Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 531

533

Returning as a Building Owner

A week later.

“…….”

Yoo Seung-il stared blankly at the boxes piled up on one side of the store, seemingly at a loss for words.

A whopping 120 boxes.

These boxes were none other than videos sent from Movie Heart branches across the country.

Of course, he should be grateful. But he couldn’t be at all. The reason was simple: these videos were unnecessary.

In other words, these videos were trash.

It started a week ago.

When he heard from Manager Park Sun-woo at headquarters that videos sent from all over the country would be arriving from the next day, he was excited.

So much so that when he received the first video, he was so grateful that he almost shed tears.

But that emotion lasted only until he checked the boxes.

The moment he opened the boxes and checked the videos, the gratitude he had felt just moments before vanished in an instant.

First of all, what was disappointing was the condition of the videos.

Anyone could tell that they weren’t sent to help, but rather because there was nowhere else to throw them away. That’s how terrible their condition was.

Still, hoping for the best, he dusted them off and checked their condition, but he was still disappointed. The reason was that the videos sent were already in the store.

And there was another problem. That was the quantity of the videos.

The amount of videos delivered on the first day alone was 30 boxes. And the next day, 50 boxes.

Out of a total of 80 boxes, only 20 videos were usable. Since there were usually about 40 tapes in a box, that meant he only salvaged 20 tapes out of a total of 3,200.

It was a terrible result considering he had spent almost two days without being able to run the store properly.

In the end, he decided this wasn’t working and immediately called Manager Park Sun-woo at headquarters.

He told them not to send any more videos.

But that wasn’t something he could control. The ones that had already been sent kept arriving.

That’s how 40 more boxes arrived later.

The 40 boxes that arrived later weren’t even opened. After all, he knew very well that there was no point in checking them.

“What the hell is this?”

Yoo Seung-il felt anger rising within him without realizing it.

People couldn’t do this. Headquarters had clearly said they were helping, but how could they do this?

But in any case, all of this started with one person.

Yoo Seung-il immediately took out his cell phone and made a call.

-Hello.

“Manager, this is Bupyeong!”

Yoo Seung-il’s voice was full of annoyance.

How could it not be? It had only been a week since he opened, and a one-ton truckload of videos was piled up in one corner of the store.

-Why, what’s wrong? You don’t sound good.

“What are you going to do with this garbage?”

The word ‘garbage’ came right out of Yoo Seung-il’s mouth. That’s how much he saw the videos in front of him as nothing more than garbage.

But from Manager Park Sun-woo’s point of view, it was absurd.

-Garbage? No, what are you talking about all of a sudden?

“I’m talking about the videos sent from Movie Heart branches across the country.”

-Videos? Just a moment…….

Manager Park Sun-woo seemed to be thinking for a moment about what he was saying. Then he raised his voice.

-No, how can you say such a thing? Anyway, those people sent them to help you, but you’re calling them garbage? That’s too much, isn’t it?

“Help? Who? Those people? You’re saying those people sent that with the intention of helping me? What’s wrong with you? Even a dog passing by would laugh.”

-What? Are you done talking?

“No, I’m not done yet. No, don’t do that and come here right now. Come and see it with your own eyes and let’s talk!”

Yoo Seung-il’s voice grew louder. That meant his emotions had become more intense.

But who was Park Sun-woo?

He was a person who opened and managed thousands of rental stores across the country.

He could tell what the situation was just by the other person’s voice. That meant he also knew how to deal with it.

Manager Park Sun-woo urgently called Yoo Seung-il first. He knew that the first thing to do in this kind of situation was to cut off the flow of emotions.

-Yoo, President!

“Yes? What?”

-I’m sorry, but I’ll call you back later. I have an urgent customer right now. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I’m sorry.

Click.

Manager Park Sun-woo hung up before the other person could answer. After all, in a situation like this, the other person’s answer was unnecessary. He had learned from experience that the most important thing to do in this kind of situation was to cut off the other person’s emotional rhythm.

“What is it?”

Chairman Min Hong-sik, who had been watching Manager Park Sun-woo, asked immediately.

“It’s President Yoo in Bupyeong.”

“What’s wrong with that guy again?”

