[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 22 London Fanny's Food Store with Slide

The opening day was Friday, and there were many clouds in the sky, but it was already a rare good weather in London. The sun shone through the clouds to the street, and through the glass windows, it shone into Fanny's Food Store.The walls inside are covered with beige wallpaper, and the overall decoration is simple and elegant.Red, white and beige are the main colors, with occasional yellow.Many tables and chairs are regularly arranged in the bright hall. The tables and chairs near the doors and windows are designed to be very simple but comfortable. The seats further inside are separated by low partitions. The partitions are very wide. A lot of small potted plants make the corners with insufficient sunlight full of vitality.

The creamy white tablecloths on the tables were very light and had to be changed every day and they alone were a fortune.In her previous life, Mary went to a restaurant to eat. In order to save trouble, many restaurants put a layer of disposable plastic tablecloth on each round table, so that it is very convenient to clean up the table. However, there is no such disposable tablecloth now. Food, so the tablecloths are always easy to get dirty. There are only more than 20 small tables in Meridon, and it is not too much trouble to change and clean them.However, there are more than 100 tables in the two stores in London. Even if you change the tablecloths once a day, you may have to prepare no less than [-] of these tablecloths for replacement. You must know that London is not a place where the sun is easy to see , and the price of replacing these tablecloths when they become old in the future is also included. This expenditure is too large.As is customary in this day and age, a bare wooden table top would feel dirty and cheap if left bare without a tablecloth.This is not in line with Mary's positioning of Fanny's Food Store. She finally gritted her teeth and used the tablecloth at any cost. Fortunately, she had an idea. She customized many pieces of glass the same size as the tabletop and pressed them on the tablecloth. Tablecloths don't get dirty easily either.And a napkin should be placed on each guest's plate for the guests to use, which keeps the tablecloth clean for a long time without having to clean it so frequently.Under normal circumstances, it is enough for them to change the tablecloth once every two days.

Fortunately, the textile industry is very developed now, and the price of low-end textiles is low. Mr. Lake went to several textile factories and finally settled on this kind of cotton cloth with a very low price. Because the cooperative relationship can be maintained for a long time in the future, the manufacturer still gives a lot of discounts.The tables in the food store are not big, and including the cost of glass tabletops and napkins, it still saves a lot of money in the long run.

Mary advertised in a London newspaper a few days ago, and Elizabeth also designed some leaflets for Mr. Lake to find a publishing house to print. Customers who hold the leaflets can enjoy a [-]% discount. These leaflets There were thousands of copies, and Mr. Lake had several of Lawrence's clerks distribute them around the food store for three full days.

Because of these publicity campaigns, Fanny's Food Store was very lively on the opening day, and many people came to join in the fun.The three Mary sisters were at the food store in Tennessee Street, and Mr. Lake went to Southwark Street.

As soon as many guests enter the door, they will see the children's play corner occupying a corner of the hall, where there are slides, small wooden horses, and two small swings.People have never seen a slide, and they have asked the waiters what it is for, and these polite waiters will take the trouble to tell the guests the function of the slide, hoping that ladies with children will come to visit often.

There was a family of four in the crowd, who went shopping with two children and a maid, and now they went into the store to take a break and eat something.

After the naughty boy heard the waiter explain how to play the slide, he suddenly broke free from the maid's arm, ran to the slide, and climbed up in two or three strokes. He yelled: "Mom, look at me." Then he sat down As soon as the "slip" slid down, the mother hadn't reacted, and the maid's frightened scream hadn't had time to rush out of her throat, and the boy slid onto the thick cushion under the slide.

"Haha, it's so interesting!" The boy looked like an adventurer who had discovered the New World, and he climbed up again and slid down.

His sister also looks eager to try: "Mom—I want to play too."

The mother asked the maid to take good care of the two little masters inside, and then bought some food with her husband, eating while watching the children play.

This made many guests express their surprise and joy—this is really great. I used to take the children to go shopping together. When you were tired from walking and wanted to have a quiet meal, the bear children always refused to understand adults. Their hard work, either not eating well or wriggling in the seat when they are full, asking if they can leave immediately, God knows why the energy of the children is always so strong, can't the adults take a breather?In the future, you can come here to eat and take a rest. The children will not feel bored when the adults are chatting or eating and resting.

It is very convenient and fast to eat here. Instead of sitting on the table and waiting for the waiter to greet you, the guests go to the counter to order in person. If there is anything you don’t understand, ask the waiter. These waiters always answer your questions patiently, meticulously, quickly and clearly , the serving speed is very fast, the waiter will hand the tray to your hand within 30 seconds after ordering, you have to find a seat by yourself, and leave straight away after eating, the cleaning staff will quickly clean up the dishes you left behind , Use a white rag to clean the table spotless and continue to receive the next customer.Less than two hours after the opening of Tian'en Temple Street, the occupancy rate reached 100%, which is more than 180 seats.

