Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 193 Expansion Plan for the Convenience Store Project
After leaving Paine Weber Securities, Larry took Mr. K to meet Logan and Huang Meitang.

The flagship store of Steamed Milk Tea is located in a prime street-front shop of about 100 square meters at the end of Ping'an Lane, along with the processing plant behind it.

Following Larry's previous instructions, the two had transformed the house on the corner of Chinatown into a transparent kitchen with a glass wall, allowing customers to easily see from the outside whether the internal operations were safe and hygienic.

In addition, the main steamed milk tea shop has detailed operating procedures on the wall, which allows customers to easily see how the shop ensures hygiene requirements for consumers in each process.

Right in the center of the main counter, there is also a flagship steamed milk tea shop. Here, individual orders are accepted, and delivery service is also available.

The delivery drivers for the bubble tea shop were teenagers recruited by Logan from Irish immigrant families. They offered free delivery within 2 miles, and charged a fee for deliveries beyond 2 miles.

Following Larry's advice, Logan equipped his delivery drivers with eye-catching yellow jackets and helmets, as well as single-person tricycles for carrying goods, which greatly improved delivery speed.

These guys in yellow jackets were nicknamed "Steam Delivery Boys".

Logan would give each of his delivery guys a 2-cent delivery fee per order, which wasn't much. But Logan encouraged the delivery guys to provide excellent service in exchange for tips from customers.

After all, people who can afford to buy milk tea through a delivery service are definitely from the middle class or above.

Regarding the staffing of the milk tea counter, Huang Meitang, following Larry's instructions, searched almost the entire Chinatown before finding three young Chinese girls with big eyes, fair skin, pretty faces, and fluent English to serve as sales clerks.

Each person earned $8 a week, which was the highest salary for a front desk employee in Boston at the time.

At this time, women faced severe discrimination in the workplace, with their average salary being only half that of male employees in the same position.

But there is no such gender discrimination with Logan, although the service requirements for these girls are very strict.

Larry followed the established service standards of the bubble tea shop from his previous life, making detailed rules on how to greet customers upon entering, how to smile, how to serve bubble tea with both hands, and how to offer blessings.

Of course, Larry also provided them with the best Western-style shirts and long skirts according to the aesthetic standards of the time, all in order to create a positive image for the store.

The other employees are a mix of Chinese and other immigrants, totaling 20 people. They are all paid $5 a week and are responsible for the production and packaging of steamed milk tea.

In addition, the store employs two security guards certified by the Boston Police Department, each paid $8 per week.

The total cost of renting the property, purchasing equipment, and decorating the Chinatown Steamed Milk Tea flagship store was $750.

Once in normal operation, the estimated monthly operating cost, including worker wages, rent, and pre-purchased raw materials, is $880.

This covers the operating costs of the head office; branches operate on a franchise model. The head office provides guidance and supplies, and collects franchise fees, while branches are responsible for their own profits and losses.

The selected shop owners are all from impoverished or vulnerable groups who have lost the ability to do heavy physical labor. However, the specific candidates need to go through a series of investigations, including registration, identity verification, and integrity record checks, before they can be granted a shop opening permit.

With Huang Meitang's assistance, Logan has completed the selection of personnel and is now waiting for Kennedy to bring in political resources.

Larry inspected the progress and was satisfied with Logan's performance, but the latter smiled and said that many of the specific suggestions were actually put forward by Huang Meitang. Huang Meitang replied that the specific recruitment coordination work was handled by Mr. Logan Stone, and he was just adding a few words.

The four of them had a hearty lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown and made arrangements for their next steps.

For this banquet, the four of them chose American local wines that they all found acceptable. Holding the bright red wine in their hands, they raised their glasses, clinked them together, wished each other well, and then drank the wine in one gulp.

At this point, Larry began to deliberately release his past life memories. He pretended to learn how to use chopsticks from Huang Meitang, and after a few "clumsy" attempts to pick up food, he quickly mastered the skills of using chopsticks.

Larry's extraordinary intelligence left the other three speechless.

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, Larry began to summarize the progress of the work to the three of them.

The convenience store project is currently the most promising. Larry suggested that they should leverage the influence of the Democratic Party for nationwide expansion, a suggestion that Mr. K and Logan agreed to.

But Huang Meitang offered a different perspective. He put down his wine glass and solemnly said to Larry,
“Mr. Livingston, you should really reconsider this. Convenience store projects are different from milk tea shops; they're not projects with huge profits from the start, and they require fully legitimate business operations. Don't let the benefits slip away to others!”

