Chapter 227 The Beginning of Carrefour Supermarket

Chapter 227 The Beginning of Carrefour Supermarket

Chapter 227 The Beginning of Carrefour Supermarket
Although he is interested in cooperating with Hang Seng, he can't just do it. If he does, he will be exposed to being taken advantage of.

In the following days, Yang Wendong met with several other Chinese banks to discuss the possibility of cooperation.

A week later, Yang Wendong made an appointment with Li Fushu from Bank of East Asia, and the meeting place was a high-end teahouse.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Fushu said directly: "Mr. Yang, if we can cooperate this time, Bank of East Asia is willing to fully support your company to acquire the land at 2 Queen's Road and build a modern five-star hotel."

"Mr. Li, this requires a loan amount of 30 to 40 million Hong Kong dollars." Yang Wendong said in surprise, "Can the Bank of East Asia afford so much money?"

Bank of East Asia was established in 1919, much earlier than Hang Seng Bank, but it is now smaller than Hang Seng in scale.

Li Fushu in front of him is a second-generation family member of the Bank of East Asia. As far as Yang Wendong knows, the total deposits of the Bank of East Asia are only between 3 million and 4 million Hong Kong dollars. In the banking industry, it is not easy to take out this 10% of the deposits.

Li Fushu said with a smile: "Please rest assured, Mr. Yang, since I have promised, I will definitely do it.

As long as we have an agreement, I will absorb deposits from the public at a slightly higher interest rate and raise funds.

Moreover, in real estate auctions, when such a large amount of money is involved, the Hong Kong government will not ask the buyer to pay all at once. It may even be delayed to pay in installments over a period of one or two years. Mr. Yang should also be aware of this.”

"Yeah, that's right." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "How much is the interest?"

Li Fushu replied: "The normal loan level will do. I'll set it at 6.5% initially, but it can still be discussed later."

"This interest rate makes me feel a little uneasy." Yang Wendong was a little puzzled.

Currently, the interest rate for real estate loans in Hong Kong is generally between 6% and 8% if there is sufficient collateral, and commercial loans are even higher.

If Bank of East Asia absorbs depositors' deposits at high amounts and then lends them to them at an interest rate of 6.5%, there will not be much profit margin.

"As long as nothing unexpected happens, we can still make some money." Li Fushu explained, "I didn't plan to make much money from this cooperation. This is our first cooperation, and we also want to show our sincerity.

Personally, I am very optimistic about Mr. Yang. Your business involves many fields and has been developing well so far. I think there will be no problem in the hotel industry."

"Haha, okay, then I will seriously consider it." Yang Wendong nodded.

He understood what Li Fushu meant. In fact, he just wanted to cooperate more with him in the future.

For a bank, a stable, low-risk large customer is very important, and it is obvious that Bank of East Asia wants to win over itself.

Li Fushu added: "Then I wish Mr. Yang can bid for this piece of land in the auction at the end of the year."

"Okay, thank you." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I will send someone to your bank to discuss the specific cooperation matters later."

Li Fushu smiled and said, "No problem, I'm always welcome."

After returning home, Yang Wendong and Su Yiyi helped the child practice rolling over, and also briefly told him about their conversations with several banks in the past few days.

Su Yiyi said: "This Bank of East Asia is really sincere."

“Well, I guess it’s because it was surpassed by Hang Seng Bank, so it’s a bit anxious.” Yang Wendong smiled and said, “I asked someone to check. Before the 50s, East Asia was still the leader among Chinese banks;

However, Hang Seng Bank seized the industrial market and lent money to Hong Kong factories on a large scale. Since commercial loans offered high profits, it took less than ten years for the bank to become the largest Chinese bank.

"So the Bank of East Asia wants to catch you." Su Yiyi also understood.

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Later, I will ask Zheng Zhijie to communicate with them. We will choose whichever one is more cost-effective to cooperate with, or they can combine loans. We will do whatever is more cost-effective."

"Yeah." Su Yiyi added, "Unfortunately, we won't be able to wait for your hotel in time for the baby's first birthday ceremony."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "It's okay. We'll have a few more children in the future. There will always be a chance."

"Okay." Su Yiyi said, "But I want to have a daughter."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I'll try harder that night."

The next day, Yang Wendong came to Jili Building:

Zheng Zhijie came to report and said, "Mr. Yang, the Four Seasons Hotel brand has been registered, and Four Seasons Hotel has also arranged for people to go to various countries overseas to register."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I have already communicated with the senior executives of Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia, Hisense Bank, and HSBC Standard Chartered, and they are basically willing to cooperate with us.

