A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Springtime arrived in 1958.

On this day, the new Lane Crawford Building, located on Queen's Road Central, opened. It is currently the tallest building in Hong Kong with 26 floors and is also a Grade A commercial complex in Central, Hong Kong.

The building's two basement levels and five above-ground levels belong to Lane Crawford's headquarters. The five above-ground levels are like a base, with a 21-story office building on top of that base.

The Lane Crawford Building's exterior structure is made of concrete and not entirely made of glass curtain walls. This building is also the fourth office building with more than ten floors built by the Chan family in Central, including the earliest 'Global Group Building' (formerly Ping An Bank Building, 10 floors) on Des Voeux Road Central, 'Ping An Bank Building' at 1 Garden Road (15 floors), 'Shangri-La Hotel' on Des Voeux Road Central (15 floors), and the current 'Lane Crawford Building' on Queen's Road Central (26 floors).

These four first-class commercial buildings and hotel buildings alone demonstrate the strength of the Chen family.

The opening of Lane Crawford Building attracted middle and upper-class shoppers from all over Hong Kong.

As a high-end department store brand in Hong Kong, Lane Crawford has never changed its approach for over 100 years, giving people a sense of "loneliness at the top". It mainly sells European and American brand products, and its customers are mainly high-income people such as the wealthy and celebrities.

Even children know that families who can afford to shop at Lane Crawford from a young age must be quite wealthy.

"Sir Chan, your influence on Hong Kong's economy is greater than I imagined. With Lane Crawford opening today, I'm afraid all the city's wealthy people have gathered here!" The newly appointed Governor of Hong Kong, John Perry, said to Chan Kwong-leung with a smile when attending the opening ceremony.

"Your Excellency the Governor is too kind. Hong Kong's strong economy is a result of the leadership of the Hong Kong government and the hard work and perseverance of the people of Hong Kong. As for me, I simply found a good place more than 20 years ago. In our Chinese saying, 'Times create heroes,'" Chen Guangliang said modestly.

The Chan family is now incredibly powerful in Hong Kong, and Chan Kwong-leung is a knighted by the British royal family, which makes him more humble in his actions.

Not to mention the Hong Kong government's wariness, other Chinese businessmen may not be satisfied with the Chan family's monopoly.

Because of this understanding, Chan Kwong-leung has expanded his investments globally while making greater contributions to Hong Kong.

"I've known you for many years and know you're an outstanding entrepreneur with a wide influence around the world," said Berleigh happily.

"Thank you very much"

After exchanging pleasantries, the two prepared to cut the ribbon.

This high-end department store, originally owned by British capital, has now been acquired by a Chinese businessman, leaving the British attendees with a sense of mixed emotions. This sentiment extends beyond Lane Crawford; it extends to Hong Kong Airlines as well.

Later, everyone visited the interior of Lane Crawford department store, which has seven floors (two of which are underground).

In addition to continuing the original style of foreign brand products, the new Lane Crawford headquarters has also made some changes, including the introduction of a cinema, coffee shop and upscale restaurant on the fifth floor.

The entire Lane Crawford headquarters forms a 'closed-loop business', offering a complete range of dining, entertainment, and leisure options.

The following day, Chen Guangliang attended a senior meeting of the Lane Crawford Group, along with the Group's Deputy General Manager Yan Kuan, Group Director Chen Wenjie, and other senior Lane Crawford management, including Du Fulie.

Lane Crawford's senior management is still predominantly British, but two Chinese faces have also appeared, which is a change.

Dufresne knows Chen Guangliang's strengths and weaknesses, so he will naturally do his job as the president of Lane Crawford well and will not cause any trouble. Moreover, Chen Guangliang does not require an all-Chinese team, but a Lane Crawford management team that is mainly British and supplemented by Chinese.

British citizens have an advantage in overseas trade and imports, while Chinese citizens have an advantage in the local Hong Kong market. Cooperation between the two would be even more advantageous.

