[The Luxury Strategy]
It sounded like an ordinary gesture of consideration. But Yoon-gi understood the subtext of those words better than anyone.
“May I dare to use that conference room?”
“Who would dare say anything when I say it’s fine? Don’t worry about it and use it. Most group meetings are held at the headquarters these days anyway.”
In truth, it had been quite a while since Choi Ki-hyun’s study had functioned as a conference room. It had barely managed to maintain that purpose until Yoon-gi was ten, but as the group’s scale expanded, most meetings had shifted to the group headquarters. Of course, it was still used as a place for private audiences, but there weren't many occasions for that to begin with.
‘For Grandfather to hand over the mansion’s conference room to me means…’
Just as Yoon-gi had thought, it meant that he was effectively being tapped as the successor. ‘Well, if he didn’t have that intention, he would have just watched the department store fail instead of investing his personal assets into me.’
Even though he had somewhat expected it, hearing it in reality was always a pleasant feeling. Yoon-gi bowed his head politely toward his grandfather once more.
“Thank you. I will live a life that never disappoints your expectations.”
“If that’s the case, I have nothing more to wish for. Even though you are a middle schooler, you are an executive operating several companies from behind the scenes. Never forget that.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“And this is a truly difficult request, but…”
Choi Ki-hyun hesitated for a moment before speaking with difficulty.
“Become a chaebol who knows how to love their family. Because before being a chaebol, everyone is family.”
“Except for special cases, I will not push my family away. To me, family members are such precious existences.”
Having experienced living without a family during his 40s, Yoon-gi had always craved a harmonious family. Thus, the words he spoke before Choi Ki-hyun now were the truth. And as for the ‘special cases’ Yoon-gi mentioned:
“I cannot interfere regarding special cases. I will leave that entirely to your judgment. And in my judgment, it is still too early.”
“Have you been to the construction site?”
Choi Ki-hyun shook his head.
“I haven’t been there in person, but I heard about it from the Chief Secretary. They say your skin has turned quite bronzed? You’ve finally started to look like my own bloodline.”
Although there was a strangely hollow tone mixed in, it was fundamentally an expression that felt like ‘it’s a good thing.’ The fact that he used the relatively distant term ‘bloodline’ instead of ‘son’ proved Choi Ki-hyun’s current state of mind.
“Still, it’s hard for a person to change in less than a year.”
“Yes, that’s true. Anyway, there’s no need for me to hear more about those fellows, so handle it as you see fit.”
With those final words, Choi Ki-hyun downed his cooled green tea in one gulp and rose from his seat.
“Shall we go in and see if Jung-ah is awake?”
Watching his grandfather walk into the master bedroom with a bright smile, Yoon-gi thought to himself.
‘Even for an executive who must pursue the pinnacle of rational judgment, what remains in the end is family.’
Choi Deok-bae’s closing remark, having read this monologue of Yoon-gi’s, left a strange lingering feeling in Yoon-gi’s mind.
The study of the Samwoo Group Chairman’s mansion. Yoon-gi sat naturally in the head seat. He could have left the head seat empty and sat in the next one, but he had sat in the head seat on purpose. This action indirectly but clearly informed Choi Cheol-kyu and Ryu Geun-tae, who were currently in the conference room, of the position Yoon-gi was maintaining.
‘The bigger the Chairman’s ambition, the better it is for me.’
‘It was a predicted event from the start. It will be quite fun to see the reactions when we gather the family members for a meeting later.’
In the case of Ryu Geun-tae, who wasn't a family member, the impact was quite small, so his judgment was shallow. On the other hand, Choi Cheol-kyu, a family member, intuited that if Yoon-gi sat in the head seat during a future family meeting where his father was absent, many things would change. If there was any family member whose expression soured when Yoon-gi sat in the head seat, given Yoon-gi’s personality, they would be excluded with almost 100 percent certainty.
‘Do I embrace them before sitting in the head seat, or after? That is what I’m most curious about.’
While Choi Cheol-kyu was lost in thought, the fourth and final person sitting in this room, Fernandez, spoke first.
“Chairman, considering that the exterior construction will be finished within two months, we need to start on the interior design soon. Even though the basic zoning has already been decided, in the case of the 7th floor, which is the VIP-only floor, we need to know the brands that will be entering to create an interior design that matches them. Do you have anything in mind?”
Fernandez’s vocabulary, now that the title ‘Chairman’ and the honorifics were stuck to his tongue, was at a level where it was hard to feel a significant difference from a Korean person. As he was a genius to begin with, his adaptability was remarkably superior compared to Aaron or Pike, who had also come from the United States.
“I actually called you here today to have a meeting about that matter. Fernandez, do you know about the types of luxury goods that wealthy people in the United States prefer?”
Currently, Yoon-gi was dressing himself in luxury goods for items like stationery, watches, handkerchiefs, and underwear when going to school. However, these were, at best, ‘accessible luxury goods.’ He was using luxury goods at a level that even commoners could afford if they made up their minds. However, since a significant number of the brands entering the 7th floor of the department store were truly luxury goods for VIPs, even Yoon-gi, who was studying luxury goods, still had plenty of room to think about his choices.
“Are you asking which brands of luxury goods Americans prefer?”
“To be more precise, I’m asking about the brands preferred by ‘wealthy’ Americans.”
