Chapter 99

The deafening sound of firecrackers signaled the grand opening of the Metersbonwe Hainzhou specialty store.

The relatives who attended the family banquet last night all came to support the event, including Uncle and Aunt.

What Li Mu didn't expect was that they even brought flower baskets.

The custom of sending flower baskets for the opening of a store in Hainzhou has a long history. The flower baskets are about a meter tall, with a slender bamboo structure filled with fresh flowers and adorned with two red silk ribbons, on which golden characters read: "XXX, Congratulations on the Grand Opening of XX Store."

Before the official opening, Li Mu received nearly a hundred such flower baskets.

He recognized the first dozen or so people who sent the baskets: Uncle, Uncle-in-law, Aunt, and Aunt-in-law, which accounted for four baskets. Zhao Kang sent two, one in his father's name and the other in his own.

Zhang Kexuan, Ye Tianming, Gu Wei, and Xia Ji, the four members of the Simple Plan, each sent one, though they couldn't make it in person and called Li Mu to explain.

Chen Wan also had a friend in Hainzhou deliver a basket and called to congratulate Li Mu.

Then came Song Liang, which didn't surprise Li Mu.

Next was Zhang Wanjun, which surprised Li Mu a bit.

After Zhang Wanjun, it was his imposing underling, Lu Yong.

The dozens of flower baskets that followed were from people Li Mu didn't recognize.

The numerous flower baskets couldn't even fit from the store entrance to the roadside, which was quite a sight. Li Mu thought he could make a good amount of money just by selling the flower baskets, as from Zhang Kexuan onward, the baskets were high-end, large, and beautiful, each costing at least a few hundred yuan. Altogether, they were worth at least ten thousand yuan.

Actually, Li Mu's opening ceremony was very simple. He prepared a colorful ribbon and two scissors for his parents, and that was it. However, Song Liang called to say he wanted to join in the ribbon-cutting, which Li Mu couldn't refuse, so he had to find someone to buy an extra pair of scissors.

At 9:58 AM, Song Liang stood with Li Mu's parents. The positioning for the ribbon-cutting was: Li Mu's father in the middle, his mother on the right, and Song Liang on the left.

Many citizens gathered to watch, forming a tight crowd. One reason was the arrival of Metersbonwe in Hainzhou, and the other was the grand opening ceremony with nearly a hundred flower baskets, which was quite overwhelming.

Even more shocking was the fact that one of the three people cutting the ribbon was Song Liang, the CEO of Wanying Real Estate. Someone remarked, "Wow, the CEO of Wanying is here to cut the ribbon for a clothing store? What kind of background does this store have to be so impressive?"

Someone in the crowd responded, "Dude, you're really out of the loop! Wanying has been running ads for this store on four of their buildings for days. Didn't you know?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. It's so obvious, I couldn't miss it!"

After the ribbon-cutting, Li Mu's parents and Song Liang stepped aside, and Li Mu shouted, "Metersbonwe Hainzhou specialty store is officially open!"

A large crowd of young people rushed in, making the store as bustling as a market.

Li Mu's aunt-in-law immediately led ten salespeople to get busy. Although most of the young people were there for the spectacle, many were actually trying on and buying clothes. Previously, they had to go to Jinling to buy this brand, but now it was right at their doorstep, so they naturally wanted to visit. Moreover, for every 299 yuan spent, they received a shoulder bag, a small teardrop-shaped bag with green, yellow, red, and black options, featuring an embroidered logo that looked very elegant.

Inside, it was extremely busy, while outside, Li Mu thanked Song Liang and introduced him to his parents.

Li Mu's parents didn't know how he had met such a prominent figure in Hainzhou, but Song Liang was very humble, calling them "Uncle" and "Aunt" and even noting their phone numbers, asking them to do the same.

Ye Tianming had once asked Song Liang to look after Li Mu's parents and the store in Hainzhou after Li Mu went to Yanjing for school. Song Liang had replied, "Do you think I'm stupid? Do I need you to tell me?"

Song Liang stayed for an hour before leaving to attend to his own business. After he left, Li Mu's parents and relatives were very curious about how Li Mu had befriended Song Liang. Li Mu said it was through a friend in Jinling, but didn't elaborate.

Li Mu's parents knew that Li Mu had sold songs to the Simple Plan, and that the four young men had extraordinary backgrounds, so they understood how Li Mu had connected with Song Liang. However, his uncles and aunts were still in the dark and were amazed.

