The next morning, Lin Chuxia called on Su Wensong, and the two went together to look at shops.
In the 1980s, the area of Ancheng County wasn’t large, the main city area had only one street, with three longitudinal streets around the main street, which neatly divided the entire county.
Further from these surrounding streets, the main city area and urban villages were clearly delineated, forming a loop with the longitudinal streets, and some factories and residential compounds were also around the loop.
Before heading to the northwest, Lin Chuxia asked Su Wensong to pay attention to the storefronts, and she marked out a specific location.
Since they wanted to open a Bun Shop in the county, naturally the busier the area, the better.
Su Wensong looked at two storefronts; one was on the main street, and the other was in the night market, both meeting Lin Chuxia’s requirements.
Both storefronts faced the street, were larger than the ones near the train station, and were much more expensive.
Especially the face-front stores in the main city area, where the monthly rent alone was 30 yuan, payable annually.
After viewing the two storefronts, Lin Chuxia inwardly sighed; no matter the era, real estate was fundamental.
Thirty yuan a month was equivalent to someone’s salary.
However, most of the property rights of storefronts in this era weren’t private. Like the row of storefronts on the main street, most of them were owned by the county’s Housing Management Bureau.
The location near the night market was also not bad and relatively cheaper, but the property rights of that storefront were privately owned.
Lin Chuxia first eliminated the option near the night market.
Having worked with Lin Chuxia for a while, Su Wensong had a good understanding of her style.
“Boss, do you think renting a privately-owned storefront is troublesome?”
“Somewhat.”
Private property can change unpredictably; seeing your business doing well and raising rent is trivial. Others might sublet to your competitors after the lease or, seeing you earning well, decide to keep the place and continue the business under your name. Anything could happen.
Even with a contract in place, once it’s over, you’re still at the mercy of the landlord.
Rather than that, it’s better to rent from a state-owned entity; it’s much less complicated.
They were in the food business, which values reputation and regular customers; they planned for long-term operations.
Moreover, these state-owned properties will eventually fall into private hands as the markets liberalize; Lin Chuxia, knowing market development trends, naturally wanted to gain the upper hand.
However, the location on the main street was not particularly ideal, even Su Wensong, while recommending it, emphasized the night market.
As the two were leaving the night market and reaching the corner of Main Street, Lin Chuxia suddenly stopped.
Following her gaze, Su Wensong saw a nearby storefront for rent and said, “This place has been for rent for a while because it’s two stories and the rent is more expensive, so it has been vacant for a long time. It used to be a sales outlet for the cotton mill, but now the mill isn’t doing well and the outlet isn’t selling much, so it closed down. For a Bun Shop, isn’t the space a bit too large?”
The Bun Shop near the train station was only about fifty to sixty square meters, and this one on a single floor was over a hundred square meters.
When he first came by, he only took one look and felt the space was too large, unsuitable for their Bun Shop, so he didn’t mention it to Lin Chuxia.
Moreover…
He pointed not far across, “That’s a sales point for the food factory, mainly selling prepared foods. Previously, it was the only deli in Ancheng County. Whether it was the State-Owned Restaurant, canteens of major factories, or individuals, everyone was used to buying prepared foods from there.”
The boss wanted to increase the production of prepared foods, aiming to boost sales in the new shop. If they opened the shop here, their deli sales would definitely be impacted.
Lin Chuxia squinted at the sales point across the street. It was close to noon, and the window of the sales point was surrounded by several people buying cooked food.
“Which management does this storefront property belong to?”
Such a large storefront property certainly isn’t privately owned.
“It belongs to the textile mill. Initially, the textile mill bought the land here and built the property themselves; they own it entirely.”
Upon hearing this, Su Wensong understood that Lin Chuxia wanted to rent this place.
“The rent for this place is 50 yuan a month, and the other party requires payment to be made annually, which would be 600 yuan a year.”
Even though their bun shop is doing well, this expense is still significant.
Besides, in Su Wensong’s opinion, they only sell buns and cooked food; they really don’t need such a large shop.
Lin Chuxia glanced through the glass into the inside, then tapped her hands, “Who is in charge at the textile mill? Who should we talk to if we want to rent this place?”
“There’s a Director Kang at the textile mill; he should be there right now.”
“Let’s go and have a look.”
The two went to the textile mill, and as soon as it was known they wanted to rent the storefront, someone immediately took them to Director Kang’s office.
Kang Yong was initially pleased to hear that they wanted to rent the property, but frowned slightly upon hearing it was for a restaurant.
“You know, this property was originally a sales point for the textile mill. Recently, they only rented it out because the mill’s efficiency decreased. If the mill’s efficiency improves and there’s a need, they would take back the property to continue using it. You might want to look elsewhere.”
Restaurants are different from other industries; they generate a lot of greasy fumes. If really rented to them, would the property still be usable when taken back?
On the way there, Lin Chuxia had only thought about further negotiating the rent down and had not anticipated that the textile mill would refuse to rent out the property.
Hearing their reason, she suddenly felt too dependent on her previous thoughts.
She only thought that the property could be rented now and would definitely be sold later, perhaps before the textile mill even closed.
How had she forgotten that people’s attitudes had not really changed yet, especially some traditionalists still harboring unrealistic dreams.
Given the current efficiency and development situation of the textile mill, they still had hopes?
Of course, Lin Chuxia shouldn’t discriminate against this; leaders who have hopes for the mill are good leaders.
However, she now had to change her previous plan.
“Director Kang, not to hide it from you, but after much consideration, we are particularly interested in this property of the textile mill. Although we do run a restaurant and only sell buns, the impact on the premises will not be significant. If you really have concerns, we could sign a contract ensuring that if we damage the property, we will repair it before returning it on the day the textile mill takes it back. How about that?”
Kang Yong did not expect Lin Chuxia to be so persistent, and her proposal seemed reasonable.
Lin Chuxia seized the moment to continue, “Moreover, this property has been idle for over a month now, each idle day is a day of lost income. It might be better to rent it to us; we can pay the rent and sign the contract immediately.”
Kang Yong pondered for a moment, “Let me think about it a bit more. First of all, if we rent it out, the contract must be drafted by us. Come back tomorrow, and I will have a definite answer for you.”
After leaving the textile mill, Su Wensong was still somewhat worried, “Boss, should we look at other properties?”
“No need, these next few days you should look for some workers. If we rent the property, it will need renovations. You can delegate the responsibilities of the cooked food section to Pang Yongli and Sun Bingnan, but you will be primarily in charge of the renovations here.”
In this regard, Lin Chuxia had great trust in Su Wensong.