Dufresne began by reporting: "Currently, Lane Crawford has five stores in Hong Kong, an increase of two since the acquisition, representing a 50% expansion. Following the acquisition of Dah Sing Department Store, Lane Crawford entered the mid-to-low-end department store market, also developing three stores. The progress of the other three new businesses—interior design, antiques sales, and jewelry and cosmetics—is as follows..."

In less than four years, Lane Crawford Department Stores Group has nearly doubled in size, which reflects both Chan Kwong Leung's pioneering spirit and the general trend of Hong Kong's rapid economic growth.

After listening to the report, Chen Guangliang immediately said, "The overall progress is very smooth, and we can do even better. With the rapid growth of the world economy, people's consumption concepts are also changing, moving towards the pursuit of better things. Lane Crawford Jewelry has the advantage of a brand, and I would like to list it separately and focus on its development. Of course, we no longer have an advantage in traditional gold and silver jewelry, so I plan to focus on developing the diamond and gemstone sector."

Upon hearing this, Dufresne immediately replied, "As for diamonds, we don't have good channels; we can only source them from retailers in London that hold a De Beers license. Besides, are there really any people in Hong Kong who appreciate diamonds?"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said:
"Firstly, regarding the issue of diamond imports, I think it's not difficult to solve. In South Africa, a country rich in diamond resources, there are many processing plants holding De Beers licenses, and some of them are on the verge of bankruptcy due to economic reasons. So what we need to do is find local consultants and look for opportunities to buy one or more processing plants holding De Beers licenses, thereby entering this industry."

"Secondly, Hong Kong people appreciate diamonds, and they will appreciate them even more in the future. At the same time, Hong Kong can also engage in the entrepot trade of diamond jewelry, for example, by entering the Japanese market."

Because Hong Kong is a free port, many products are cheaper than some domestically produced goods. Therefore, shopping is an essential part of the annual trips for overseas tourists visiting Hong Kong.

Chen Guangliang's words quickly gained everyone's approval.

Dufresne immediately added, "Okay, we'll get our team ready right away and work on acquiring the diamond license."

Originally, Chen Guangliang wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the jewelry and gold industry, since creating a new brand might not be as successful as Chow Tai Fook or Chow Sang Sang. However, the establishment of Lane Crawford Jewelry gave Chen Guangliang a glimmer of hope.

Lane Crawford is a 108-year-old brand that has been popular with Hong Kong's wealthy and famous people since it started making jewelry two years ago.

If that's the case, then why not make diamonds!

Perhaps, we could even become Hong Kong's largest diamond exporter (entrepot trade).

After the Lane Crawford senior management meeting, Chen Guangliang convened a senior management meeting of CK Asset Holdings Limited.

"Among Cheung Kong Group's upcoming commercial projects, in addition to the Paterson Street project in Causeway Bay, they are also preparing the Cheung Kong Plaza in Central. Both are major projects!"

The Paterson Street project comprises four residential apartment towers, a hotel tower, a department store tower, an office tower, and a shopping mall tower. In terms of scale, it is approaching the size of the former New World Center.

The area occupied by Paterson Street is already 25 square feet (later, another triangular plot of land was purchased to prepare for the construction of a shopping center), while the New World Centre in the previous life occupied 40 square feet.

In summary, the Paterson Street project is already a very large investment for Hong Kong at present.

As for Cheung Kong Plaza in Central, although its total area is only 4 square feet, it is naturally a huge project due to its location and construction cost.

Later, Yan Kuan said, "Dong Family Department Store on Orchard Road is ready to open. Should we also prepare one on Orchard Road in Singapore?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Guangliang said, "When the 60s come, we will consider building a commercial complex on Orchard Road. Since we are not going to compete for the first one, we want to compete for the largest commercial complex."

CK Asset Holdings owns four plots of land on Orchard Road in Singapore, totaling over 600,000 square feet. Besides the planned Shangri-La Hotel, there are also three sites for commercial complexes.