But each company has its own conditions and ideas. You lead the team in person and negotiate with them to see which one offers the best deal, and we will eventually choose them. "

Loans involving tens of millions of yuan or more are a big deal for big banks, even if they are secured.

Therefore, in order to save time, Yang Wendong came forward first and communicated with the top management of the bank or the head of the credit business of a large British bank, and then handed it over to Zheng Zhijie to follow up and discuss the details of the cooperation.

Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Okay, I will make an appointment with them this afternoon. However, there are so many banks, which ones do you think Mr. Yang is optimistic about?"

"Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Prioritize further negotiations with these two banks, unless other banks offer better conditions."

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Mr. Yang, in the past few days, I have acquired more than a dozen street shops in Admiralty, North Point, Sai Wan, and Causeway Bay, which should meet Mrs. Yang's needs for opening a clothing store."

"So fast?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "It's only been half a month, right?"

Zheng Zhijie explained: "These are just ordinary shops. I have a lot of options here. As long as you have money, you can buy it."

"Well, OK." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Just leave the information with me, I'll go back and give it to Yiyi, you don't have to worry about my selection, just continue to purchase;
If Yiyi doesn’t want it in the future, you can treat it as an asset of the real estate company, operate it independently, and rent it out to other people.”

Changxing Real Estate has added a real estate company some time ago. This company is not responsible for real estate development, but only for purchasing properties and collecting rent.

Except for the Changxing Building which will serve as the headquarters of the Changxing Group, all the other buildings acquired from the Liu Chong Hing Bank are under the real estate company, including many properties and land invested in Kwun Tong, which are all under the Changxing Real Estate.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

Yang Wendong added, "That's it. The real estate market has started to pick up recently. The real estate company will continue to use various banks to obtain loans to purchase suitable properties. The real estate business will continue to do high-end residential business. These houses will be sold as soon as possible to cash in the funds. Don't think about keeping them."

On the one hand, they rely on pre-sale properties + loans to continuously develop new houses to obtain more funds, and on the other hand, they invest the funds in fixed assets and then collect rent.

Of course, at the current rate of acquiring fixed assets, Changxing Real Estate's own profitability is still insufficient, which requires Yang Wendong to provide additional funding, plus the use of financial leverage as much as possible.

"Okay, I understand what Mr. Yang means." Zheng Zhijie said, "I'm already preparing an investment plan for the second half of the year. I'll show it to you once it's ready."

Having followed his boss for two years, Zheng Zhijie is very familiar with Yang Wendong's preferred direction of real estate investment. To put it simply, it is "developing residential properties and holding commercial properties."

Yang Wendong asked again: "The villa we developed in Happy Valley in cooperation with Zheng Yutong, is it finished?"

Zheng Zhijie replied, "Yes, we have accepted a total of 40 villas, ranging in size from 4000 to 6000 square feet, and have not yet been sold with Mr. Zheng. What do you think, Mr. Yang?"

"Just hold this for now." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "I'm not considering economic benefits. I have other uses for it. You arrange for a decoration company to decorate all these villas first."

When he first collaborated with Zheng Yutong on this project, it actually didn't mean much to him. The main purpose was to treat it as a collaboration with other real estate companies and learn from their experience, because Changxing Real Estate was still in its early stages at that time.

However, this income product is still good. In this era, Yang Wendong has no interest in holding Hong Kong's high-rise residential buildings for a long time, because he can easily buy them when he has money in the future, unless they are in a very good location, such as Taikoo Shing in the early 70s.

However, villas in Hong Kong Island have always been a scarce resource. Even for a group of villas, their value will only drop slightly during an economic crisis.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "You just need to take care of the rest. In addition, our American colleague Liu Huayu will come to Hong Kong in a week. In addition to Changxing Plaza, he will also look for locations to open supermarkets in other places. You need to fully cooperate with him."

Compared to real estate, he hopes that his supermarket business can develop, because just like Walmart in the United States, the supermarket industry is in its initial stage globally. Although it is difficult to develop in the early stages, it also represents opportunities.

As for real estate, one can indeed make a lot of money in Hong Kong, but one cannot go beyond the mainland and can only participate in overseas activities at most, because this industry has a strong external exclusion. Even the Japanese real estate giants in the past invested in Hong Kong many times, but did not make any splash.

