Liu Yong was a busy man. However, he listened patiently to phone calls from home.
After hearing Li Fengmei’s words, Liu Yong pondered for a while, “If Xiaolan wants to separate, that’s fine. She has her reasons. She won’t let us suffer losses, and we won’t let her suffer either. You can agree to this first, but as for how to divide things, let’s discuss it after I meet her in Beijing.”
How did their family rise to success?
The profitable clothing store and the lucrative renovation company didn’t fall from the sky.
Liu Yong gave 50 yuan to Xia Xiaolan and used a Forever-brand bicycle to transport the worn-out luggage belonging to Liu Fen and Xia Xiaolan, the mother-daughter pair, back to Qijing Village, providing them with a place to stay.
In the blink of an eye, his clever and grateful niece had lifted his family of three from being village folks with mud on their trouser cuffs to living in the provincial capital.
The opportunity came from Xia Xiaolan, and she paved the way – Liu Yong kept all this in his heart.
Family members shouldn’t keep secrets, and he never intended to keep his earnings for himself.
If Xiaolan felt it wasn’t good to keep the money mixed together and wanted to separate, she must have her reasons. When Xiaolan offered the clothing store in Shangdu, Liu Yong dared to let Li Fengmei accept it. If Xiaolan wanted his renovation company, he wouldn’t frown either.
Liu Yong had learned more than Li Fengmei from his experiences in the outside world, and his horizons had broadened.
The amount of money earned wasn’t important; what mattered was the real skills learned in the process of making money. Even if he lost his profitable company now, Liu Yong believed he could make a comeback. Because he had learned how to make money, going from a renovation novice to an expert, Liu Yong had spent over a year learning and practicing.
Similarly, how the Shangdu clothing store was established, from sourcing goods to renovation to various promotional tactics, was all Xia Xiaolan’s idea.
Without the Shangdu store, Xiaolan could open other stores – this was her capability that no one could take away. Liu Yong didn’t think his niece wanted to make money independently without them. He thought it through and believed Xiaolan wanted to pass this expertise to him and Li Fengmei, so the couple wouldn’t always depend on others.
Even if that “other person” was Xia Xiaolan.
Everyone needs to be self-reliant; as Grandmother Yu said, they need to be weaned!
Liu Yong muttered to himself:
“As the book says, teaching someone to fish is better than giving them fish…”
Besides construction and renovation, Liu Yong also studied sociology and learned how to deal with various clients. Though his educational background wasn’t high, he couldn’t stop enriching himself. Liu Yong had read all sorts of books, and these life-motivational quotes came naturally to him.
With Liu Yong’s explanation, Li Fengmei felt more assured.
She was angry that Liu Yong didn’t tell her about buying a house in Beijing, but for such major matters, she would still consult Liu Yong. Having his opinion gave her confidence!
Xia Xiaolan hadn’t thought that deeply about it.
While teaching them to fish was part of the reason, mainly she found it troublesome and preferred everyone managing their own business to avoid complications.
If business turned bad, she wouldn’t need to explain to anyone. Previously, she partnered with them to help Uncle’s family, but now Liu Yong was wealthier than her, so why should she keep holding on?
She roughly discussed “Luna’s” store decoration with Chen Xiliang. The Shangdu clothing store had been limited by insufficient funds at the time. Though locals in Shangdu thought it was high-end, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t very satisfied. It was only because consumers hadn’t seen much and weren’t picky – otherwise, how could a store decorated like ‘Blue Phoenix’ earn nearly 200,000 yuan a year? That was ridiculous!
The first inadequate element was the display window.
Even in winter, they had to keep the doors open. Despite the cold wind gusting in, they had no choice – otherwise, how could passing customers be attracted by the colorful clothes inside if their view was blocked?
This kind of store needed large glass display windows that wouldn’t obstruct vision but would block summer heat and winter cold.
Regardless of season, the store temperature would always be comfortable, and customers staying in such a pleasant environment would surely want to browse longer.
Try on more clothes, and they’d eventually find something they liked – then they’d pay.
Winter heating, summer air conditioning, glass display windows, and premium lighting – these were all essential.
In 1985, customers weren’t so particular – they would buy from street stalls and cluttered shops.
For mid-range prices, Xia Xiaolan gave them high-end treatment, making them feel buying at “Luna” was prestigious and wearing the clothes gave them face, thus remembering this brand. Just like why Xia Xiaolan always sought Manager Wu for banking services? Manager Wu’s service spirit was ahead of its time, and having experienced such good service, Xia Xiaolan naturally wouldn’t go to others!
“Once they’ve experienced good stores, they naturally won’t want to buy clothes from poorly lit shops with peeling walls. Only in such a place can clothes worth 10 yuan sell for several times the price… The premium on clothing brands is formidable.”
As for how other similar clothing stores would survive with “Luna’s” high-end renovations, that wasn’t Xia Xiaolan’s concern – the tide of the market economy was coming, and those still treating consumers with old methods would eventually be eliminated by the market!
Different income levels and consumption concepts created consumer stratification.
Those pursuing fashionable clothing were typically higher-income people. Lower-income people wouldn’t enter such stores, though Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t approve of brand salespeople discriminating against low-income groups – being impatient with poorly dressed people needed to be prevented from the source.
Training sales staff was also a science, and Chen Xiliang listened until his head hurt:
“Sister, can you handle this?”
He was stretched thin, managing too many things alone, and indeed couldn’t attend to everything.
This was Chen Xiliang’s business, and also Zhou Cheng’s business – how could Xia Xiaolan not care about it?
If it meant training employees, so be it. This step would come sooner or later. Not only helping Chen Xiliang, but Xia Xiaolan also wanted to train ‘Blue Phoenix’ employees together. She wasn’t afraid of employees becoming smarter – the smarter the subordinates, the easier for those above. As long as she kept improving and the business kept developing, giving subordinates hope and making them feel working with Xia Xiaolan had prospects, she would never lack excellent employees.
Herding one sheep or herding a flock was the same effort, so Xia Xiaolan agreed to this.
How to stand, how to smile genuinely and kindly – didn’t Xia Xiaolan know all this?
“I’ve been busy recently, so you scout for candidates first. Aren’t you opening a store in Yangcheng? When winter break comes, send your selected people to Shangdu, and I’ll train them together.”
Being a shop assistant wasn’t a prestigious occupation, and recruiting from other regions wasn’t easy – they all hired locally.
The Yangcheng store would naturally hire Yangcheng staff.
For the two stores in Beijing, Xia Xiaolan needed to find staff willing to go to Shangdu for “training” before winter break. After winter break preparation, they could start work directly after the New Year. Chen Xiliang wanted to open in spring, and Xia Xiaolan also wanted her clothing store to operate in spring.
After the New Year, when she returned to Beijing for school, Liu Fen and Grandmother Yu would also be in Beijing, so Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t need to worry about her mother constantly.