"No relationship is unbreakable. When two parties are developing together, they form a community of shared interests, and everything is just peaches and cream!"
"But the moment one party’s interests are harmed, conflicts will immediately arise between them!"
Liu Haoran agreed with Chen Xiao, but their current operations were very stable. There was no way they would suffer any losses.
’No matter how rich Chen Xiao is, he can’t change Four Seasons Clothing’s business—that’s determined by the market!’
"President Liu, go and contact the headquarters of these three brands. First, negotiate for the agency rights in the Hanjiang Region. This is something the Yino Group allows!"
Yino Group managed its own brands, but there was no rule saying it couldn’t also act as an agent for other good brands!
Besides, this was using the Hanjiang Region as a pilot program, so it would be relatively easy to communicate with the group headquarters!
Liu Haoran wasn’t worried about Yino Group disagreeing. As long as he used Chen Xiao’s name, the CEO would surely agree in a heartbeat!
As if sensing his hesitation, Chen Xiao continued, "I will also ask President Zhang to use his network to influence these three brands. My bottom line is this: one Hanjiang Province, two authorized agents. You and Four Seasons Clothing will coexist!"
Liu Haoran heard the determination in his voice and didn’t dare to take it lightly. He immediately promised to give it his all and start negotiations right away!
’It would be difficult to snatch the authorization from Four Seasons Clothing all at once, but there should be a chance to get an additional authorization.’
Chen Xiao was afraid he wouldn’t have enough leverage. A regional general manager has very little influence on the corporate headquarters of these three brands.
So he made another call, this time to Zhang Shijie!
Zhang Shijie was in a meeting with the regional heads, listening to them present their Q3 business analysis.
His phone rang. He was about to decline the call, but a glance out of the corner of his eye revealed it was from Chen Xiao. His finger hovering over the "decline" button immediately switched to "accept"!
He stepped out of the meeting room. "President Chen!"
"President Zhang, I was just on the phone with President Haoran. I suggested he negotiate regional agency rights with a few companies!"
Zhang Shijie listened, knowing at once that this wasn’t so simple. ’Chen Xiao wouldn’t be so bored as to meddle in the operations of a single Yino Group branch company!’
He replied agreeably, "The company isn’t opposed to regional branches managing agency brands in addition to our own direct-to-consumer brands!"
"I’m worried President Haoran doesn’t have enough influence with these companies to secure the agency rights, so I’d like to ask President Zhang to use his connections to give him some support!"
Listening to the brands Chen Xiao mentioned over the phone, Zhang Shijie mulled it over for a moment before saying, "President Chen, you’ve certainly opened up a new line of thinking for us!"
"These are all high-end brands that have emerged in recent years with excellent growth momentum. If our regional companies could represent these brands, it would be very helpful in business negotiations with various shopping malls!"
Chen Xiao knew what he meant. When a brand representative negotiates with a client, having a single brand versus a portfolio of brands makes for a very different conversation.
No matter how powerful a battleship is, it doesn’t have the same deterrent force as an aircraft carrier!
"President Zhang, since these brands have such great growth potential, I have a suggestion!"
"While Yino Group’s development has been good, it’s already hit a bottleneck. The necessary market layouts are complete, but the brand’s positioning makes it impossible to penetrate lower-tier markets. Doing so would damage the brand’s identity and alienate our existing customer base!"
"Under these circumstances, the only way for the group to achieve continuous high growth is by adding new brands!"
Zhang Shijie understood Chen Xiao’s meaning. In fact, the Yino Group already had two brands: "Yi Rui" and "Yino."
"Yino" is positioned as high-end, but it has very few stores nationwide, and its single-store revenue isn’t high. Right now, the entire group relies on the mid-to-high-end brand "Yi Rui" to support its sales figures.
"The three brands I mentioned earlier are all streetwear-style brands. They’re already generating a lot of buzz in the market, but their nationwide distribution channels are still limited, so the overall sales for any single brand aren’t that high!"
"Is it possible to leverage Yino’s existing channel capabilities to negotiate a nationwide partnership with them, or even discuss an outright acquisition!"
Zhang Shijie was startled by Chen Xiao’s idea at first, but then he realized his own thinking had become rigid!
Each of these brands was a company with annual sales of over 600 million. The old "Yino" didn’t have the financial strength for such an acquisition. If its own cash flow became tight, its risk tolerance would plummet, and any problem could lead to a total collapse.
’But things are different now! We have 2 billion in cash on the books, and I still haven’t figured out how to spend it. We can’t just let it all sit in the bank earning interest.’
He had already ordered the various regions to accelerate their store openings, but just as Chen Xiao said, the "Yi Rui" brand’s channels in mid-range markets nationwide were already fully developed. There really wasn’t much room left for new stores!
Meanwhile, "Yino" was positioned as a light luxury brand, which inherently meant taking a niche approach. Store openings had to be about quality, not quantity!
The problem was, "Yino’s" current single-store revenue was also low; it was at the bottom of the barrel among light luxury brands, which made opening new stores very difficult!
But the three brands Chen Xiao mentioned were different. Their prices were close to light luxury, but they were streetwear brands that were selling very well right now. Brands like these had both high single-store revenue and relatively more channel options. And because their sales-per-square-foot was high, the malls loved them.
If they could acquire these brands, it would be like adding three fierce new generals to the Yino Group’s development, potentially even elevating the "Yino" and "Yi Rui" brands to a whole new level.
"President Chen, listening to you has been a true eye-opener! You’ve shown me the way forward. I’ll immediately begin negotiations for acquisitions or partnerships!"
Zhang Shijie then explained the current situation with "Yino" and "Yi Rui" to Chen Xiao, further clarifying the strategic significance of acquiring these three brands for the group’s development.
"In the future, Yino Group must pursue a multi-brand, multi-channel strategy. Only then can we have more influence with the malls, secure better locations and terms, and thereby reduce the group’s fixed overhead rate!"
"At the same time, the synergy between multiple brands can significantly boost our sales revenue and also allow us to further control costs on the supply chain side!"
"This way, the entire group’s performance, scale, and profit margins will see immense improvement!"
Zhang Shijie grew more and more excited as he spoke, as if he were painting a magnificent blueprint. He saw himself as the creator of it all—a master of destiny, holding the world in his hands.
He would leave a bold and brilliant mark on the history of the Yino Group!
"Then please get in touch with them as soon as possible, President Zhang. If you need more capital, you can come to me. I’m not ruling out another injection of funds, though of course, that depends on whether the other shareholders agree."
’He wasn’t the System, after all. He had no idea what kind of slick moves the System had pulled before. A normal capital injection of two billion was never that simple.’
Hearing his words, Zhang Shijie felt reassured. At the same time, a thought crossed his mind: "It’s like President Chen and President Zhao have an endless supply of money!"