Rebirth as an American Tycoon

[Chapter 802: Too Early Yet]

"Lion Group? Filson, what the heck is that? Selling lions?"

Cough "Sir, the translation was done by a temporary worker. It's Golden Lion Group."

"Alright, I know this one. It's a Malaysian company. Carrefour, Metro, tsk tsk. By the way, doesn't Walmart have any plans?"

"It seems to be hesitating, but they should ultimately make some attempts."

"All these malls and supermarkets jostling together; it really is something."

"Sir, that's all I could find out for you."

"No, I'm not talking about these kinds of supermarkets. I mean those smaller ones, like 7-11."

Cough "Sir, those only thrive in Japan; here in the US, they're just common and can't compare to Walmart."

"By the way, that Dairy Farm company has authorization in Hong Kong. Their 7-11 is doing well."

"So, this 7-11 is now a Japanese company?"

"Yes, sir. Most of the shares are in Ito Group's hands. This is a major conglomerate in Japan."

"Sigh, things at Jardine are speeding up. If I can acquire the Dairy Farm company, I should ask Japan for authorization. Oh, those bastards are monopolizing it; they have one license per region. Let's seriously talk to them, and if that doesn't work, we'll just buy them out."

"Sir, will this make money? It seems troublesome."

"After the bubble economy in Japan collapsed, their consumption habits significantly changed. Take milk for example -- 500 milliliters are quite rare now; they mostly prefer the 200-milliliter sizes. As for China, it's hard to say, but Hong Kong's rhythm of life is quite similar to Japan. This business model will definitely thrive."

"Then, we need to find a new team to conduct the investigation. It seems this investigation's focus is wrong."

"It's not that it's wrong; both are important, but they need to be prioritized."

"Sure, I will have someone redo this."

Actually, Filson misunderstood William White.

Shopping Malls?

What the hell is that? Those department stores have been doing fairly well in recent years. Just wait until the Asian financial crisis hits, then see.

William White remembered quite clearly that the original Golden Lion Group planned to open hundreds of large malls across Asia.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't make much money. Those real estate developers are happy as clams; not only the tenants renting to them, but even surrounding properties are rising in price.

The direction is right, and the industries invested in are suitable. Unfortunately, they ran into internet era.

The customers moved to online shopping; who would visit a department store? Moreover, with rent continuously increasing, good lord, those just waiting to collect money are the real winners in life.

William White was interested in expanding White Plaza. Such properties in super shopping centers were what he valued most. The circulation sector wasn't neglected either; 7-11 was excellent.

Truth be told, if it wasn't for the weird franchise system, Lawson and Family Mart couldn't compete with 7-11.

What's that saying? Just always be imitated, never surpassed.

Cough, even saying that isn't fair; this was originally American plaything. Unfortunately, 24-hour convenience stores aren't really suitable for the US.

First of all, the safety costs are too high; everyone knows that -- life in Happy America has gun battles every day; folks are most fond of robbing convenience stores. 

If they are only stealing a couple of gum sticks, it's not worth pulling a gun unless you really are pushing them to the edge.

[Chapter 803: Investment Boom]

Investing in China was truly affordable at the time. Everyone witnessed the rapid development and the gradual rise in consumer purchasing power. No one was foolish; they naturally kept an eye on the sales figures of premium department stores.

Since a portion of the population had already become wealthy, it was easy to understand the burgeoning demand for more shopping malls.

However, for William White, it was still too early. First-tier cities already had White Square, and for those second-tier cities, there was no rush.

There was a saying that came to mind: "A deal that you are eager to make, isn't a good one." The land market in China was hot; without solid connections, it was quite challenging to navigate.

"The largest shopping mall in Shanghai? More than double White Square? Filson, what the hell is that?"

"Ahem, it seems to be built by the Japanese and the First Department Store. However, they're in Pudong, the locations are different."

"The location isn't bad at all; it's just not suitable for a shopping mall. I was eyeing that land back then. Unfortunately, the bank wouldn't approve it. Even if I built a massive building, it wouldn't help."