Li Mu also knew that, in terms of social status, he was nothing in Hainzhou, while Song Liang was a leading private entrepreneur. The gap was enormous, so their surprise was understandable.

...

By noon, the crowd had slightly thinned, and Li Mu's relatives were taken to a restaurant for lunch. Li Mu and his mother didn't rush over but instead checked the sales records at the cash register. In the two hours of the morning, they sold over 260 pieces of clothing, generating 19,000 yuan in sales, and gave away 40 bags. The three cash registers were almost non-stop, scanning, processing payments, and packaging without a break.

This sales figure amazed Li Mu's mother, but Li Mu found it normal. Metersbonwe was a perennial favorite in cities below the second tier, and he had done a lot of groundwork before the opening, which would certainly make the brand popular in Hainzhou for a while.

The store was full all afternoon, from 1 PM to 6 PM. The fitting rooms were always busy, and the salespeople had to encourage male customers to try on T-shirts outside to free up the fitting rooms for female customers.

This year, Metersbonwe had a special series with large, colorful floral patterns on T-shirts, dresses, and the lining of jackets. The sales of this series were phenomenal, even surprising Li Mu with the purchasing power of the people in Hainzhou.

In the five hours of the afternoon, the sales were around 55,000 yuan, and they gave away about 100 bags.

Li Mu's parents were overjoyed. Li Mu went to the bank to deposit the money and then whispered to his mother, "Mom, tell Aunt to have everyone work until 10 PM. The store manager will give a 500 yuan cash bonus, and the salespeople will get a 200 yuan cash bonus."

Although the salespeople were already motivated and would earn good commissions, Li Mu felt that, in such a situation, the boss should show appreciation. However, this shouldn't be a regular occurrence, as employees might start to expect it. But today was special, and a good start was crucial.

His mother had no objections, nodded, and immediately informed Aunt.

The reason Li Mu had his mother handle it was simple: he thought his father lacked management skills, so he wanted to focus on developing his mother's abilities.

When Aunt conveyed the decision to the employees, their excitement and gratitude were evident.

In every job, there are diligent and hardworking people. As a boss, the key is to motivate them without making empty promises. Bosses who only make promises usually don't succeed, as everyone can see through such tactics. Therefore, the attitude towards employees should be sincere and focused on sharing.

After 6 PM, the employees had about half an hour to take turns resting. Aunt had signed a catering agreement with a nearby restaurant, which provided two meals a day for 13 people, with a mix of meat and vegetables and soup, delivered to the store at noon and 6 PM. The employees could eat in batches in a small area of the warehouse. The reason for ordering 13 meals for 11 people was to ensure everyone had enough to eat.

Li Mu stayed in the store all day, marveling at the money they were making and his aunt's thorough planning.

The atmosphere among the employees was also excellent. At first, she required everyone to clap and cheer when a customer made a purchase, which was awkward at first but became genuine and enthusiastic by the afternoon, fostering a true team spirit.

For dinner, Li Mu and his parents went to the restaurant that had the catering agreement with Aunt. The food was delicious, the ingredients fresh, and the hygiene standards high.

The most important thing in starting a business is to have the right people. Even in a traditional retail business, a key talent can make a significant difference. Aunt was such a key talent.

Back at the store, at 7 PM, the street was bustling, and the store was at its peak again.

Li Mu watched the cash registers for a while and calculated that the peak revenue was about 9,000 yuan per hour. After observing the reasons for this peak, he realized it wasn't the true peak but a barrier that was hard to break.

The root cause of this barrier was the cashiers being overwhelmed.

One person handling a cash register had to scan, process payments, and remove anti-theft tags from clothes. The most time-consuming task was folding the clothes and bagging them, which took up half the time, causing customers to wait in line.

Li Mu suggested to Aunt that she hire three more people to handle the cash registers, freeing up the ten salespeople to focus on sales. If needed, they could be called to help with packaging, reducing the pressure on the cashiers and shortening the checkout time for each customer.

Aunt understood and immediately took out her notebook, found three phone numbers, and called them.

These were people she had interviewed who weren't suitable for sales but seemed diligent and serious. She kept their contact information for such situations. Since they needed three dedicated cashiers, she chose three from this list.

Li Mu was impressed by Aunt's efficiency. With her as the store manager, he could rest easy.