.
The main reason is that the higher-ups feel uncomfortable when they go there. Since they're going to have fun, let them enjoy themselves.
After chatting with President Yu for a while, Shu Yan and a few others who didn't go out returned to the hotel. She wasn't the type to be sensitive to unfamiliar beds, but after traveling by plane and car all day, she was quite tired and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, sleeping soundly until dawn.
Mr. Yu and his entourage were waiting in the lobby early in the morning, ready to take them to the best breakfast in Guangzhou.
"It's really delicious." It really is delicious. Shu Yan had always known that Guangzhou was a city with good food, but she had never actually been there before. The place she went to yesterday was just so-so. She didn't expect today's breakfast to be so amazing.
"Reservations are required for breakfast here. Knowing you were coming, I specially asked someone to buy tickets for you." Mr. Yu pushed a stack of pastries that Shu Yan had already picked at twice in front of her.
No wonder she comes from a sales background; her insight and communication skills are truly exceptional.
She had a meeting at the company in the morning and declined Mr. Yu's invitation to lunch. She went directly to the directly operated store in Guangzhou and took the opportunity to visit Yingying.
"Sister, what brings you here?" Upon seeing Shu Yan, Yingying's voice changed with excitement, and her eyes reddened slightly.
"I came to the branch office to visit, and I also wanted to see how you are doing. Are you settling in well here?" Shu Yan felt a pang of sadness seeing her like this.
Actually, she wasn't that old; she should still be in college. But her parents forced her to leave her hometown and work hard in an unfamiliar place. She knows that feeling all too well.
"It wasn't quite right at first, but I'm fine now." Yingying wiped her eyes and said with a smile, "Sis, how long are you staying here? I'll take you to eat something delicious?"
"I'm leaving this afternoon, so take me out to eat again next time." Shu Yan glanced at the name tag on her chest. "Oh! You're a team leader now?"
Speaking of this, Yingying was particularly proud, "Yeah, I was the top salesperson for three months in a row, and the store manager specially promoted me to team leader. Sis, I didn't let you down, did I?"
"You're great, keep up the good work and become a store manager soon. When you've saved enough money, come find me to join the franchise. Don't forget you'll become my franchisee." Shu Yan patted her shoulder.
"I will definitely try my best." Yingying paused, then asked cautiously, "Sister, my parents... haven't they given you any trouble, have they?"
Shu Yan suddenly didn't know what to say about Yingying's parents. She only found out after Fang Zeyu investigated that Yingying's younger brother had been tricked by his ex-girlfriend.
He lost his girlfriend, was swindled out of 30,000 yuan, and most importantly, his family's reputation in the area was ruined, especially his younger brother, who now has difficulty finding a girlfriend in the neighborhood.
After hesitating for a moment, Shu Yan decided to tell Yingying what had happened.
She remained silent for a long time before giving a faint smile. "I told him back then that that woman was unreliable, but my brother said I was meddling. The 30,000 yuan is gone, so be it. As long as he's alright, that's all that matters. I believe he'll learn from this experience and work harder in the future."
Shu Yan really wanted to say that it's really hard for someone like your brother to be ambitious.
Yingying was still at work, and talking for too long would be bad for her. Shuyan went for a walk around the neighborhood. Since she was already in Guangzhou, she should bring back some local specialties.
I had lunch with Yingying, and she didn't mention her family at all. Instead, she talked to Shuyan about her dreams.
"I want to find a slightly remote location to open a small franchise store first, and then gradually expand it."
"You will achieve it," Shu Yan said with a smile.
Hu Ruixue hadn't returned to the company yet after rushing back from Guangzhou to Nancheng. Shu Yan gave the local specialties to Manager Wang and went straight home.
"Mom." The two children were overjoyed to see Shuyan return.
She patted their heads and then turned to talk to Hu Ruixue. As the company grows bigger, there will definitely be more and more business trips in the future, and it may even be abroad. Domestically, it only takes a few days to make a round trip, but abroad it may take half a month or a month. Shu Yan doesn't want to miss the children's growth, and she believes that Hu Ruixue can't be away from Duoduo for too long either.
Shu Yan took the children to Lin Hui's house for a while, then delivered some to Sister Zhang's house, and finally went to Wu Xiuyue's place. Now, it's impossible to find Wu Xiuyue at her house; you can only go to her shop. When Shu Yan arrived, Wu Xiuyue was talking to a little girl whose eyes were red and whose expression was particularly aggrieved.
Upon seeing Shu Yan enter, Wu Xiuyue immediately smiled, "What brings you here today?"
"I went to Guangzhou to buy some local specialties for you." Shu Yan didn't ask about the little girl at all. "How is Xiuxiu? Is she feeling any better?"
"Much better. I've been buying you pig's trotters, chicken, duck, and fish every day these past few days to nourish your body. Why did you suddenly run off to Guangzhou?" Wu Xiuyue took the things and put them away, then glanced at the girl standing there motionless and glared at her. "Hurry up and get some water. You have no sense at all." Turning back to Shu Yan, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry to have troubled you. This is a relative of mine. Her family is poor, and she's not very ambitious. She didn't get into high school and they wouldn't let her continue. I was looking for a sales clerk, so I had her come and give it a try. I thought she had at least graduated from junior high school, so even if she wasn't very talkative, she could at least help with sorting the goods and tidying up. But she's clumsy and can't do anything right."
Wu Xiuyue pulled Shu Yan aside and poured out her grievances.
"She's only 16 after graduating from junior high school, still too young." Shu Yan glanced at the young girl busy inside, who looked like a bean sprout and couldn't fill out the clothes at all. How could customers buy clothes from her? Wu Xiuyue had turned a fine boutique women's clothing store into an ordinary women's clothing store.
“What do you mean you’re still young? I was already making clothes for my mom when I was 16. You’re so clumsy, no wonder you couldn’t get into high school.” Wu Xiuyue shook her head.
Shu Yan felt that she had gone too far. Since she had chosen this girl because she was looking for a cheap deal, she should teach her properly now. She was just starting out in society and didn't know anything. She was bound to be afraid of strangers. If she didn't teach her properly and even scolded her, her fear would only get worse and worse, and she would be unable to do things well.
Since it was someone else's business, Shu Yan didn't say much. "I have a lot of things to do here, so I'll go first. I'll come find you to hang out later."
"Okay, then come visit often." Wu Xiuyue saw Shu Yan off at the door, and when she turned around and saw the little girl who had just brought over the water, she couldn't help but frown. "Didn't you see that she left? You're only bringing it out now. I've never seen anyone as clumsy as you."
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