National Tide 1980.

In fact, since the opening of Kentucky's store in Beijing, until the end of January 1988, Wang Dadong had been happily enjoying the joy of personal career success.

This "small fried chicken shop" he founded, which was not initially favored by anyone, has an average daily sales of more than 40,000 yuan in the three months since it settled in Beijing, creating a jaw-dropping sales miracle.

If ordinary people in Beijing wanted to try something new and eat a piece of fried chicken in his shop, it was normal to queue for an hour.

There is no doubt that eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken once is considered a high-end expense in Beijing.

Many families have to tighten their belts and save for a while before they can afford to bring their children to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that people here are poor and have low consumption levels.

Fortunately, people have little knowledge and low demands, and are willing to pay for products with exotic labels and are willing to pay the IQ tax.

Even a paper box of packaged food or a menu from Kentucky can be regarded as a treasure by customers in Beijing.

To use the local dialect in Beijing, that is called "short-sighted".

Even now, every Sunday, someone suggests holding their wedding on the third floor of KFC.

Thinking about this matter made Wang Dadong feel unbelievable and a bit ridiculous.

In addition, the front door of Kentucky's Qianmen store seems to have become a must-see attraction for tourists in Beijing.

Nowadays, many people who come to Beijing on business, to visit relatives, or for tourism often go to Kentucky after visiting Tiananmen Square and Qianmen Arrow Tower.

You can try something new, or take a photo with "Colonel Sanders" at the door of the store so you can take it back home and show off.

So whenever he sees these scenes, Wang Dadong feels genuinely amused and proud.

It's just like the feeling of those sailors who accidentally discovered the New World during the Age of Exploration and saw the native savages happily treating their old clothes, a string of glass beads, and a knife as heirlooms. It's so funny.

Yes, in just three short months.

He single-handedly transformed America's civilian fast food into luxurious high-end consumption in China's capital, like magic.

Although this was a poor country, he managed to make the sales of the first Kentucky restaurant in the capital of China top the list of all Kentucky chains in the world.

Based on this great achievement that no one has ever achieved before, he deserves the special award from the BEST Group headquarters.

The group headquarters also promised him that if he could expand Kentucky's stores in mainland China to several first-tier cities within three years, with a total number of no less than 30 stores, and if he could achieve such profitability, he would be treated as a true partner in Best's catering business.

Partner!

This is the senior executive who is truly in charge of the company's catering business.

No Chinese has ever been promoted to such a high position in the Best Inc. before!

You know, there are very few Chinese executives in large American companies. If he can do this, he will become a well-known figure among Chinese Americans. What an honor it is, enough to bring glory to the family.

How could Wang Dadong not be ecstatic and full of expectations for the future?
He never thought that when he was almost halfway through his life, his personal career would be able to reach another critical step.

So much so that the grief he felt over the accidental death of his most beloved nephew Zhao Hanyu was effectively alleviated to a certain extent.

Especially as the leaders of Beijing City continue to bring foreign guests to visit.

Even the Beijing Evening News published an article lamenting - why are the toilets in Kentucky cleaner than our cafeterias!

Wang Dadong became more and more convinced that his future was in his control.

There is no way around it, it’s because China’s catering business model is so backward.

Generally speaking, most Chinese restaurants and snack bars cannot guarantee hygiene, quality or taste, and even the service attitude is terrible.

In such an uncivilized place, his operating model and management methods are simply invincible in this backward place.

The eating habits and dietary requirements of the young people and the next generation here can be easily reshaped by him.

Once this habit and requirement is formed, it is only a matter of time before the market continues to expand.

This is how the land would become the foundation stone of his ultimate glory.

His "huge profits from investment" will be best verified in the capital of the Republic.

So even though the first store has only been open for three months, Wang Dadong, who has already recovered more than half of the cost of opening the store, has already started planning the location for the second store in advance.

We plan to start recruiting and training in March this year after selecting a store location.

The second store should be opened by May at the latest, and then one will be opened during the National Day in mainland China. It would be best if two more stores can be opened before the end of the year.

Next year, we will consider testing the markets in other cities.

Only by maintaining such an ever-increasing expansion progress can he complete the task on schedule and get what he wants.

As for now, there are only two things he needs to wait for.

The first is to improve Kentucky's domestic supply chain as soon as possible. He also needs to solve the supply problem of some commonly used ingredients and food materials, and then solve the problem of cooking some dishes in advance.

