Chapter 452 - 279: True Luxury

Chapter 452: Chapter 279: True Luxury

Something did happen at the company today.

LC Retail’s Peng City Wanxiang City store officially opened for business.

After all the preliminary preparations, the store was finally open. Compared to the professional golf open, this was something Lin Chu cared about more deeply.

The golf open was mainly to rake in some cash. It was a decision made on a whim after a competitor tried to sabotage him.

But LC Retail was his own initiative, a long-term business goal he was setting for the future.

Building a brand-new brand from scratch!

That feeling of accomplishment was pretty exhilarating.

Even when he was old and gone, he would have at least left something behind in this world—a mark, something to give him bragging rights with his future kids and grandkids.

It was now a little after four in the afternoon, and the day’s sales figures were about to be finalized.

Lin Chu didn’t know the specifics yet.

"How’d it go today?"

Lin Chu casually sent a message in the retail executives’ group chat.

The group had four main members: Hu Ping’an, Ma Lin, Yang Huixian, and the group’s new VP of Finance, Jiang Fu—the guy Old Liu had headhunted.

Lin Chu had chatted with him quite a bit in his spare time recently and had a reasonably clear understanding of the man.

He was highly skilled, with a broad perspective and a big-picture mindset. He was a seasoned veteran in finance, and with a top-student mentality, he had earned a ton of certifications. His professionalism was beyond question.

As for loyalty... although they hadn’t known each other long, it was clear that Jiang Fu was a social elite in the traditional sense. He carried himself with integrity, a top performer from a scholarly, hyper-competitive background.

Lin Chu didn’t need him to be personally loyal. As long as the man was reliable and did his job well, that was enough.

Old Liu might not be the most reliable person himself, but he sure knew how to pick good friends.

"Not great. As of now, our revenue just barely broke a million, and most of that came from my friends making courtesy purchases. We only had two sales from regular customers, and they just bought Gold, totaling less than thirty thousand yuan."

Yang Huixian replied quickly.

It was... pretty pathetic.

Truly pathetic.

They had a grand opening, and even secured the best advertising screen placement from Wanxiang City’s management, but the sales figures were genuinely abysmal.

If it weren’t for her friends helping out, they would have been completely skunked today.

And what little they did sell was just Gold.

This was a luxury store!

The main products were Xiangyun Sha! Jadeite! And incense!

’Don’t treat it like a gold shop!’

Yang Huixian had already analyzed the main reason: the prices were high, but the brand value wasn’t there yet.

Even with loss-leader products to attract customers, the average transaction value was still in the five-figure range, on par with top-tier luxury brands.

But as a new brand, on what grounds could they justify it?

Yang Huixian had been mentally prepared for this kind of situation. It was to be expected.

But now that the first day’s results were in, she really did feel like she’d been sucker-punched.

’But does it have to be *this* bad?’

Opening a brick-and-mortar store really was like gambling.

This location, this rent, this decor, this level of service... even a Uniqlo might have hit these numbers on its first day.

"That’s pretty good. Don’t worry about it. You’ve got a lot of friends, huh... No rush. Let the bullets fly for a while."

Lin Chu typed back casually. He felt no ripples of concern; in fact, he almost wanted to laugh.

’It’s just the start. This is normal.’

’Besides, I’m in this for the long haul.’

’If performance is bad, we just optimize.’

He had been discussing this very issue with Jiang Fu over the past two days. Lin Chu had proposed a few ideas, and Jiang Fu had dug deeper into them, but they just hadn’t had enough time to implement them for the grand opening.

"What’s the point of letting the bullets fly? The shot’s already been fired, and our momentum is only going to decrease. It’s the first day, and we’re already in the grinding phase. We didn’t even get a single moment in the spotlight."

Yang Huixian said, her tone laced with self-deprecation.

She had run her own offline stores before and knew the market. In any case, it was tough.

Moreover, this store had an investment of at least thirty million, with fixed monthly costs around five million. At this rate, it was hard to say how long they could last.

Her composure was already a little shaky today.

Even though it was all Lin Chu’s money, she still felt a sense of dread at the difficulty of the task.

It was depressing to feel like you couldn’t get things done.

Trying to build a domestic luxury brand from scratch was as difficult as climbing Mount Everest. After grinding it out for ten or twenty years, you might have a chance, but even then, it was just a chance.

"@all, let’s start a video call. Quick meeting."

Hearing her say that, Lin Chu shook his head with a smile and started the group video call.

’Seriously... why does she have so little confidence?’

’Oh well. Time to give them a little pep talk.’

The camera was right in his face.

The group video call started.

Hu Ping’an, Ma Lin, and Jiang Fu quickly joined in.

"Brother Chu, I’m in the Imperial Capital. The store here is expected to open at the end of the month. Hearing what Sister Hui said has me feeling a little nervous, haha. I need to calm my nerves."

Hu Ping’an was wearing a white shirt and tie. With his shaved head and stubble, he had the look of an artist as he sat in the half-finished store, speaking with a smile.

The stores in the most high-end business districts of first-tier cities were the main event. Each of them was in charge of one city, responsible for polishing the store-opening process and business model until they were mature.

It was a bit like learning by doing. Efficiency was the top priority, and while mistakes were possible, Lin Chu had provided more than enough capital to cover the cost of trial and error.