Later, Chen Wenjie also spoke up, saying, "For the department store section of the Paterson Street project, are we planning to introduce Lane Crawford or its subsidiary, Dah Sing Department Store?"

He owned two department stores and thought it was only natural to bring them in.

But Chan Kwong-leung immediately rejected the idea, saying, "I've decided to bring in a Japanese department store. I've been to Japan for many years and I've found that Japan's service industry is the most committed to putting customers first, and Japan has a wider selection of goods than Hong Kong, and they are also better quality and cheaper. So, let's prepare to bring in Daimaru Department Store from Japan, which will also promote Hong Kong's department store industry."

Everyone was quite surprised that they would choose to import a Japanese department store instead of their own two. But what the boss said made a lot of sense.

"Ok"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "Don't worry too much. Department stores are just a model, but they will eventually be replaced by shopping malls. So, our Cheung Kong Group should study shopping malls carefully, rather than investing too much in department stores. Self-service shopping is the future of retail!"

"Yes, boss"

Everyone's confidence immediately increased!
The concept of shopping malls was pioneered by CK Asset Holdings, at least in Asia, with Cheung Kong Plaza in Central being a key project. Of course, CK Asset Holdings is also researching the mixed-use commercial complex model, with Paterson Street being one such project.

The difference between the commercial complex on Baidexin Street and later commercial complexes is that it was an open-air commercial complex, after all, it occupied half of Baidexin Street and was rectangular.

During this period, real estate developers typically sold pre-sale apartments through law firms, which collected and managed the pre-paid money from buyers. In other words, the law firms acted as trustees for the buyers, deciding whether to release the money to the developers based on the buyers' interests.

Coincidentally, both Li Kangjie's joint venture and Chen Detai's company entrusted a nearby law firm to collect money from buyers.

Amid the real estate crisis, the law firm, heeding advice from some individuals, decided to freeze the buyers' money and not release it to Li Kangjie and Chen Detai.

As a result, Li Kangjie, Chen Detai, and others had neither the money to continue building the buildings that had already started construction nor the money to pay the land price, leaving them in a dilemma and their company on the verge of bankruptcy.

The first to give up was Li Kangjie's joint venture, which went bankrupt and went into liquidation. Even the guarantor, He Xian, was being harassed by creditors everywhere. It was only thanks to the intervention of the Bank of China that this patriotic businessman was saved.

Following this, Chen Detai was constantly worried, in a daze, unable to eat or sleep, sleeping only one or two hours a day, and sometimes resorting to alcohol to drown his sorrows.

Seeing this, Fok Ying-tung was very worried that he might do something rash, so he stayed by his side every day, both during the day and at night.

one day.

It was late at night when Fok Ying-tung accompanied Chan Tak-tai on a walk, trying to comfort him. The two forgot it was so late and didn't know where they were going, just wandering aimlessly... Several hours later, they found themselves at Fei Ngo Ling. They climbed the mountain and sat down, chatting or sitting quietly. Chan Tak-tai, however, would occasionally murmur to the starry sky or sigh deeply at the view of Hong Kong at night...

"Mr. Chen, because your amount is so large, only Ping An Bank and HSBC can help you now. I suggest you write a letter to them and see how to resolve this!"

Chen Detai said with a sense of gain and loss, "Ping An Bank is backed by Chen Guangliang, who also owns the behemoth real estate company Cheung Kong Holdings. I'm worried about being swallowed up by them. HSBC is British-owned, so it's also possible that they could turn around and swallow me up."

Henry Fok continued to advise, "At this point, you have to trust the banks; only they can save you. As long as you're alive, you can always make a comeback!"

"Sigh, I'll think about it. Thank you for your advice tonight!"

"You're welcome"

On this day, Chen Guangliang's father-in-law, Yan Zhiduo, brought his eldest son, Yan Zuhe, to Chen Guangliang's office.

"Hey, father-in-law, why didn't you two come to our home? Why did you come to my office instead?"

Chen Guangliang smiled and invited them to sit down.

