"Joy, at this rate, how long will it take to acquire 10%?" Chen Zhiwen asked.
Joey, the VIP manager of Citigroup, was well prepared and replied: "In the past few consecutive quarters, Wal-Mart's performance has been very good, and its growth rate has been very impressive. Their stocks have attracted the attention of many investors, and some have already This has caused an increase in our acquisition costs, but fortunately these investors are relatively cautious and are still waiting for the fourth quarter report. We can reach the established target of 10% before then."
"Wal-Mart's stock has risen like this during this period. It's normal for Wall Street to find out." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
Wall Street investors are not fools. In the past, Wal-Mart was small and did not attract much attention. But as time goes by, the company's performance can increase by 40 to 50% every year. Anyone will discover this star. Especially the economic crisis after the oil crisis hit almost all industries, which naturally made Wal-Mart stand out from the crowd.
It's just that for ordinary investments, when the risk is not high, Wall Street will not react so quickly. They need to wait until a very good trend appears before they can make a move. And for this group of hungry wolves, they prefer to rely on Using leverage to make short-term profits in the financial market, long-term holding is not their favorite.
Joey continued: "According to legal regulations, listed companies need to announce the financial situation of the previous quarter within 2 months. That is to say, Walmart will announce its financial report by the end of February at the latest. According to the previous trend, it should be a Good data.”
"Then let's work hard again and acquire 10% of the stock, that's about it." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said, for a family business, being able to obtain 10% of the other party's shares is basically the limit. If it weren't for Wal-Mart The future rate of return was too high and it was in line with his strategic layout. It was impossible for him to invest so much money in the early stages of his career.
"Okay, then I will complete the remaining stock acquisitions within two months. Just because you are not in the United States, I will contact you at night on many special occasions." Joey said.
"Okay, you know my phone number in Hong Kong." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, this is considered the time cost of cross-border investment, but fortunately, as long as you set your own needs, you shouldn't be disturbed often. Besides, it's only two hours at most. month ends.
Joey paused and asked: "Mr. Chen, after Wal-Mart acquires the target, do you still need to invest in other stocks? Or exchange funds?"
"No need for the moment, just maintain the balance of Wal-Mart." Chen Zhiwen said lightly. He was basically unfamiliar with the current US stock market. He invested in Wal-Mart because it was one of the few companies that was established in the 1960s and rose in the 1990s. There are some companies that have been listed, but they are not yet listed. If you want to start, you have to find an opportunity. Besides, what he pays more attention to is the possible cooperation with Wal-Mart. In this investment, profit is secondary. After all, the electronic age is coming soon, and if you invest 10% in a few companies, you can easily get a return that is no less than that of investing in Wal-Mart.
In Chen Zhiwen's view, investment is secondary, and his own career is the most important. The purpose of investment is to have more capital to develop his own business in the future. In the simplest terms, it is similar to Samsung's countercyclical price war. Without massive capital, it is impossible to continue playing.
"Okay, Mr. Chen." Joey was a little disappointed. Although Chen Zhiwen used leverage in Citigroup, Wal-Mart's stock has been relatively strong recently. This is already a very good financial collateral. As long as Chen Zhiwen is willing, he can still continue to mortgage to obtain funds. of.
Chen Zhiwen saw what he meant and smiled: "If there is demand in the future, I will consider borrowing from Citigroup again."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Chen." Joey immediately said with a smile.
After leaving Citigroup, Chen Zhiwen made a special trip to the most famous Twin Towers and stayed in a five-star hotel there for one night. After enjoying the daily life of European and American wealthy people, he returned to the good market in Los Angeles. Many supermarkets.
During this week's departure period, Costco gained another 1,100 members.
"You are a very fast member, 1,000 a week?" Chen Zhiwen asked in surprise.
"This is the early stage. It won't be so fast in the future. If we can stabilize 300 new members every week in the future, I will be very happy." Pierce said with a smile.
"With millions of families in Los Angeles, there is still a lot of room for improvement." Chen Zhiwen laughed and said, although he knew it was a bit unrealistic, he could still imagine it.
Costco's membership business model determines that once you become a member user, you will purchase most of your family's daily necessities and food at Costco. According to estimates, a membership card can bring in an average of 600 With an annual turnover of USD 35,000, as long as the number of members reaches 35,000, the annual turnover can be as high as USD 20 million.
A supermarket's annual turnover of 20 million U.S. dollars may not matter in future generations, but in this era, it is very amazing. However, it is very difficult to have 35,000 members. Although there are millions of households in Los Angeles, but remove The very rich and the very poor may only have half left, and a city is flat, and a supermarket can only cover a certain area. Even if Costco’s business model is to purchase enough goods at one time, users can I don’t care much about the distance, but it can only cover a certain area of people around me. No matter how favorable your price is, it will be difficult for people to drive from across the city to buy things.
"Mr. Chen, I want to open a second store." Pierce said.
"So fast?" Chen Zhiwen asked in surprise.
"It has to be fast. The purchasing cost of a supermarket is too high. Only if we have a large number of supermarkets and a large purchasing volume can we reduce the purchasing cost." Pierce said. He knows that the boss is very rich and he is old, so he naturally likes to expand rapidly.
"In which city are you planning to open a new store?" Chen Zhiwen nodded in agreement. The scale of supermarkets is very important. Only with a large number can they have enough advantages to reduce costs. Although Costco's model has reduced SKUs and increased The purchase quantity of a single product is still too small for a supermarket. Only with a large quantity can the cost be truly compressed to the extreme.
"San Francisco." Pierce said: "San Francisco's economy is second to Los Angeles, and its population is also large. It is close to Los Angeles, which facilitates our cargo turnover and transportation, and is also close to the port, which facilitates shipping. It is our best choice."
"Okay, it's the same as in Los Angeles. Find a suitable location in the suburbs, then be self-sufficient, simply decorate it, and then contact the previous supplier to supply the goods." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said, the trend in Los Angeles is good, although it is still losing money. But as long as the business model is successful, it will naturally expand. The more you expand, the lower your future operating costs will be.
"No problem. In this case, the investment will mainly be in the property, and the payment can be defaulted first." Pierce said with a smile.
"Then decide on a location and send all the information to me by air freight." Chen Zhiwen said. One advantage of acquiring Fedmart is that it has almost all the suppliers. This can be directly quoted when opening new stores, and at the same time, it can be used like other supermarkets. The payment for the goods was withheld for a period of time. Otherwise, if he had directly started a business and opened Costco, the choice of suppliers and the payment for the goods would have cost him a huge amount.
"Another point is that Costco needs to recruit or train a large number of talents with retail experience. Otherwise, if it opens new stores quickly in the future, personnel will become a big problem." Pierce said.
"It's up to you to decide. Just give me a plan. The most important thing is that I support people." Chen Zhiwen nodded and agreed. In the original history, when Wal-Mart entered rapid expansion, talent became a very troublesome issue. Many rapidly expanding companies will encounter such problems, and Chen Zhiwen naturally needs to be prepared at an early stage.
(End of chapter)
