The Sleep War, Part 3
When Nakajima Kenji arrived at Seoul Gimpo Airport, he wore the grave expression of a general preparing for battle.
The interpreter who had come with him from Tokyo trailed behind, pulling a baggage cart and glancing sidelong at his boss, carefully reading his mood as he went.
“Where’s the company located?”
“I’ve got that figured out. It’s about two hours by taxi.”
“The meeting’s been set up, right?”
“Yes, sir. Four hours from now. We can drop our bags at a nearby hotel and rest before heading out, no problem at all. It’s only about ten minutes by car from the hotel to the company.”
Nakajima smiled in satisfaction.
“Good. Let’s do that.”
The two of them took a taxi from the airport, checked into a hotel in Myeongdong, and then called another taxi to continue on their way.
“Boss, I heard GyeolBit bedding is also on display at Mirae Department Store. Aren’t you going to take a look there?”
“No. There’s no need. I already checked it out at the Okura Hotel, so I’ve experienced the product enough. What matters now is when we can get our hands on it.”
Not long after, the two arrived at the Haesol Textile headquarters and, with help from the front desk staff, were guided to the door of Chairman Jung Seung-hyun’s office.
When the door opened, Nakajima could not hide his surprise.
“Welcome. I’m Jung Seung-hyun, president of Haesol Textile.”
He had expected the man behind the bedding and military fabric that had drawn the attention of the entire global hotel industry to be older, more seasoned. Instead, he was a young man.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Nakajima Kenji of The Peninsula Tokyo.”
In Japan, someone of Nakajima’s standing rarely had reason to bow to others.
But now he lowered his upper body in a respectful bow and humbled himself.
He considered it both courtesy and respect toward the company that had created such luxury goods.
“Please have a seat.”
“I was surprised at how young you are, Chairman.”
As soon as he sat down, Nakajima brought up the shock he had felt when he first saw Seung-hyun.
After hearing the interpreter’s words, Seung-hyun gave a faint smile.
“My father passed away, and I inherited the company from him.”
“Ah, I see. Then did your father research and develop Solinen Prestige as well?”
“I developed that one myself.”
Once he realized the achievement had been built solely on the son’s own ability, Nakajima’s opinion of the young chairman rose even higher.
“Ah, I see. It happens sometimes. A case where a person of absolute talent appears and maximizes the achievements of the previous generation. Your father must have been very fortunate.”
“Haha, thank you. So what brings you all the way here from Japan?”
“You probably already have a good idea, but I’ll say it plainly from my own mouth. I heard you signed an exclusive supply contract with the Okura Hotel for Solinen Prestige bedding. Is that true?”
Seung-hyun blinked and smiled awkwardly.
“No. It isn’t exclusive.”
Nakajima’s expression brightened with relief, and he laughed.
“Haha, I thought so. When I first heard that, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t imagine developing such exceptional luxury goods and then signing an exclusive deal with a hotel that only has 500 rooms. As expected, it was just the hotel’s exaggerated advertising.”
That was why he had not cared about the talk of an exclusive deal and had come to Korea anyway.
Aside from what he had heard directly from a staff member, every other detail about the fabric supplied to the Okura Hotel had come from articles and advertisements released to the public.
Besides, even if it had been an exclusive contract, Nakajima would have come to Korea no matter what.
If the composition and embroidery felt a little different, he believed he could always make a new contract and get around any exclusivity.
But hearing from the young chairman himself that it was not exclusive, he felt as if a stone that had been resting on one side of his chest all the way to Korea had finally dropped away.
And yet,
“That said, I do understand why Okura Hotel described it that way. So even if it isn’t exclusive, it’s true that we gave them our bedding at a lower price.”
“Really? Ah... yes, that makes sense.”
Because they were the first large-order customer, they had been given a discount, which meant that for everyone else, the price would be higher.
From Nakajima’s perspective, it was not exactly pleasant news, but he had to be satisfied with the fact that they were willing to sell at all.
On the other hand, Seung-hyun felt relieved that he had not yet made a catalog for Solinen Prestige.
He had focused first on meeting the Okura Hotel order and clearing production, and he had never imagined that someone would come all the way to Korea to place an order before the product was even advertised.
“I don’t know whether you’re aware of this, but our Solinen Prestige bedding is positioned as a hotel-specialized, high-end line. The price per set is quite high.”
He had meant it as a slight provocation, but Nakajima lifted his chin and answered proudly.
“The Peninsula Tokyo is a luxury hotel that loses nothing to any other. In fact, that is exactly why your bedding suits our hotel so well.”
Wasn’t that the mindset of people who bought luxury goods? The thought that crossed Seung-hyun’s mind now was the very same one behind Nakajima’s expression.
Sometimes, the more expensive it was, the more they wanted it.
“Thank you for recognizing our Solinen Prestige line so highly. May I ask how many you plan to order? Ah, the price is 6.5 million won per set.”
It was higher than before, but in truth, the price was not unusually high.
As a rule, bedding used in five-star hotels ranged anywhere from around 2 million won to well over 10 million won per set.
Besides, the Downlite bedding already used at The Peninsula Tokyo cost more than 400,000 yen per set.