Supermarkets are different. At least they have the opportunity to go global. Although it is not easy, as long as they can control costs well, take advantage of transportation, and cooperate with local capital in some Asian countries, it is possible to cover some Southeast Asian countries.

"No problem, we will definitely cooperate with our sister company." Zheng Zhijie said with a smile.

"Okay." Yang Wendong added: "Also, tell Huang Yaonan that we will need his cooperation in the future, but it won't be for free. We will still pay him the fees he deserves."

The advantage of controlling the minibus company is that you can add bus stops to the large residential communities you build, supermarkets or shopping malls you open in the future, etc.

Of course, he wouldn't do anything stupid. Basically, the places he chooses to invest in would have some business foundation. For the bus company, it would be a place that could be added or not. If it were an outsider, the bus company would certainly ignore him. But now, adding one is just a matter of saying a sentence.

Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Okay, I'll let him know."

The time soon came to August 9th.

Inside the meeting room on the top floor of Hong Kong China Building:
Yang Wendong smiled and introduced: "Let me introduce you guys. This is Liu Huayu, the future head of Carrefour Supermarket. Mr. Liu, and these are the heads of various businesses of my Changxing Group. They are..."

Just yesterday, Liu Huayu came to Hong Kong with several people who had worked under Walton.

After a night's rest, he was taken to the Hong Kong China Building. Yang Wendong summoned the heads of real estate and media because these two businesses would be closely related to the supermarket.

There is also our old partner Zhao Chengguang, a veteran in domestic trade business in Hong Kong. He used to be responsible for supplying some goods to many grocery stores in Hong Kong. Now he is a perfect match for Carrefour's needs.

"Mr. Yang, you should call me Lao Liu." Liu Huayu also stood up, nodded to everyone and said, "I hope you will cooperate with me and help Carrefour with its business in the future. I am not very familiar with Hong Kong."

"It's my duty." Everyone agreed.

Everyone now knows that the boss attaches great importance to Carrefour and has mobilized all resources within the group to provide financial support for this new business.

It can be said that if they want properties, Changxing Real Estate has to find a way to buy them, and if they want publicity, the two media companies have to cooperate, not to mention the funding.

Yang Wendong waved his hand, motioning Liu Huayu to sit down, and said, "Then this meeting will be held by Lao Liu. Changxing Shopping Mall will open in more than a month, and I also hope that Carrefour can follow;
Even if it is too late, at least most of the goods needed by the people must be prepared."

Changxing Building, which will serve as the group's headquarters, will be completed around the Chinese New Year next year, but the shopping mall on the ground floor will open much earlier and will be open for business at the end of October.

"Yes, Mr. Yang." Liu Huayu agreed, took out a notebook, and then said: "I have a lot of questions here, I need to discuss with you.

The first is.”

Everyone in the meeting was listening carefully to Liu Huayu's questions, including Yang Wendong. He had some understanding of the future of supermarket retail, but supermarkets in the era of computers and smart phones were completely different from today.

The meeting ended after more than two hours, and some basic things were decided at the meeting. For example, Qin Zhiye was responsible for advertising in the area of ​​publicity, and Zhang Hui's radio station cooperated.

As for supermarket supplies procurement, the people at Carrefour clearly don't have the energy for it at the moment, so it has all been handed over to Zhao Chengguang for the time being. He is responsible for finding the corresponding supplies according to Liu Huayu's requirements, which is what Zhao Chengguang is good at.

Zheng Zhijie is naturally in charge of the decoration, but it is almost done.

"Okay, everyone." Yang Wendong continued, "This is our first supermarket. I don't need to make a profit immediately, but I need to build up the brand name first and let many Hong Kong people know about the concept of 'supermarket'.

This way, it will be much more convenient for us to build supermarkets in other places in the future, so this supermarket can be regarded as the starting point of our Carrefour.”

In fact, Hong Kong citizens today, just like those in mainland China in the 80s and 90s, think that the only way to buy things is to go to a grocery store. And they can’t choose what they want to buy by themselves, but the store owner will just give them what they point to.

If this happens too many times, the boss will probably be annoyed, but customers have no choice.

Supermarkets are different. They have price tags and the same products are presented in multiple varieties for customers to choose from. This shopping experience is completely subversive and much better than previous grocery stores and department stores.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yang. We will do our best to open this first supermarket," Liu Huayu promised.

Coming to Hong Kong is a gamble for them. If they win, they can become rich, so they naturally take it very seriously.

"Okay, then everyone let's get ready for the opening." Yang Wendong said again.

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(End of this chapter)