Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

(Two chapters today too~)

The people in Cornes clearly know when to stay and when to leave.

The manager in charge of reception personally brought in tea, briefly inquired about the two's needs, and then left the room with the other staff. Fujita Tsuyoshi and Shimada did not follow them in, but remained outside the door.

As for Ayako and Reiko...

Before Satsuki went inside, she had already asked two people to continue watching the cars outside.

Anyway, they've already bought all those cars, and they're excitedly discussing which color looks best, so they probably won't get bored anytime soon.

The room fell silent again.

Satsuki sat down by the window and moved the tea that had just been served a little closer to her.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi then sat down on the sofa opposite her.

The man who had just been outside looking like he was accompanying a young girl to a car dealership has now returned to his usual business-like demeanor after leaning back on the sofa.

"Speak."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi looked at Satsuki.

"What are you planning to give my brother?"

Satsuki raised her eyes.

The slight smile I had when I was standing next to F40, meant to tease him, had faded.

FamilyMart.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's eyebrows twitched.

"Good Products Project"

When the second name came out, he changed his sitting posture slightly.

Satsuki paused for a moment before saying the last one.

"And PARCO."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi looked at her.

Satsuki didn't urge him, but simply picked up her teacup and took a small sip.

"You call this 'sharing a little'?"

"Compared to the entire Saison Group (a group of companies including Seiyu), it is indeed just a small amount."

Satsuki put down her teacup, her tone calm.

"I have no interest in Seiyu, and department stores aren't something Saionji needs right now. As for the other businesses, there's no need for me to specifically get involved at the moment."

"So I only pick what I need."

After listening, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi did not refute.

This does indeed resemble Satsuki's business practices.

She has a big appetite, but she rarely puts everything into her hands just because it's cheap or someone is willing to sell it to her.

Especially in the last two years, after one Japanese company after another fell into financial problems, there are now countless assets outside that are willing to be sold to Saionji.

What she actually won over was only a small part of it.

"What about FamilyMart?"

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi first chose the piece he was most familiar with.

"I remember three years ago, you had already put a lot of trouble on it."

"You got a share too."

Satsuki offered a reminder.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi looked at her.

Satsuki's expression, however, held little hint of a joke.

"Three years ago, if Uncle Tsutsumi hadn't been willing to help, Mr. Seiji probably wouldn't have handed over FamilyMart's supply chain so easily."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi certainly remembered that incident.

Satsuki brought a bunch of lunchboxes to the Akasaka Prince Hotel to find him.

In the end, he was persuaded by the little girl and, using the land and collateral that his brother needed most, gave her a strong push from behind.

Not long after, FamilyMart's food, logistics, and sales data began to be integrated into the Saionji system on a large scale.

Later, even 7-Eleven and Lawson followed suit.

Over the years, most of the fresh food sold in Japanese convenience stores has come from Saionji – from the source of production to warehousing and logistics.

"Since you've already gone this far, what's the point of having FamilyMart?"

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi asked.

"Because those things are ultimately just background."

Satsuki placed her hands on her knees and adjusted her posture slightly.

"FamilyMart's central kitchen, fresh food supply, logistics, and some sales data are now closely linked to Saionji. For us, continuing to make money through supply contracts is definitely not a problem, and the profit margin is also very good."

"But Saionji still doesn't have a convenience store that truly belongs to it."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi immediately understood what she meant.

"You want the terminal."

"Um."

Satsuki nodded.

"S-Mart can solve household shopping problems, but convenience stores cater to a different kind of consumer."

"I buy a bento box before dinner, grab a drink on my way home from get off work, and buy whatever I need in the evening just a few minutes downstairs. I might only spend three minutes there each day, but those three minutes happen millions of times a day."

She reached for the teapot and added some tea to her cup.

"Saionji can now produce things, deliver them to stores, and even know what sells well and what doesn't sell faster than before."

"Then wouldn't it be only natural to take the next step and truly make one of them your own?"

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi remained silent for a while.

Just because he doesn't run a convenience store doesn't mean he doesn't understand the value of this step.

In particular, FamilyMart and Saionji had already established a supply relationship that was difficult for others to replicate in a short period of time.

If a completely unfamiliar acquiring party comes in, the first thing to do is to readjust and integrate the business.

Saionji, on the other hand, hardly needed any adjustment period.

"How do you plan to take it?"

"First, try to acquire the shares held by Saison and Seiyu."

Satsuki answered quickly.

"FamilyMart is already a publicly listed company, so naturally it's impossible for them to just sit here and hand it over to me with a single sentence."

"But as long as Mr. Seiji is willing to release the portion that they can control, Saionji can resolve the remaining shares themselves."

"What I want is to eventually have stable control over the operation; buying 100% of the company is not necessary."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi nodded slightly.

Up to this point, he hadn't noticed anything particularly wrong.

What about the "Good Products Project"?

"This is simpler."

"Sugatsuki said."

"S-Collection and UNIQLO address clothing, while S-Mart currently focuses primarily on food and household daily necessities. What Saionji lacks in retail is precisely something that can integrate home furnishings, groceries, stationery, food, and clothing under the same brand logic."

"MUJI has already paved this way."

She paused for a moment at this point.

"Three years ago, I told Mr. Seiji that someone like him was more suited to thinking about how to turn Muji into a philosophy."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi obviously remembered it too.

"Are you now prepared to buy his philosophy?"

"I will pay."

Satsuki glanced at him.

"And you won't pay less."

"Out of my respect for philosophy, I can even give Mr. Tsutsumi Seiji a substantial 'cultural fund'."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's lips twitched slightly.

"Should I thank you on behalf of my brother?"

"That won't be necessary."

Satsuki completely ignored his teasing.