“It’s about the video support we talked about last time. It seems like there’s a problem with the stuff. So he’s very angry right now, so I cut off the call to cool him down. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Didn’t something like that happen in Gangneung last time?”

“Yes, that’s right. But I know how to handle it, so you don’t have to worry.”

Manager Park Sun-woo said calmly as if it was nothing.

Then Chairman Min Hong-sik nodded as if he understood and continued.

“That’s Manager Park’s specialty, so what do I have to worry about? By the way, how much stuff is it that he’s making such a fuss?”

“Most of it is probably stuff that’s already in the store, and it’s probably covered in dust. And the amount is not small, so he seems very angry. And I’m sorry to President Yoo, but I actually expected him to call.”

Manager Park Sun-woo’s words were so relaxed that you could feel it. That meant this wasn’t the first time this had happened, and he had already anticipated everything.

“You knew in advance? Does that mean you intended this situation?”

“Yes, that’s right. President Yoo may not need that stuff, but we absolutely need it. I checked the warehouse and there’s not much stock these days, so I was going to send it there.”

“So you’re saying you’re going to reuse that stuff?”

“Yes, of course. After all, that was the purpose from the beginning. The Bupyeong store doesn’t need it, but if we clean it up, we can use it when we open a new store. In the end, we’re getting it for free and making money from it. Of course, we’ll charge extra for the gas when we take the stuff away.”

Manager Park Sun-woo looked triumphant as he spoke as if he was proud of himself.

Chairman Min Hong-sik smiled with a satisfied expression as he looked at him and continued.

“When you think about it, our Manager Park is quite the housekeeper.”

“Why are you embarrassing me?”

“By the way, what are you going to tell President Yoo later?”

“We have to play dumb.”

“You didn’t know anything?”

“That’s right. We at headquarters only did it out of good intentions, and we didn’t know those people would send such stuff. Then we say that we’re also embarrassed, and President Yoo will have no choice but to tell us to get rid of this stuff quickly because he knows. It’ll be in the way of his business.”

Smirk.

Chairman Min Hong-sik smiled as he looked at Manager Park Sun-woo, who was talking excitedly. Then he continued.

“You’re saying that you’ll pretend you don’t know and say you’ll get rid of it, but you’ll only take the gas money and take it to the warehouse?”

“One thing is missing.”

“One thing? What is it?”

“We should be charging for the waste disposal, but we’re making it look like we’re getting rid of it for them. Then they’ll be grateful. And they’ll feel the need for headquarters even more.”

“Huh…….”

Chairman Min Hong-sik shook his head, chuckling as if he had nothing to say.

Then Manager Park Sun-woo shrugged as if he had done something great. That’s how the two of them were enjoying someone else’s misfortune.

After a while.

Chairman Min Hong-sik asked again.

“By the way, how are the sales at the Bupyeong store? It’s already been a week since it opened, right?”

“I check it every day, and it’s averaging about 20.”

“Huh, is that all?”

“Sales dropped faster than I thought. I thought it would be good for at least 3 months, but it dropped off surprisingly quickly.”

Usually, when a store opens, there’s an opening effect. It usually lasts for 3 months, or even 6 months in some cases. And then regular customers start to come.

But strangely, the Bupyeong store didn’t have that opening effect.

Chairman Min Hong-sik asked.

“What’s the reason?”

“I was curious about the reason, so I looked into it, and it turned out that the kid was the cause.”

“So it’s that kid again?”

“He bought another 10 million won worth of used videos.”

“I saw that he had most of the stuff last time, but he bought more videos?”

“Yes, he bought a lot of kids’ videos, martial arts series, and dramas. Especially the martial arts series, he bought up to 5 copies of the same thing, and he increased the amount of videos a lot.”

“Hmm…….”

Chairman Min Hong-sik didn’t say anything for a while, as if he was thinking about something.

After a while.

He opened his mouth again.

“He was a pro.”

“Yes? A pro?”

“Yeah, that kid didn’t lower the rental fee to 500 won [approximately $0.40 USD] without thinking.”

“What do you mean?”

“That friend had everything planned out. He had already finished preparing before he lowered the rental fee to 500 won. In the end, he knew that he had to compete with quantity in order to dump [get rid of excess inventory].”