Fernandez stroked his beard for a moment before opening his mouth.
“When I worked in the U.S., I saw to some extent what kind of luxury goods high-ranking company officials or clients used, but it would be difficult to consider that as representative of the United States.”
“That is certainly true. It’s personal experience, not statistics.”
As Yoon-gi accepted this, Fernandez continued.
“I will organize and report on the brands I have seen and heard about by tomorrow morning. And since we are on the subject, there is one thing I would like to say.”
“What is it?”
“There are two types of luxury goods. One is a brand that is ranked 1st in popularity but lower in premium ranking, and the other is a brand that is lower in popularity but 1st in premium ranking. Which of the two brands would you like to have enter, Chairman?”
“Obviously both. But for the 7th floor, I will prioritize the latter.”
“Understood.”
As Fernandez nodded, Ryu Geun-tae carefully interjected.
“Chairman, I have one question as well.”
“Go ahead.”
“While I have been involved in the department store plan so far, I am realizing with my head and my body that this department store is not a typical one. Right now, the target for business is basically the U.S. military.”
“That’s right.”
“And while the U.S. military is the primary target, I also understand that we are not just doing business targeting the U.S. military itself, but also inducing a purchasing base through the U.S. military.”
As Yoon-gi quietly looked at him, Ryu Geun-tae continued to speak.
“Then, should I think that there is no plan to sell things like food ingredients at this department store at all?”
At Ryu Geun-tae’s words, Yoon-gi nodded immediately.
“That’s right. I don’t intend to have a general grocery section. We will sell some American groceries in some mini-department stores, but basically, our department store will not sell groceries. It’s different from other department stores.”
The sense of dissonance Ryu Geun-tae was feeling—this was bound to exist. In South Korea, the golden age of department stores would come in the late 80s, and even then, proper department stores would only start operating from the mid-80s. As of 1981, most department stores currently in operation could be thought of as similar to the large supermarkets of the 2010s that operate grocery marts. Since it was Yoon-gi’s intention to build a department store of the 2010s in such an era, it was inevitable that Ryu Geun-tae would find it somewhat difficult to understand.
Anyone who had shopped at a department store in the 80s or 90s would have had the experience of buying groceries in the basement or grabbing a meal on the rooftop after all their shopping was done.
“I’ll say it again just in case, but we aren’t just building a department store; we are creating a ‘commercial district centered on a department store.’ It’s not for nothing that I allocated some prime areas to the powerful figures of the new military regime.”
Currently, mini-department stores were being built one after another around the main department store. The basic plan was for one story, but in the end, most were two-story stores. The reason was that they needed warehouses inside the mini-department stores to store the logistics brought from the main department store. Thanks to this, the workload for the construction office personnel increased much more, and among them, the workload for Pike and Aaron, who had become Fernandez’s direct disciples, was literally at a level that made them scream, but thanks to them, the commercial district plan was being built up steadily and stably.
“I should have known, so I apologize for making you explain. I understand clearly now.”
“No, it’s much better to ask and act than to judge and act on things you don’t know. You asked well.”
Ryu Geun-tae was a talent who at least made one feel it was worth answering.
“Then we must definitely secure the first-mover advantage. Because it’s safe to say that there is no department store with this kind of feel in the country so far.”
At Ryu Geun-tae’s words, Choi Cheol-kyu also nodded.
“I think the same. Even if we invest additional budget, I think it would be better to advance the construction period.”
However, Yoon-gi shook his head on this point.
“I can never allow the construction period to be advanced unreasonably. It’s enough as it is. Rather, it’s better to refine the operation strategy during the given period.”
At Yoon-gi’s clear refusal, Choi Cheol-kyu bowed his head. Normally, they would have spoken in casual language, but now Fernandez, an outsider, was present. Therefore, Choi Cheol-kyu used honorifics. Of course, it was thanks to this tact of distinguishing between public and private matters that he could be heavily used by Yoon-gi.
“For now, let’s talk again tomorrow when Fernandez brings the research on luxury goods with a good reputation in the U.S. Chief Choi, you should lightly research luxury goods that have recognition in the country.”
Choi Cheol-kyu bowed his head.
“Understood.”
“Then, let’s meet here again tomorrow at 10:00 AM.”
The fruitful meeting, consisting only of necessary conversations, ended quickly.
The meeting held at 10:00 AM also ended in about 40 minutes. Candidates for the brands to be entered on the VIP floor were decided, and among them, the issue of ultra-high-end brands became the biggest topic.
“It is not very difficult to enter mid-to-high-end lineups into the department store. They are also eager to pioneer sales channels. But when it comes to ultra-high-end lineups, the story is different. They won’t be very interested in a department store that is just opening its first branch. Furthermore, since the department store name isn’t even Samwoo Department Store, and it’s not a subsidiary of Samwoo, it will be even less easy.”
Although he was a construction expert, since luxury goods themselves were related to art, Yoon-gi decided to take responsibility for the ultra-high-end lineup, following the words of Fernandez, who was a semi-expert in this field. And the core content of this meeting was for the three of them to collaborate on the remaining lineups.
In the conference room where the three had left, Choi Deok-bae asked Yoon-gi.
Yoon-gi gave a remark that would get him scolded for once to the very curious Choi Deok-bae.
“Hmm…, with my face…?”