Chapter 761: Arthur Blank's Attitude

As soon as you go in, you see a layout that is different from that of ordinary department stores and retail supermarkets.

There are some very tall shelves, at least more than two metres high, which are simply unreachable for the average person.

However, they are stocked with all kinds of boards, pipes and the like, and there are price signs on the shelves.

Because they are storing boards, pipes, etc., all the aisles are also very wide, nearly two metres, which makes it easier to place and transport goods.

Of course, this is the area for building materials, etc., and it is different when you go to the area for other small and medium-sized tools, which are much more closely packed.

The shelves are lined with boxes of screws, wrenches, screwdrivers, tape measures, etc.

In addition, there are paints, brushes, glues, etc.

Anyway, with building materials, home improvement, gardening and the like, there is everything here, and the variety is very complete, just like a large wholesale market for home building materials.

Of course, relying on a wide variety of products and price advantages to create a warehouse-intensive hypermarket is precisely the business model of Home Depot.

Xia Yu wandered around the interior of the Home Depot store, and another impression he had was that the customer flow was much lower than that of an ordinary supermarket.

But that's normal, considering the different products sold and the different ways customers buy and spend their time.

Xia Yu, accompanied by several subordinates and bodyguards, naturally attracted a lot of attention wherever he went, as a smart employee quietly reported to his superiors, suspecting that a big customer had arrived.

The staff couldn't help but think in that direction when they saw a man with bodyguards going out and walking around inside the mall.

Before long, a middle-aged white man appeared around a corner, accompanied by two subordinates, and walked towards Xia Yu and the others.

Upon being reminded by his subordinates, Xia Yu looked over, his eyebrows slightly raised, and his mouth couldn't help but curve up slightly.

He recognised the person leading the way, and he had just looked at the photos today. It was Arthur Blank, the other founder of Home Depot, and also the CEO of the Home Depot company.

'Hello, sir, may I ask how I can help you?'

Arthur Blank stopped in front of Xia Yu and inquired with a smile.

Xia Yu smiled slightly and nodded, saying, 'Of course, Mr Arthur Blank!'

Arthur Blank was a little surprised, not expecting to be recognised by Xia Yu at once. He recalled his memory and seemed to have never met an Asian.

Arthur Blank frowned and asked, "Sir, may I ask who you are?'

Xia Yu smiled and said, "My name is Xia Yu, and I am the chairman of Polaris Capital.'

'Our company's business is mainly investing in companies with potential! I happened to be passing by this time and saw that your company was holding a product knowledge and skills workshop. Out of curiosity, I came to take a look.'

As soon as these words fell, Arthur Blank was surprised and immediately smiled and shook hands with Xia Yu: 'Hello, Mr. Xia, welcome!'

'Hello, Mr. Blank!'

Xia Yu looked at Arthur Blank with a smile and asked, 'Mr. Blank, I wonder if you could give us a tour? In San Francisco and New York, there are stores selling tools and building materials, but I have just seen that your stores seem to be very different from those traditional stores.'

Although they were not big customers, Arthur Blank was of course very happy to face the request of the chairman of a capital investment company.

He welcomed the capital, after all, it took a lot of money to open such a hypermarket, and the capital had played an important role in being able to open the company.

To refuse capital is to deny oneself a future. After all, if the opponent accepts capital support, he will definitely overtake and crush you.

In the beginning, after he and Bernie Marcus were fired from the hardware department of a group, they used their savings to establish the Home Depot company and looked for investors everywhere, including suppliers of home building materials. They approached hundreds of people and obtained funding.

When the store first opened, because it was so large, there wasn't enough money to fill all the shelves with goods. They also got a bunch of empty boxes from the distributors, put distributor stickers on them, and put them on top of the shelves, so that customers would think that the Home Depot store really had a lot of inventory.

Although they have temporarily survived that stage, there are still major shortcomings in terms of inventory. Now the company is desperately trying to use the current and future hot sales to stabilize dealers, otherwise how could Home Depot be able to sell so much merchandise on credit.

Warehousing and inventory account for a large proportion of retail costs.

If there is sufficient capital, it can definitely enable Home Depot to catalyze quickly.