“So he bought a large number of videos.”

“That’s right. He knew that no matter how cheap the price was, it wouldn’t mean anything if there was nothing to see. Moreover, he only increased the parts of the videos that made money.”

To the eyes of people who don’t know, blockbuster movies and new releases may seem like the only things that make money. But those works are just figureheads.

Luring customers.

There’s nothing better than that to attract people.

But the important thing is what comes next.

Continuity.

You need something that can continuously attract the people who come in. In a video rental store, that’s a variety of videos. In other words, if there’s nothing to see, the people who came in will gradually stop coming, and if there’s a lot to see, they’ll keep coming to the store.

Manager Park Sun-woo continued.

“I was surprised to see him paying attention to the comics. Usually, most rental stores don’t pay much attention to the comics section.”

“That’s why that friend is a pro. If the kids move, the adults will naturally follow.”

“That’s right. The conclusion is that there are a lot of things to see, so customers are flocking to that side. Besides, the new releases are 10 times more expensive than the Bupyeong store, so of course…….”

“In the end, he’s losing out on both the variety and the new releases, so there’s no way there’s going to be an opening effect.”

“Yes, that’s right. So, I was wondering…….”

Manager Park Sun-woo hesitated for a moment while he was talking.

Then Chairman Min Hong-sik tilted his head as if he had a rough idea and asked.

“You’re not thinking about the last resort already, are you?”

“Of course not, but I think we should prepare for it. But that’s really the last resort, and I think we should start working on it after we see the monthly results. It’ll be easier to get it out when he’s still motivated.”

“Hmm, I can’t help it. If that’s the order…….”

“But don’t worry too much. The Bupyeong store is just one of thousands across the country.”

“Huh, who do you think I am…… Okay, call President Yoo now. He should be calmed down by now.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Manager Park Sun-woo answered and took out his cell phone and started making a call.

***

Lee Myung-hoon looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“President, have you heard?”

“Huh? Heard what?”

“Movie Heart. A little while ago, the videos that Movie Heart branches across the country had sent for a week were taken out in a one-ton truck. Your words were right.”

“Hmm…….”

Hyun-sung just nodded without saying anything else.

After all, he had expected it from the beginning, so he wasn’t greatly shaken.

But Lee Myung-hoon didn’t seem to think so and asked immediately.

“But I’m curious how you knew from the beginning that Movie Heart wouldn’t need those videos.”

“It’s obvious.”

“Obvious? What is?”

“They’re strangers to each other anyway.”

“Even so, they’re the same Movie Heart. Headquarters also issued instructions.”

“What’s the point of that? They don’t have a sense of belonging anyway.”

That’s obvious.

Even though they’re chain stores, they’re individual businesses anyway. That means that even though the sign is the same Movie Heart, they’re individual businesses that do their own business activities.

And headquarters doesn’t have any binding power. In other words, there’s no compulsion.

In that situation, what’s the point of headquarters sending an official letter?

Moreover, even though they’re the same Movie Heart, they don’t have any connection, so why would they help someone who just opened a store?

Hyun-sung’s judgment was that they would just pretend to follow the official letter of cooperation.

Lee Myung-hoon still didn’t understand and tilted his head, continuing.

“I honestly don’t understand. Even so…….”

“Myung-hoon.”

Hyun-sung interrupted Lee Myung-hoon and continued.

“That’s reality.”

“Reality?”

“Yeah, that’s how little interest people have in other people’s business. And Movie Heart headquarters is deliberately creating that kind of atmosphere.”

“Yes? Headquarters is creating that? What are you talking about?”

Lee Myung-hoon’s face was full of surprise as if he couldn’t understand.

Then Hyun-sung continued.

“If they stick together, it’ll be difficult for headquarters.”

“If they stick together, it’ll be difficult? Ah! So that’s why they don’t let them make connections with each other?”

“Yeah, otherwise the Movie Heart system will collapse. So they’re blocking Movie Heart from meeting each other in any way possible.”

“So that’s why things like this happen.”

“That’s right, but do you know what’s even funnier?”

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Myung-hoon and asked.

Then Lee Myung-hoon asked immediately as if he was curious.

“What’s even funnier? What is it?”