We cannot do it the way it is now, where even the right fine salt has to be imported from abroad, and employees have to make mashed potatoes with chicken juice in the kitchen every day.

This kind of handmade workshop model and huge costs will not only reduce profits, but also make it impossible to support the operation of a large number of stores.

Another thing is that he also needs to speed up the recovery of funds.

Although the former store in Kentucky was already very profitable, he only had one store, and the headquarters was not entirely sure about the potential of the Chinese market and did not intend to provide him with financial support and assistance.

Under the current business situation, it will take him another two months to raise enough money for his next store.

There is nothing we can do about it. After all, it is difficult to get started.

Wang Dadong knew very well that opening a branch was like speculating in stocks to him, a matter of compounding profits.

As long as the market demand in China is large enough, and as long as he has sufficient understanding of the local situation and has straightened out the supply chain and the procedures for expanding and opening stores, then it will be much easier once the second store is opened.

By then, the speed at which he makes profits will be halved, and the third, fourth, and fifth stores will be easy and effortless...

But the problem is, with his great ambitions, he would never have expected that a Cheng Yaojin would suddenly appear halfway through his journey.

Gingerbread Man! This brand, which he had never heard of, suddenly opened five fast food restaurants.

It was like a lightning strike, shattering his beautiful dream and threatening his expansion plan.

What the hell is this! God damn it!

Therefore, Wang Dadong, who became increasingly aware that there was a major threat to him, did not have a moment of peace that day. His emotions were almost completely troubled by anxiety.

He couldn't even sit still in the office, let alone work normally.

He stood in front of the glass window with a cup of coffee in his hand, looking at the bustling street scene downstairs. He almost wanted to kidnap all the people on the street into his store and force them to take out their wallets to buy fried chicken.

But unfortunately, even at noon, the feedback from business data was still not very encouraging.

Although the operating income improved during the two-hour prime time from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the total was only more than 6,800 yuan.

Compared with the past, or even compared with yesterday, it is far worse, and has declined a lot.

Wang Dadong also noticed the customers waiting to enter the store downstairs. At most, there were more than 20 people in line, and it lasted less than half an hour. Most of the time, it was the same as in the morning, with less than 10 people in line.

What’s worse is that the biggest problem facing Kentucky has not yet been resolved.

Many guests went in for a moment, but left soon after, heading straight towards the gingerbread man.

Wang Dadong certainly has reason to believe that the phenomenon of several people buying a small portion of meal just to taste it still exists.

So this time, Wang Dadong really couldn't sit still anymore.

After suffering for most of the day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, he finally made up his mind not to stay in the office and think about random things.

He wanted to go to the gingerbread man's shop to find out what amazing skills this colleague had.

He just couldn't believe it. Could a fast food chain that popped up in such a shabby place be more difficult to deal with than Kentucky's old rival McDonald's?
He doesn't believe this!
As disclosed in newspaper advertisements, this is also a joint venture invested by Americans.

Analyzing from a rational perspective and starting from logical thinking, Wang Dadong concluded with a certain degree of confidence that the other party was a fool who did not know much about the business but had certain financial strength and had rashly invested in the fast food industry just because he was optimistic about the catering market in mainland China.

why?
It's because the other party was stupid enough to be willing to spend a huge amount of money to invite five Chinese and foreign celebrities to endorse the opening of their fast food restaurant.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Last weekend, the Gingerbread Man store opened, and of course Wang Dadong also noticed the sensation and influence caused by Teresa Teng’s visit.

Indeed, people in Beijing go crazy when they hear the name Teresa Teng.

When Teresa Teng arrived, not only the people on the street, but also some customers in his shop didn't even bother to finish their fried chicken and just packed it up to take away and ran over.

Even his own shop assistants were disturbed and delayed in their work, and they had the urge to go over and chase stars and see the excitement.

But to be honest, this is not a big deal.

For example, even in the United States where fast food is rampant, if Kentucky is willing to pay Michael Jackson to attend the opening ceremony of a new store, it can attract at least hundreds of thousands of fans on the opening day.

But the question is, is it worth it?
It is easy to pay celebrities to perform and endorse commercial products, but the cost is too high. For the fast food industry, it is completely unbearable.

The owner of the Gingerbread Man didn’t think carefully about what to do with the business of the store after it opened and the celebrity’s influence on the public faded.