For bedding that had received this much praise in the market, 6.5 million won was by no means expensive.
As expected, Chairman Nakajima nodded without hesitation.
“The price is fine. Our hotel has 314 rooms in total, but if we account for extra beds as well, we’d like to order 350 sets.”
“Three hundred fifty sets?”
Seung-hyun had expected a sizable order now that the chairman had come in person, but even so, his eyes widened.
Just before this, even Okura Hotel ordering 250 sets had surprised him, and he had never imagined The Peninsula Tokyo would place an even larger order.
Nakajima smiled as if he had already made up his mind.
“Would it be possible to send them as soon as you can?”
“The Solinen Prestige bedding is currently in full production, so I can’t promise immediate delivery, but... I’ll adjust the schedule as much as possible.”
“Thank you. In that case, since I’m already here, let’s draw up the contract.”
Seung-hyun then called Factory Manager Park Han-soo and had him explain the production process for Solinen Prestige in simple terms.
Nakajima nodded at the surprisingly systematic workflow and the expensive raw materials.
“This is more than trustworthy enough.”
He was satisfied to have gained a weapon that would never leave him behind in the coming sleep war.
*
After Nakajima Kenji left, Seung-hyun informed Factory Manager Park Han-soo that an additional order had come in, then discussed the strategy going forward with Director Hwang Seok-jae.
The 350-set order from The Peninsula Tokyo was a shocking development for Haesol Textile.
“Another 350 sets...”
“Haha, this is why selling to companies can be easier than selling to individual consumers. The scale of the revenue is on a completely different level.”
“I suppose so. Even when a department store salesperson has to deal with each customer one by one and sell while under all kinds of stress, they’re lucky to move a handful of sets in a day. This is something else entirely...”
“Didn’t you feel the same way with the military uniforms? When they buy hundreds of thousands of pieces a year on a fixed basis, the unit price changes immediately, and it helps the company’s finances enormously. Lesser Factory’s sales volume is on a completely different scale now, of course, but the revenue coming from Haesol Sangsa in Busan is another matter altogether...”
“That’s true. Still... wow.”
Even after deliberately raising the price to 6.5 million won per set, Nakajima had ordered 350 sets in one shot. That breadth of spirit was impressive.
“The order value alone comes to 2.275 billion won. The encouraging part is that this may only be the beginning. They’re a Japanese hotel, and we haven’t even started marketing to five-star hotels in Korea yet.”
“Should we increase the factory’s scale?”
After a brief moment of thought, Director Hwang shook his head.
“Let’s keep it like this for now. If we enlarge the first factory, we’d have to move the office space outside and rebuild this section, and that would cost too much.”
“Haha, so the office building is finally starting to come into view.”
He had thought they were doing quite well, but whenever he actually considered building a proper headquarters, the money involved was never small enough to feel easy. That was why Seung-hyun had always pushed it off with a vague, Next time, next time...
Even moving into a leased space had made him hesitate, because monthly rent felt like a needless burden. Now, though, he could finally feel the outline of a real office approaching.
While he was sketching out that rosy future, the door opened and Factory Manager Park Han-soo came in wearing a serious expression.
“Chairman, the top-grade goose used in the filling for Solinen Prestige bedding is being consumed faster than expected. Our existing inventory is only enough to cover the Okura Hotel order, so we need to secure more goose down, but after checking, there doesn’t seem to be any spare supply of comparable quality left in Korea.”
“What? Is that really true? No... wait.”
“There just aren’t many finished products in Korea that require top-grade goose down, and because a certain amount is imported from overseas every year, there isn’t any surplus left. We’ve apparently never had domestic consumption of goose down at this quality level before.”
At the troublesome news, Seung-hyun had no choice but to feel flustered.
It was high-end bedding, and there was no way to stuff it with cheap filler.
That was why, from the moment they began supplying Mirae Department Store, every bedding set had to be filled with top-grade goose down with a fill power of 850 or higher.
Only then would people understand why it cost so much.
The method Haesol Textile had used was to blend Polish Grand Mother Goose and Hungarian Goose Down in equal parts.
Polish Grand Mother Goose was a top-tier goose down with a fill power above 900, but it cost well over 700,000 won per kilogram.
By contrast, Hungarian Goose Down with a fill power above 800 cost around 300,000 won per kilogram, so the difference was substantial.
For a king-size bedding set, the amount of goose down used as filling was only about 1.2 to 1.5 kilograms.
Still, he had not expected that the top-grade supply would run dry this quickly.
“What would you like to do? Should we place an order through Hanil Global, since they already have overseas distribution channels?”
Since Hanil Global was a subsidiary of the Hanil Group, which owned HW Trading, they could probably source it through them, even if it took time.
But Seung-hyun hesitated.
“Hold on.”
“Yes? Why...?”
“We’re going to need top-grade goose down anyway, aren’t we?”
Factory Manager Park Han-soo nodded.
“That’s true. If orders keep coming in for the Solinen Prestige line, we’ll need goose down by the ton, even at top grade.”
Then there was no reason to hesitate.
“For now, please contact Hanil Global and have them handle the urgent shortage.”
“The urgent shortage, sir...?”
“I’m going to Hungary. I need to visit the farm myself.”