Chapter 335: Chapter 335 The Significance Of An Industry That Employs Millions

The supermarket would charge a certain percentage or take a share from the profit. The planning team had no confidence in this approach since no one had tried it before.Moreover, the logistics of moving so many products requires an extremely robust logistics system, which must be highly specialized. According to their estimates, it might be necessary to build 20 to 25 large logistics warehouses across the U.S.

Hardy thought for a moment.

"Let's start by opening a few to test the waters. We also need our team and suppliers to get used to the new business model. The logistics company also needs time to adjust. How many stores do you think would be suitable to open in Los Angeles and San Francisco?"

"Three in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. We have already scouted the locations," someone said, taking out a map.

Hardy looked at the locations, all in suburban areas but situated along major transportation routes. Previously, Hardy had told the team not to build in city centers.

One reason is that land prices in city centers are high, with limited space available. Another important reason is that, in the future, the poorer people will increasingly congregate in city centers.

In the U.S welfare agencies are in city centers, and public housing is also within the city. Eventually, city centers became the gathering place for the unemployed and shoplifters. It's not too bad now, but it will worsen later.

To avoid trouble, Hardy decided to build in the suburbs from the start. Of course, these locations were carefully selected and would have good development prospects in the future. Even if they sold the land later, they could make a substantial profit."

Each supermarket's main building must be no less than 5,000 square meters, with a parking lot that must be even larger, at least three times the size of the main building, and the parking must be free of charge.

For fresh products, they could partner with Kroger Agricultural Group, as their products encompass a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, grains, nuts, meat, seafood, and even fresh flowers.

Additionally, the supermarket's offerings will include food items, daily necessities, clothing, toys, various household items, home appliances, cosmetics, firearms, and ammunition everything a person might need.

As for the suppliers, Hardy's idea is to implement a contract based franchise model for providing goods. They would drive down profit margins to make customers feel that they were getting a bargain. This is no small undertaking.

Hardy looked at the two presidents.

"Hunter, the logistics company will be injected with $5 million in capital. Those 10,000 trucks will be under your command, and all the staff will be retired military personnel. The task of building the logistics company is now yours. If you encounter any problems that you truly can't solve, then come to me."

"Understood, boss," Hunter replied without hesitation.

"Walton, we'll first build five supermarkets, three in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. I want them completed within a year and a half. The workforce will also be retired soldiers, but you can recruit female cashiers yourself."

"I understand, boss."

With everything assigned, Hardy just had to wait and see the results. If these people didn't perform well, he'd replace them and continue. He knew that these two industries had great potential for growth, and any failures would only be due to human error.

Moreover, these two industries were not just about making money.

The chain supermarkets would be a cash cow, providing a large amount of cash. Generally, they could withhold payments to suppliers for one to three months, and with this cycle, the impact of that money could be enormous.

Also, by signing contracts with tens of thousands of businesses, he could control an extremely vast supply chain, which was also very important.

Finally, his employees and customers were his resources. Owning an industry with such vast human resources would even make politicians treat him with respect.

The logistics industry was similar.

...

Major General Williams was working when the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up, and a male voice came through, "Major General Williams, this is the White House office. The President wishes to speak with you." Experience more content on M V L Sёarch* The nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Williams was taken aback. The President wanted to talk to him? Instinctively, he straightened his posture.

Williams had met President Johnson before. The President was, nominally, the highest commander of the military. When they held a logistics meeting to discuss how to handle a batch of decommissioned materials, the President had also participated, and Major General Williams was one of the attendees.

In the end, the meeting had decided that Major General Williams would be responsible for handling those materials, a decision made directly by President Johnson himself.

"Major General Williams," came President Johnson's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mr. President. This is Williams."

"I've read your report. It says that you've sold more than $400 million worth of goods so far this year. I'm very pleased with this achievement. You've done an excellent job, Major General Williams," praised President Johnson.

"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. President. I was simply doing my job," Williams replied humbly.

"Can you tell me what methods you used?" the President asked casually.

In truth, he wasn't particularly interested in the details of how his subordinates did their work, it just wouldn't be appropriate to make a phone call and only say a couple of things.

"To be honest, Mr. President, this success is largely due to a company we worked with. To expand our sales reach, we partnered with a company and outsourced the sales task to them. They've been handling sales for us recently," Major General Williams said straightforwardly.

The President wasn't surprised at all by the outsourcing. It's a common tradition in the U.S. to outsource the job to professionals. Even the military buys all its weapons from contractors and rarely makes things themselves, so it's reasonable to hire salespeople to sell off decommissioned materials.

"Which company?"

"The Hardy Group."

President Johnson was naturally aware of the Hardy Group. In the past two years, the Hardy Group had suddenly risen to prominence, quickly becoming a large corporation with assets exceeding $1 billion.

What made them most well known wasn't their assets but ABC Television. Since its official launch just a year ago, ABC has outshoned the other two major broadcasting companies, becoming the highest rated TV station in the U.S.