Freselle added, “This is only the income of the organizing committee. The city hall should have several hundred thousand livres in income as well, but the exact amount has to be tallied by them.”
The income from the Tuileries Palace and the amusement park went to the Fashion Week organizing committee, whereas the money earned from additional ventures like public carriages, museums, and theaters belonged to the city hall.
Joseph nodded calmly, but inside he was quite excited as the number surpassed his expectations by nearly a million livres. And this was only the sixth day of Fashion Week; there were still two days to go, and he was certain that total profits would definitely exceed five million livres—As for why there were eight days of Fashion Week?
Ha, there were actually more than half a month’s worth of various activities to follow. Such as the fashion art exhibition, charity week, gourmet week, etc., which would last until the end of March.
However, he wasn’t too surprised by this income figure. After all, an event offering an all-in-one service of dining, entertainment, and fashion, a powerful attraction in itself, was bound to draw the pursuit of Europe’s elite. It was an unprecedented event in the whole world.
This was achieved even with the limited transportation and information channels; for instance, hardly anyone came from the Americas, and even guests from Eastern Europe weren’t many. If it had been the railway era, the revenue from Fashion Week could have doubled.
Besides, Joseph had several other significant earnings that weren’t accounted for.
First was the real estate project.
The empty ground of the Tuileries Palace gardens was developed into the “Royal Palace Gardens” neighborhood, with a total of 75 villas in the first phase, priced at an average of 48,000 livres each. Half of them had already been sold, which amounted to an income of over 1.8 million livres. And every day, people were continuously coming to inquire and view the properties.
You must understand, these houses weren’t even finished yet; people couldn’t see the completed product. Otherwise, they might have been sold out much earlier.
Joseph was not in a hurry—at the rate of real estate strategies from the future, sporadically raising the price, along with news of “some duke” moving in, by the time the houses were finished, he estimated the average price would at least reach 60,000 livres.
Moreover, after the completion of the first phase, facilities such as hospitals and schools would also be built, making the second phase almost pure profit.
Compared to the immense sum that could be made from real estate, the cosmetics from the “Paris Angel” company, as well as the carriage sales from the “Gemstone Jay” carriage partner, seemed unimpressive.
The cosmetics sold for over 800,000 livres in six days, while the carriage dealership, being a new startup and thus facing serious supply shortages, had earned barely 120,000 livres.
Joseph roughly estimated that by the end of the month, when Fashion Week activities concluded, the organizing committee should be able to earn about 7 million livres. Of this, the French Government and the Royal Family would take the lion’s share, and the Paris Chamber of Commerce, having invested some money, would also receive 3% of the profits.
However, for Joseph, most of this money was his—the French Government owed him a loan of 6 million livres, and he had put several million more into buying grain. Brothers should settle their accounts clearly; this money, the French Government had to repay to His Highness the Crown Prince, so it would be deducted from the Fashion Week’s income.
As for the Royal Family’s portion, it went directly into his pocket. Initially, the Queen had offered the Tuileries Palace for her son to use free of charge. Of course, he would have to give something to the Queen afterward; when there’s money to be made, everyone profits, and it paves the way for an even better future.
And the income from the “Royal Palace Gardens” was all Joseph’s. Because he was the sole developer. He spent 50,000 livres buying the plot of land at the Tuileries Park—at that time, it was all vacant land, which had now turned into the most top-tier luxury housing area in Paris.
All in all, he had toiled to organize one Fashion Week, and his net income was roughly around 10 million livres.
With this sum of money, he would be able to buy more grain from overseas to cope with the impending famine.
Joseph continued flipping through the detailed income report of Fashion Week.
Among all projects, the highest revenue naturally came from the sales commission on fashion, hats, and jewelry, including the rental fees for shop spaces, totaling 1.47 million livres. Calculating with a commission of 15%-25%, Fashion Week had so far sold over 6 million livres worth of clothing and jewelry!
Yet the project that ranked second in terms of earnings came as a surprise to Joseph—it turned out to be the inconspicuous amusement hall.
In the Tuileries Palace, there were 75 machines inside and 30 outside, accruing over 800,000 livres in these six days!
On average, each machine earned 1,200 livres a day!!
Joseph suddenly felt, why bother with the strenuous efforts of industry and commerce when this contraption could make money even more quickly?
However, he also understood that these gaming machines could pull in so much money for two reasons, one was their novelty, everyone was drawn to the new experience; the other was because those attending Fashion Week were the extremely wealthy, who, when taken by the thrill of play, hardly cared about how much money they put into it.
If, with time, the novelty wore off, and considering economic factors, it was definitely not possible to maintain such exaggerated earnings.
Moreover, Joseph didn’t want the French to get into financial troubles due to an addiction to these gaming machines. In the future, having just a dozen or so at the Palace of Versailles would suffice, the rest could be sent to the colonies.
The subsequent income items were: accommodation, Eden Amusement Park, specialized services, dining…
Joseph then inquired with Freselle about some Fashion Week operations, but soon heard the melodious sound of music outside and had to end the revenue report—the fashion show was starting in just over ten minutes, and Freselle needed to see to it.
Joseph gazed out the window at the bustling scene of Fashion Week and was already scheming how to maximize the benefits of this grand event.
In fact, he cared more about the indirect gains of Fashion Week than the direct economic income.
For instance, the vast contribution it made to enhancing the image of France.
Once the guests of Fashion Week returned home, they would inevitably tell everyone about the grandness of the event and the prosperity of Paris.
This would attract additional investment to France, as well as various talents longing for its comfortable environment.
Once Fashion Week’s influence stabilized, a “European Expo” could be launched on this basis, along with various award events, to further elevate France’s international standing and attract even more investment and talent.
Additionally, the total price of the various garments sold during this Fashion Week exceeded 4 million livres, with a large part coming from Lyon.
Previously, due to the lack of competitiveness in the French textile industry and the lowering of tariffs by the Eden Treaty, Lyon’s textile industry had almost collapsed to the brink.
In history, the mass unemployment of Lyon’s textile workers was one of the catalysts for the outbreak of the Reign of Terror.
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However, the promotion from this Fashion Week would lead to a surge in sales of French clothing—though our French textile technology might not measure up to yours, England, if our clothes sell well, it can greatly offset the high cost of materials.
Of course, currently, the majority of families buy fabric to make their own clothes, with the ready-made garment market still very small and mainly focused on the lowest end.
Nevertheless, Joseph was confident of significantly increasing the sales volume of ready-made garments through some promotional methods.
This way, the French textile industry could be safely sustained until it could compete with the British in terms of strength.