Yan Zhiduo, the father-in-law, has basically retired and handed over his business to his two sons. Yan Zuhe, the son from his previous marriage, manages the real estate, while Yan Zuxiao, the son from his marriage with Xu Qingwan, is in charge of the factory.

This shows that Yan Zuhe was influenced by his sister, which is why he was included by Yan Zhiduo and gained an advantage when managing the family property.

Yan Zhiduo said with shame, "I have failed in my duty to raise my son, and this kid has caused such a mess!"

Chen Guangliang immediately put on a stern face and said to Yan Zuhe, "What trouble have you gotten yourself into?"

Yan Zuhe trembled with fear. He was most afraid of his brother-in-law, and also of his sister. He said cautiously, "I invested in securities and suffered huge losses. The bank is pressuring me to repay my debts. If all else fails, I'll have to sell the property, but now the property value has plummeted!"

"You scoundrel! Those properties were painstakingly accumulated by my father-in-law over many years. You're just going to sell them off like that? Do you think you're the only son in the Yan family?"

"Brother-in-law, I was wrong!"

After scolding his brother-in-law, Chen Guangliang immediately changed his expression and said to his father-in-law with a smile, "Don't worry, Father-in-law, it won't trouble you!"

Yan Zhiduo said with shame, "Sigh, I thought he could learn a little from you, or even if he learned from his sister, I would be at ease. I never expected that he would actually borrow money to invest in stocks."

Chen Guangliang said to Yan Zhiduo, "Investing in stocks is not wrong; what's wrong is investing with borrowed money. How much money are you short?"

Yan Zuhe quickly replied, "Over 500 million Hong Kong dollars! I haven't even sold my stocks yet; I'd get about 300 million from that."

Good lad, what a spendthrift!
Without his brother-in-law's help, this kid would have squandered the family fortune.

Selling stocks at a loss means there is no hope of recovering losses or making a profit; and it's not even enough to pay off debts, so the only option at this point is to sell property, which is essentially a fire sale.

No wonder Yan Zhi was so angry.

"You go back first, I want to talk to my father-in-law alone!"

"Yes, brother-in-law."

After Yan Zuhe left in shame, Chen Guangliang said to Yan Zhiduo, "Father-in-law, your management of the family division is not good. I think it would be better to set up a trust. Take out most of the assets and pass them down to future generations. The rest can be divided between the two brothers. Even if they lose money in the future, they can live off the trust's living expenses every year and be rich enough."

Yan Zhi nodded and said, "Yes, I trusted Zu He too much. I was careless and made such a big mistake."

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "The problem isn't a big deal for me. It's just a matter of lending him 500 million to deal with the debt first. As for the stocks, they will rise again soon, and the same goes for the property. It's just a temporary drop, and I estimate it will recover next year."

Yan Zhiduo said, "That's because he has a good brother-in-law! You're right, I need to reorganize the family business, otherwise they'll squander it all sooner or later. By the way, I want to rebuild the property at No. 10 Xuechang Street, and then use this property as the main focus to package all the high-quality properties into a trust company, with a stipulation that it can only be rented out, not sold. What do you think?"

Over the years, the Yan family has also accumulated a number of high-quality properties, such as 10 Ice House Street in Central, a commercial site in Mong Kok, and a site for luxury residences and industrial buildings in Mid-Levels.

Chen Guangliang agreed, saying, "Good idea. After the redevelopment of the property at 10 Ice House Street, it will be a high-quality office building in Hong Kong. And Hong Kong will inevitably become a world-class city in the future, so its value and rent will also rise sharply. As for the funding, let Ping An Bank provide the loan. As for the 500 million, let Zuhe borrow it from his sister's pocket money. It's not in accordance with the rules to not go through the bank account."

Yan Renmei wouldn't spoil her younger brother, and she would inevitably give him another scolding, which would also serve as a warning to Yan Zuhe.

As for his father-in-law's trust plan, Chen Guangliang could lend a hand; it would eventually become a trust worth at least tens of billions of yuan. (End of Chapter)