"Ryohin Keikaku has now become independent, and its scale is not yet large enough to be difficult to acquire. At this point, acquiring control is a more suitable option in terms of cost and integration difficulty."

"Its brand has matured to the point that Saionji doesn't need to teach consumers what Muji is all about."

"Making this kind of thing from scratch would actually waste several years of my time."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi picked up the teacup, but didn't drink it; he just held it in his hand and slowly turned it around.

"So what you've set your sights on is something that Seiji has already taken care of for you."

"That's one way to understand it."

Satsuki did not shy away from the topic.

"What about PARCO?"

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi finally got to the last piece.

"Didn't you just buy clothes there this morning?"

"so what?"

"So you spent the whole morning shopping, and you're planning to buy their company too?"

Upon hearing this, a faint smile finally appeared on Satsuki's face.

But it was quickly taken back.

Whether I go today or not will not change the value of PARCO itself.

She leaned back slightly.

"Saionji now has more and more things that can directly face consumers, but there are still not many commercial venues that he is truly good at managing."

"S-Mart is more like a supermarket, and the businesses inside the station mainly operate around the flow of commuters."

"PARCO is different."

Satsuki thought of the shopping mall that was packed with young people that morning.

Brightly colored clothes, trendy music.

Things that are just starting to become popular in magazines.

And then there are those who, even without a clear shopping plan, are willing to spend an entire afternoon there.

"It's not the building itself that's valuable."

"What I want to buy is its business model, its understanding of how to get young people to go in, stay there, and spend their money."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi looked at her for a while.

If Qing Er himself heard this assessment, he would probably be very pleased.

His brother has been trying to prove for many years that business is not just about selling things; culture and lifestyle can also create value.

In the end, the person who truly understood this point the clearest was actually this little girl in front of me.

"You want control too?"

"There's no need to go that far in one step."

Satsuki shook her head.

"PARCO is also a publicly listed company. If Mr. Seiji is willing to relinquish his major shareholding, Saionji can become a major shareholder first."

"We can take our time with the rest."

After she finished speaking, she picked up her teacup again.

That concludes the discussion of the three items.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, however, has remained silent.

He sat there and went over what Satsuki had just said.

FamilyMart is supplementing its convenience store network.

The Liangpin Project targets lifestyle retail brands.

PARCO offers a young consumer base and urban business operation capabilities.

Satsuki clearly didn't just randomly pick three names that looked good and then decide to buy them.

After a while, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi put the teacup back on the table.

"We've been talking for so long."

The crescent moon rises.

"All of these things are yours."

"Um."

"FamilyMart is yours, Liangpin Project is yours, and you can even get into PARCO."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi looked at her.

"What will Seibu get in return?"

Satsuki didn't pause for long because of this issue.

"guest."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's brow twitched slightly.

"There's also rent, land value, and development along the route."

Satsuki continued.

"Uncle Tee's most valuable possessions were not actually the convenience store or the department store."

She looked at the man in front of her who had been in the railway and real estate business for decades.

"Your railways, your stations, and the land accumulated along those lines—these are the foundation of Seibu."

"Seibu transports millions of people from one place to another every day, but where they go after they arrive at the station, and why they specifically take the train to a certain place on weekends, are not things that Seibu has to solve on its own."

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi has gradually come to understand.

Satsuki continues.

"If FamilyMart continues to expand in the future, stations and properties along the Seibu Line could be given priority."

"When Ryohin Keikaku (MUJI) opens a new store, it can also prioritize entering suitable commercial facilities in Seibu."

"As for PARCO—"

She paused for a moment.

"If there are new urban commercial projects in the future, under the same conditions, Saionji can give priority to land along the Seibu Line that has the conditions for development."

After those words were spoken, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi finally sat up straighter.

He could understand all of the previous points as ordinary leasing cooperation.

This last item, however, touches upon Seibu's core business.

Why are railways valuable?

Ticket price is only one factor.

Once a route is laid out, the land, people, and businesses around the stations will be revalued.

For decades, Seibu has been buying land, building railways, and then using the railways to turn the land in its hands into residential areas, hotels, and commercial districts. It's all part of the same business.

But in this model, railways and land are only the foundation.

What truly determines whether a station can retain people and whether passengers are willing to make a special trip there to spend money in addition to commuting requires sufficiently mature business content.

This is precisely where Seiji Tsutsumi has excelled in recent years.

Seiyu, Seibu Department Store, PARCO, and the distribution system built around culture, art, and young consumers are all essentially solving the same problem—how to make a commercial space itself a destination that consumers are willing to go to.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi himself has never been particularly interested in commercial development.

Compared to personally managing these retail brands, he is more skilled in railways, land, hotels, and large-scale development along railway lines.

But what Satsuki is proposing now seems to be his plan to take the commercial capabilities that Tsutsumi Seiji's system excels at attracting consumers and apply them to his railways and land.

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi remained silent for a while.

"you mean……"

"You want these things my brother has that are suitable for retail and business development."

"And then tie it to Seibu's railway and the development along the line?"

"Not limited to train stations."

Satsuki corrected.

"Furthermore, I did not want Mr. Qing's entire distribution system."

"I only need the parts that suit Saionji."

She reached out and lightly traced a line on the table between them.

"If Seibu needs commercial content for the land in front of the station in the future, they can come directly to Saionji."

"We have S-Mart, UNIQLO, and S-Collection. If this deal goes through, we'll also have FamilyMart, Ryohin Keikaku, and PARCO's operational capabilities in the future."

"SA can also be included in terms of dining, entertainment, and activities."

"You have the land and the railway in your hands."

Satsuki raised her eyes.

"I'll take responsibility for making people want to go there."