The fact that he and Bernie Marcus were able to accept more than a hundred investors naturally also shows his welcoming attitude towards capital.

Next, he took Xia Yu for a tour of the mall. While answering Xia Yu's questions, he went to great lengths to describe the advantages and development model of Home Depot, trying to show the most attractive aspects of the company.

Throughout the whole process, Xia Yu appeared to be very patient, and he also praised Home Depot's model from time to time, which made Arthur Blank feel very good.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Arthur Blank's office for a coffee break.

'Mr. Xia, I have some knowledge of Atlanta-based capital companies, and it seems that I have not seen your company before,'

Arthur Blank asked tactfully, looking directly at Xia Yu.

Xia Yu heard this and put down his cup, smiling frankly, 'Mr. Blank, my company is not in Atlanta, but in San Francisco. It's normal that you haven't heard of it, and I only came to Atlanta this week.'

'I just invested 50 million dollars in Turner Broadcasting a few days ago. Of course, this news is not yet known outside, so please keep it confidential.'

Arthur Blank's eyes widened in disbelief and he asked, '50 million dollars invested in Turner Broadcasting?'

As an entrepreneur, it is necessary to keep up with the latest news and information, and Turner Broadcasting is a media giant in Atlanta, so it is difficult for him not to know about it.

It was precisely because he knew Turner Broadcasting Corporation too well that Arthur Blank was incredulous.

Even ordinary citizens were now pessimistic about Turner Broadcasting Corporation, believing that Ted Turner had taken the wrong path and would hit a wall.

But now he suddenly learned this news, which was really shocking. If this news got out, it would definitely cause a huge public uproar!

Of course, he would not tell anyone about it. Right now, he was more concerned about the strength of Polaris Capital.

They can easily take out 50 million dollars to gamble on Turner Broadcasting, so they must be very powerful. 50 million dollars is enough to buy two or three Home Depot companies.

After all, Home Depot currently owns three shopping malls, which earn the company a monthly net profit of only about 150,000 dollars, and it is estimated that the annual net profit is less than 2 million dollars.

But for retail companies like this, as long as they are managed properly, they all rely on scale to make a profit. The larger the scale, the lower the proportion of compressed costs, the higher the profit margin, and the larger the profit scale will be.

If Home Depot had enough capital, it would have already expanded rapidly, instead it is slowly opening new stores with revenue and loans.

Arthur Blank nodded seriously and promised, 'Mr. Xia, don't worry, I will keep this secret!'

Afterwards, Arthur Blank asked with concern, 'Mr. Xia, your Polaris Capital is so strong, in which fields do you generally invest?'

Xia Yu looked at him and said calmly, 'Because the company has a lot of money, we haven't limited ourselves to any particular field of investment. We invest in any company with potential, and once we've made a decision, we're determined to see it through. We're not interested in small targets in general; our investments start at tens of millions of dollars. Last month, we just invested 170 million dollars in a company called Genentech.'

Xia Yu repeated his old trick, deliberately using an example to show off the strength of Polaris Capital.

But as the saying goes, a single trick can get you everywhere.

No matter how old the move is, the key is in the effect!

Sure enough, Arthur Blank was shocked again, and of course Xia Yu's deliberate message also made him frown.

That is, the investment starts at ten million dollars!

What can he do?

The value of the Home Depot company is now less than twenty million dollars at best, and even if Polaris Capital invests a guaranteed ten million, the company will have to change its name to Polaris.

After all, when Home Depot was founded, they had already accepted a lot of capital, albeit in small amounts, and much of it had come from suppliers. But that did not change the fact that the majority of the company's shares were in the hands of other shareholders.

He and Bernie Marcus only had a combined 52% of the shares!

That was barely enough to control the company!

Of course, although there were many shareholders, their holdings were very fragmented, and they posed no threat to them.

But once the shares were concentrated in one person's hands, that would be dangerous for them!

Thinking about this, Arthur Blank gradually calmed down.

Although Home Depot needed capital investment and Polaris Capital was strong enough, the drawbacks and risks were too great!

Even if he needed more capital, he could not possibly sell the company, could he?

The company was not his own, so what was the use of investing more money?

He and Bernie Marcus had just started the business two years ago, and were planning to run the company with all their hearts!