"Sir, this is Shanghai's financial district, shouldn't be too bad."

"Hahaha, it's not like that. Even if it is a financial district, it won't help. By the way, Filson, is this company reliable with such a huge investment? As far as I remember, we rented about thirty percent of our properties to them in Asia."

"Yes, sir, they initially wanted to package it together, but you refused."

"Making such a massive investment, how much capital do they need for that? Alright, it seems you're right; the economy in China does show signs of improvement. Damn it, why hasn't my oil price gone up?"

"Sir, there's good news. Our iron ore exports to China increased by twenty percent. With that fully automated unloading system, it really became much easier."

"Iron ore? Okay, that's good news. With so many infrastructure projects in China, they need tons of steel. That indeed is great news. As for that Japanese company, they're too impatient; the economy in Asia isn't that sound. If there are any hiccups, they would take a hit. What a pity, I heard that it was run by an old lady who opened a grocery store? Does she have some kind of cheat code? She's really impressive."

"Ahem, sir, what do you mean by cheat code?"

"Nothing much; it's just some unconceivable external force. Like Blair or Clinton, their rise was too abnormal. Some of those external forces, perhaps consortiums or big families, we just don't know."

Filson was taken aback. Alright, while it was a bit far-fetched, it could be explained like that. 

"Alright, sir, those two guys did indeed get lucky. It needs observation whether there were benefactors helping them. It's tough to say about Blair; Clinton isn't in great shape; he nearly offended everyone he could."

William White secretly scoffed. Indeed, if you played dirty, people wouldn't tolerate you. Since you were particularly thriving in one aspect, sending you a big toxic herb, there's no way you wouldn't indulge in edge case behaviors.

The saying "Rabbits don't eat the grass by their burrow" had a follow-up. Remember not to use that explanation, or it will hit a laughable note. The latter part was, "If there's grass by the burrow, why roam the mountains?"

Alright, if you really wished to use that saying, we couldn't complain. Office romances and such really could go awry easily. Generally speaking, once people left a company, their relationship often got closer.

"Forget about the Japanese, Filson. Investments in Asia are too heated; investments in China are too hot. This is going to create issues. They may have ample space for growth, but you should also be cautious. That money is from consortiums, and if they all withdrew, it would be unfathomable."

"Don't worry, sir; I've got many people keeping an eye on this. These emerging markets are indeed a bit too hasty."

Filson wouldn't have thought that since 1995, the market would begin to decline starting from Mexico into Japan. The years of efforts from emerging countries nearly all went down the drain.

Therefore, the term Asian financial crisis was actually a misnomer. It didn't begin in 1997. By the time Soros aimed at shorting, the turbulence was already nearing an end.

As for the subsequent impact, it wouldn't recover until around 2000.

During this period, virtually no emerging nation escaped unscathed. Japan, which had just emerged from the effects of a bubble economy, faced heavy blows once again.

This was a real knockout, a plunder of Japan's overseas capital.

After suffering this lesson, Japan's consortium was left severely weakened. From then on, there weren't any particularly strong consortiums left.

The American Empire wasn't fond of consortiums, not at all. They wouldn't even spare their own consortiums... So you can easily understand their attitude towards Japanese consortiums.

William White wanted to invest but didn't want to dig a pit for himself. Since you guys were into real estate, he would focus on manufacturing.

After the Asian financial crisis, the whole world was short on money. Oil prices plummeted below ten bucks, and gold fell to two hundred bucks per ounce.

From that, you could see just how much wealth evaporated in this world.

Moreover, the U.S. cemented its status as a rogue nation. From then on, few countries in Asia, Africa, or South America trusted them, not even their staunch allies.

Japan was again hit hard, being sheared off while South Korea was on the brink of catastrophe. During the worst times, South Korea even donated all its jewelry.

Alright, that level of cohesion was quite frightening. Not many years had passed before South Korea crawled out of the mire.

Well, it's easy to throw money; less military funding would be appreciated, guys are really broke. As for the rest, anything proposed by the U.S. would be met with South Korea's opposition. Anything else could be negotiated, but not economic matters.

*****

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