Larry's eyes lit up, and he put down his glass, staring intently at Huang Meitang, saying, "What you said makes sense! Please elaborate on your views."

Huang Meitang said, “My view is that you should first open at least 5 to 10 directly operated stores in Boston and the surrounding area to prove profitability and business model. This will prove to potential partners that the model can work in multiple communities. Only then can you expand it nationwide.”

Larry nodded, signaling Huang Meitang to continue.

"When you were running your milk tea shop and convenience store, I noticed your innovative thinking, which was to develop a unified store design. Even the shelf layout and signage style in your convenience stores were uniform. This business model left a very deep impression on people."

As Huang Meitang spoke, he continued to raise his hand in gesturing towards Mr. K, and then continued,
"Furthermore, I heard from Mr. K that you have your own unique ideas regarding goods delivery, the selection and centralized procurement of convenience store products. This not only reduces warehousing and distribution costs but also greatly facilitates your bargaining power with product sellers, which is also very important. Once this model is mature, you should demonstrate this to potential business partners in various states, ideally with a standardized process document or something..."

Larry nodded slowly. What Huang Meitang had just mentioned was brand visual identity and a unified "Operations Manual," which is indeed the soul of the chain industry.

While Huang Meitang was speaking, Logan continued to eat his food nonchalantly, but Mr. K, who was actually in charge of the convenience store project, was listening with his mouth agape and nodding slightly.

After Huang Meitang finished speaking, Mr. K also seemed to wake up from a dream and said, "That's right, boss! We should operate it directly first—this project is so damn profitable, why should we easily hand it over to others? Once we've done a good job and have proven our operating results for more than a year, you can then provide franchise support to other states, allowing the local bigwigs to operate according to our model and brand."

By controlling the core centralized procurement and large-scale warehousing, we can avoid getting bogged down in the details of specific expansion while maintaining control over the most crucial and profitable procurement and warehousing channels. This approach is far more profitable than simply expanding across the entire United States right now!

Larry was taken aback when he heard this, then nodded emphatically.

That's true. Perhaps I was too influenced by the viral expansion business model of my previous life and didn't consider that everything is much slower in this era.

There's really no need to perfect this model in a short time. Even if imitators can see the convenience store business model, they can't grasp the core of the chain business model, which lies in unified procurement, warehousing, and distribution...

Therefore, there is no need to immediately promote the convenience store project nationwide. Instead, we should first establish and solidify the directly operated store system in New England to create a brand effect, and then promote it throughout the United States. This is in our best interest.

As for prioritizing veterans in terms of reputation, this can be added as an additional condition later when it's time to further enhance their reputation.

At present, we should still focus on the convenience store business model and build a strong brand reputation as much as possible during expansion.

Larry thought for a while, then smiled at Huang Meitang and Mr. K and said, "You're right! Then we'll continue to open directly operated stores for our convenience store project and establish the brand first."

Both of them nodded in agreement.

“However, that might require further investment. The business chain model still requires continuous investment at the beginning…” Larry pondered.

At this moment, Logan, who had been silent until now, suddenly raised his hand, swallowed the food in his mouth, and then shouted loudly,

"Larry, it's just investing money, right? I don't know about anything else, but I know you can make money by following me. I just made an extra $1. You tell me how to invest, and I'll invest it however you want! I wouldn't even care if that money went down the drain. Anyway, I know that if you make me throw money into the water, it proves that you can make money even by throwing money down the drain!"

After Logan finished speaking, everyone at the table laughed. After the laughter subsided, all three of them turned their gazes to Larry, their faces filled with trust and expectation...

Larry smiled slightly, thinking to himself that he now understood why some leaders could stand out and have their former partners admire and follow them.

The key is that you get to eat meat if you work for me!
This is the material foundation for doing a good job in one's career.

Ultimately, the four agreed on an expansion plan for the convenience store project:
The first year or two were spent expanding directly operated stores and solidifying the business model;
In the next year or two, we will expand the "branch office + partner" model on the East Coast, find local partners, provide "franchise" style support, but establish a unified procurement and warehousing system under the branch office, and then use the branch office to inspect and supervise the retail terminals of the partners.

Once the company has conquered key areas on the East Coast and gained brand recognition, it will be reorganized into a joint-stock company, selling shares or bonds to wealthy individuals, banks, and trust companies on the East Coast to raise funds for large-scale expansion and establish a nationwide convenience store network.

On the other hand, by utilizing the existing convenient railway and telegraph systems, large regional central warehouses can be established to unify the logistics and supply chain system.

(End of this chapter)