Chapter 183: I Can Rent It Out at a Low Price

“Sorry, President Chen previously set a rule that this Coffee Shop doesn’t accept franchising and only operates company-owned stores,” Su Dan said apologetically. This was something President Chen had made clear when signing the contract.

No franchising, only company-owned stores?

Lin Mei was a bit confused upon hearing this. Coffee shops or milk tea shops like this one generally expand through franchises. After all, opening company-owned stores requires much more capital, as well as manpower and energy to manage and operate.

But franchising is different. Not only can it generate franchise fees, but it also involves much less investment, thus significantly reducing risks. Some brand owners even make money primarily from franchise fees.

However, she wasn’t set on franchising this Coffee Shop. Since they weren’t offering franchising, she simply let it go.

“Well, your coffee is good, but it’s a bit far from my home. I probably won’t be able to come often,” Lin Mei sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.

“Teacher Su, didn’t President Chen already plan on opening a branch? Do you know where it will be located?”

Wu Yu spoke up at the right moment. Since Lin Mei thought the current location was too far, perhaps the branch would be closer.

“The location for the branch hasn’t been decided yet, so we’re not sure where it will be,” Su Dan replied, smiling bitterly inside. One of the conditions President Chen gave her was proving to be quite difficult.

That was finding available storefronts for sale. Ordinary locations were easy to find, but storefronts near places like Starbucks were hard to come by, as most of them were rented out.

After all, Starbucks chooses locations with good foot traffic, and such places are in high demand, so it’s nearly impossible to find one that’s available for sale. Unless the property owner has a special urgent need, they generally wouldn’t sell.

Renting, however, provides continuous income, so unless a property owner had a special reason, they wouldn’t consider selling.

Therefore, they had been focused on selecting a location for the past couple of days.

Of course, President Chen had never insisted on buying; she only needed to ensure that it was impossible to purchase before considering renting a storefront.

Lin Mei’s eyes lit up upon hearing Wu Dan’s words. She turned to her companion beside her.

“Shuyun, doesn’t your family have a lot of storefronts? Can you pick one that’s suitable?”

Her friend was quite the seasoned real estate expert, having accumulated many properties after the demolition years ago. With the compensation from those demolitions, she had been living comfortably and now made a living collecting rent.

“A real landlord,” Lin Mei thought with a grin.

“Do you have any specific requirements for the storefront? I can pick one for you,” Shuyun asked Su Dan.

Indeed, she had several storefronts available for rent, and the tenants weren’t planning to renew their leases.

Su Dan explained President Chen’s requirements but didn’t have high expectations.

“I see. I do have one storefront that meets your requirements, but I wasn’t planning on selling it. However, if you want to rent it, I can offer it at 20% below market price.”

As a landlord, selling her property would be uprooting her foundation.

But this Coffee Shop was nice, and she liked the coffee. The storefront in question was actually two adjacent ones and not far from her home. If the Coffee Shop chose her storefront, she could easily open a clothing store next door. That way, it would be more convenient for her to have coffee whenever she wanted.

So, selling was out of the question, but she was willing to offer it for rent at a much lower price.

Su Dan was somewhat moved by the offer. Renting at 20% below market price would save quite a bit of money. And since the Coffee Shop hadn’t yet turned a profit, saving President Chen some funds would be a good thing.

After thinking for a moment, she looked up at her.

“Can we exchange contact information? If I decide to rent, I’ll get back to you in the next couple of days.”

If they couldn’t find a suitable storefront for sale, she’d go with this option.

They exchanged contact details, and after a brief chat about coffee, Su Dan turned and left. After all, Wu Yu was still discussing the agency matter, and she didn’t want to interfere too much.

Some time passed, and she saw Wu Yu taking out the contract that had already been prepared. It was clear the agency deal was settled.

“Sister Lin, thank you so much this time,” Wu Yu said as he handed the signed contract to Lin Mei.

After they signed the contract, Wu Yu escorted the group to the Coffee Shop’s door, thanking Lin Mei again.

“You can thank me by helping out when the Coffee Shop opens its branch. If it’s near my house, that would be great,” Lin Mei said with a light smile.

“I’ll try my best,” Wu Yu replied with a smile but didn’t give a definitive answer.

After all, he was an employee of the Clothing Factory and had no say in the Coffee Shop’s affairs. All he could do was mention it to Teacher Su and the others. Whether it would be taken into account wasn’t up to him.

Inside the Coffee Shop, after Wu Yu and the others left, the shop returned to its quiet state.

Song Xia rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the bustling foot traffic outside the window, her face full of worry.

Today was Saturday, and the walking street was much livelier than usual, but the Coffee Shop still didn’t have many customers.

It wasn’t that there weren’t any customers, but most of them were put off by the expensive coffee prices.

Those who stayed were either curious or didn’t want to leave out of embarrassment.

But these were the minority. Today’s highest revenue was still from Wu Yu’s five cups of 188 coffee.

What should she do?

“Sister Song Xia, what did you and Teacher Su think about my proposal?” Zhou Mei walked over, eagerly asking.

Ever since she proposed the idea of a maid-themed Coffee Shop, Song Xia and Teacher Su hadn’t given her a response, and it was making her anxious.

Song Xia looked up at Zhou Mei, recalling her proposal from before.

To be honest, she didn’t quite understand cosplay, but after researching it yesterday, she found that there was indeed a large community for it, with events like comic conventions and such.

However, when she looked into Coffee Shops in the country, she couldn’t find any examples of maid-themed Coffee Shops.

That’s why she and Teacher Su had been hesitating, unable to make a decision.

After thinking for a moment, she spoke up.

“Your proposal is indeed quite novel, but right now, this type of Coffee Shop hasn’t been tested in the market. We can’t make a decision too easily. If there really aren’t any other options, we’ll consider this suggestion.”

“Good, I’m very confident in the maid-themed Coffee Shop,” Zhou Mei said with full confidence.

“Then do you have a specific plan and methods to attract customer traffic after opening?”

Song Xia looked at Zhou Mei. This was the issue that concerned her the most.