Time passed, and after the Spring Festival, Li Guangyu began to plan for the Yihe Group. Now, the major stores of Hengyu Supermarket in Xiangjiang have been renovated, and they are just waiting for the shelves and goods to be put in before they can be officially opened.
This time, 18 Hengyu Supermarkets opened in Xiangjiang at the same time, and there were as many as 80 convenience stores, in order to completely suppress Wellcome Supermarkets.
After the opening of the supermarket in Baodao, Li Xuelan returned to Xiangjiang to take charge of the affairs of the supermarket group in Xiangjiang. At the same time, she will also be the specific person to implement the suppression of Wellcome Supermarket.
On February 2 (the ninth day of the first lunar month), Li Guangyu took Li Xuelan to Hutchison Whampoa. In addition to attending the board meeting after the new year, Li Guangyu also discussed with Li Ka-shing that Hengyu Supermarket Group and Watsons would join forces.
matters.
In order to achieve better cooperation this time, Li Guangyu removed Zhao Yu from his position as a director of Hutchison Whampoa and asked him to concentrate on serving as chairman and chief executive of the board of directors of Starlight Real Estate Group. The director here has Li Xuelan returning to serve concurrently.
After the board meeting, Li Guangyu, Li Ka-shing and Li Xuelan went to Li Ka-shing's conference room to discuss matters regarding Wellcome Supermarket.
Li Ka-shing has no objection to Li Guangyu joining forces with Watsons. As the main rival of Watsons, Hengyu Supermarket Group, owned by Li, has also entered Hong Kong. Their market will inevitably be squeezed out. If Wellcome is squeezed out
, then there is enough space for Hengyu Supermarket and Watsons to develop together.
Moreover, Li Guangyu is also the second largest shareholder of Hutchison Whampoa. He will not let the two supermarkets fight with each other. When the time comes, he can let Watsons follow Hengyu Supermarket to develop markets in other regions.
Li Guangyu said: Uncle Li, thank you for your support. This time may be longer, and Watsons' profits may be very low during this period, and losses may occur when necessary. This requires your understanding, and I hope you can
Can you explain it to other shareholders?
Li Guangyu is preparing to start a price war with the Jardine Group this time. He wants to see how much money the Jardine Group has invested. Li Guangyu himself is not worried that Xiangjiang will not be profitable. The supermarkets opened in Baodao are profitable.
They are all very good. There are also more than a dozen supermarkets operating in Japan. These profits are enough to support the price war between Huanyu Supermarket Group and Wellcome Supermarket.
Li Ka-shing said: Guangyu, I will explain this clearly to everyone. As long as you start a price war with Wellcome, we Watsons must keep up. Otherwise, if Wellcome is not squeezed out of the market, we Watsons will be finished first.
Li Ka-shing knew that once these two companies started a price war, all other supermarkets in Xiangjiang that did not keep up would be dragged down. He himself could imagine that with the financial resources of the Li Group and Jardine, there would probably be
Countless small supermarkets will suffer.
Many small supermarket stores are rented, and they have to pay rent every month. The battle between Hengyu Supermarket Group and Yihe is destined not to end in a short time, and they can afford to be unprofitable for such a long time.
, I’m afraid those small and medium-sized supermarkets will be completely squeezed out of the market.
But Li Ka-shing doesn't care about this. He hopes that Hengyu Supermarket Group and Watsons will share the retail industry in Xiangjiang.
Anyway, he himself does not have the confidence to bring Watsons to the number one position in Xiangjiang. It is better for Watsons to follow Hengyu Supermarket Group and develop in various regions, which will then bring a steady stream of cash flow to the group.
Li Guangyu said: This is our most important move in the retail market. As long as we squeeze out Wellcome Supermarket, Xiangjiang will no longer threaten our existence in the retail industry. By then we have the foundation of Xiangjiang, and we will
You can boldly expand to various regions.
Hengyu Supermarket Group is not taking it easy. On the Baodao side, it is teaming up with Ito-Yokado to resist the entry of Carrefour. Now in Xiangjiang, it is suppressing Wellcome Supermarket.
Li Xuelan also felt a lot of pressure. Fortunately, Carrefour's investment in Japan was only tentative, and with Ito Yokado in front, their pressure was relatively small. Chen Linwen was there, which was enough to cope with Carrefour. She only needed
Just concentrate on dealing with Wellcome Supermarket.
Li Ka-shing still admires Li Guangyu's spirit of daring to go out and develop. At present, the major families in Xiangjiang are guarding the Xiangjiang market and are unwilling to expand their businesses to other regions.
Li Ka-shing knew very well that if they had not had Li Guangyu's advice, they would never have dared to go to Japan to develop the real estate market now.
Li Ka-shing said: Guangyu, I don't know much about supermarkets. You also know that I have to manage two groups, and our main business is also real estate, so Watsons, please pay more attention to it. After all, you are also one of us.
Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa are the second largest shareholders.
Li Guangyu has no objection to this. The retail market in any region cannot be completely occupied by Hengyu Supermarket Group. Hengyu Supermarket and Watsons can jointly develop markets in other regions.
Li Guangyu said: This aspect will be handled by Xuelan. She is both the chairman of the board of directors of our Hengyu Supermarket and a director of Hutchison Whampoa. She can coordinate the development of the two supermarkets very well.
Li Ka-shing also agreed with Li Guangyu's proposal. The cooperation between the two groups can only be coordinated through Li Xuelan's intervention, so that the two supermarkets will not fight internally.
Li Ka-shing said: Ms. Li, although you are now the president of Hengyu Supermarket Group, you are also a director of our Hutchison Whampoa. Please pay more attention to the development of Watsons. I will ask the chairman of Watsons to cooperate with your actions.
Li Xuelan replied: Chairman Li, please rest assured that I will not harm the interests of Watsons here. I believe that Hengyu Supermarket Group and Watsons can achieve common development. After all, our strategic goal has never been Hong Kong.
, there are still many blank markets outside for us to explore, and the cooperation between Hengyu Supermarket Group and Watsons can enable both of us to develop better.
Li Ka-shing also believes that Li Guangyu will not deliberately harm the interests of Watsons. After all, he has a good relationship with him, and he is also the second largest shareholder of the group. If he does such a thing, it will be huge for his reputation if it spreads.
At the same time, there will be few top families willing to cooperate with them in the future.
Li Ka-shing said: When you open your business, notify us in advance so that we can make some preparations.
Hutchison Whampoa does not have as much funds as the Lee Group. If you do not prepare in advance, some problems may arise when the group's funds are used.
Li Guangyu said: Uncle Li, our opening time has been initially set at the middle of this month. The specific time depends on the availability of our supply of goods. We will inform you of the specific time then. When will Watsons follow up? It depends on the situation.
Depends.
Li Guangyu will continue to carry out discounts and promotions after opening to suppress Wellcome. When Watsons will follow up depends on Li Ka-shing's preparations. Li Guangyu does not want to get involved.
Li Ka-shing said: I will make arrangements in the next few days. After you open, our Watsons will immediately follow up with promotions.