So according to Wang Dadong's idea, he still doesn't believe that he can encounter any real competitors in the mainland.

Although this store is now very popular, in his opinion, it is likely just a facade and a temporary false prosperity.

Anyway, I'm staying in the office, so I might as well go and see what kind of opponent this is.

He did not admit that he was afraid, he was just unhappy with their behavior of disrupting the market and went to find loopholes in their operations.

Since the other party has provoked me and affected me, then let them be unlucky.

As long as he understands the gingerbread man's flaws, I'm sorry, he will be able to take advantage of these loopholes and squeeze this hateful troublemaker to death without showing any mercy.

In this way, Wang Dadong successfully convinced himself, put on his coat and went downstairs.

The store manager was a little surprised to see his boss leave so early today, mistakenly thinking that he was going to leave work early and go back to rest.

But Wang Dadong didn't explain anything.

After all, he still has his dignity to save, and the act of spying on military intelligence itself shows his guilt, which would shake the morale of the army if his subordinates knew about it.

Therefore, after Wang Dadong went out, he deliberately walked in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go.

He decided to take a long detour behind the Kentucky building to reach the gingerbread man to avoid the risk of being seen by the employees.

But you know what, when he made a circle from this direction, he made an astonishing discovery.

I guess I'm looking at the Gingerbread Man fast food restaurant from the direction of Kentucky.

Because the view was blocked by the people queuing in front of the Gingerbread Man Shop, nothing could be seen except a Gingerbread Man Fast Food sign hanging on the second floor.

But it was not the case in the opposite direction. From a long distance, Wang Dadong could see that at the entrance of the Gingerbread Man's shop, a huge gingerbread man sculpture more than two meters high had appeared at some point, representing the image of fast food.

It is attracting countless children and young people to gather around and look at it.

There are also foreign tourists with cameras taking pictures here.

Humph! You are just copying others. You learn quickly!

Wang Dadong was immediately filled with contempt. It was clearly not available during the two days of the weekend. It was either put up yesterday or today.

In short, his preconceived prejudice made him conclude that the other party must be imitating his practice of placing "Colonel Sanders" in front of the goal in Kentucky. There was no other possibility.

However, when he actually walked over and saw the huge sculpture clearly, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

Because unexpectedly, this sculpture is quite outstanding in terms of material, craftsmanship and design.

It's definitely not something that's done casually and shoddily.

First of all, the image of the gingerbread man is not just standing there stiffly.

Not only are there candy canes and gift boxes of various colors as background props, but the round and cute gingerbread men also present a welcoming dynamic, and their smiling expressions are quite vivid.

Both the action and the expression show a welcome and signal the customer to walk into the store.

Secondly, let’s talk about the material of this sculpture. It is not made of cement or wood, but fiberglass, just like the “Colonel Sanders” in Kentucky.

This advanced new material has a smooth texture and bright reflective properties, which is rarely seen in mainland China.

Not only are the materials hard to come by and expensive, but production units that can guarantee the quality of the designs are even rarer.

Anyway, Kentucky couldn't find a manufacturer that could make Colonel Sanders, so the sculpture in front of their store was custom-made and shipped all the way from Hong Kong, and the total cost was nearly eight thousand dollars.

If you calculate based on the size of the gingerbread man in front of the door, it would be at least $10,000.

If all five stores had this thing, that would be $50,000. How did they get it?

How can you bear to invest such a huge amount of money?
The more Wang Dadong looked at it, the more curious he became. He decided to find a gingerbread man employee to find out more.

But he soon realized that there was no need to speak, because the gingerbread man sculpture itself had its origin.

It turns out that there is a small sign hanging on the side of the gift box behind the gingerbread man sculpture.

It clearly reads "Work by Han Yang and Wang Zhe from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts."

This made Wang Dadong open his eyes wide and be stunned. How come he didn't expect that this sculpture was actually the work of a professional.

Wow, what a big deal! They invited celebrities to the grand opening! Even the sculpture at the entrance was created by a real artist!

But no wonder, this sculpture looks so cute, so round and so attractive.

In addition to the pleasing appearance of the gingerbread man, it is also inseparable from the modeling skills of these true artists.

After looking for a long time, Wang Dadong withdrew his gaze and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Although I am a little reluctant, I cannot ignore the fact and not give a point to the sculpture image of the gingerbread man at the door. (End of this chapter)