The food here is also delicious. The signature dish potato chips are crispy and crispy, and the fried chicken and fish are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. You can't get this kind of delicacy anywhere else.After spending a certain amount, the store will give free fruit to accompany the meal.

Mary has been sitting in the office on the second floor until closing time. The shop assistants are very busy today. Mary and Mr. Lake have compiled a behavior manual for each employee in Meridon. They must operate strictly according to the requirements. This kind of machinery This type of behavior greatly facilitates customers and improves service efficiency, but at the same time, the requirements for employees are also more stringent.

The four employees at the front desk are responsible for ordering and delivering food. They complete the service within 20 to 30 seconds. Except for a meal at noon, these people stand for almost a whole day and help clean up the tables and chairs after closing the door. Mary let everyone eat something and then went back to rest.

Downstairs, the store manager and an employee were counting today's earnings, and Mary asked them to wait for Mr. Lake before going upstairs to report together.The three sisters were sitting or standing in the office, no one said anything, Mary walked back and forth, guessing how much she would earn today, Uncle Gardiner also came here to wait for the news with the three sisters, he was very relaxed, I was still flipping through a newspaper I hadn't read today.

Elizabeth couldn't help shaking her head, stood up and dragged Mary to a chair to sit down: "Put your heart back in your belly, you have seen how hot the scene is, there is no need to worry at all."

Mary smiled reluctantly. She also knew that today's situation was unprecedented. If the daily operation in the future could be half of what it is today, she would definitely not lose money. But for some reason, she was a little flustered. She never did.

Jane also comforted her: "Today's situation is beyond my expectation, and our food store will definitely be successful."

"Think about those crowded guests, their gluttonous expressions when they eat, it means that they like our food." Elizabeth said, holding her face, "I feel very proud and satisfied, especially you, Mary." She looked at Mary: "You have paid many times more than us for this."

Mary sat down against her: "So I'm waiting for the pride and satisfaction that should be mine."

After about half an hour or more, there was the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, the sound of "Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta-Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa is did you know?" The three sisters all stood up, and the knock on the door of "Tuk, Tuk, Tuk" seemed a little urgent. Then, the door was pushed open, and Mr. Lake walked in.

Uncle Gardiner just stood up at this moment. He put his hands behind his back and stood on his toes: "It must be good news, Lake. I won't be surprised if I earn a hundred pounds today."

Mr. Lake's vigorous figure was jumping with joy, and the suppressed excitement leaked out from the corners of his tightly pursed mouth: "Mr. Gardiner, Miss Bennet, Miss Jane, Miss Mary "He still managed to take off the hat on his head and salute to his nephews and uncles one by one, but Mary didn't care about it, and asked him quickly: "How is the situation, Mr. Lake?"

Mr. Lake couldn't even bear to sell it. He grinned and said, "52 pounds 8 shillings and 6 pence!" He looked around the three employers, "Total turnover of our two stores today!"

"My God!" said the three sisters in unison, and they immediately hugged each other.

Elizabeth laughed and said, "We did it!"

Jane covered her mouth with surprise, surprise and joy on her face.

Mary sat down immediately, and she immediately began to calculate the profit for a year on a piece of white paper.Uncle Gardiner couldn't help but feel a little funny when he saw this: "Today's turnover can't be used as a standard, Mary."

Mary stopped writing immediately, she looked at Uncle Gardiner, and felt that her impatience was indeed a little funny, she patted her forehead, and said to Mr. Lake with some embarrassment: "I hope you don't think that I am eager for quick success. .”

"No, no, I definitely don't think so." Mr. Lake shook his head like a rattle, "Actually, I was just like you when I was downstairs."

Elizabeth asked Mr. Lake to sit down, and the five of them sat around a small round table with the black tea that Jane had just poured.Elizabeth asked Mr. Lake, "Can you estimate our annual income?"

"You can't use today's profit as a standard. You have to let the food store operate for at least a month," Mr. Lake said, "but please allow me to make a bold guess. , our annual income is also about 7 pounds, minus the rent, water fee, workers' wages, raw materials, taxes, and of course my commission, your income is at least 4000 pounds, and, among our guests today, there are 60.00% of them came with our promotional leaflets, and we gave them a [-]% discount, and this part of customers will definitely decrease in the future, but it can be basically the same when our discounts are included.”

"Annual income of 4000 pounds?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes in disbelief. "This amount is really unexpected."

"That's a conservative estimate, Lizzie," Uncle Gardiner patted Elizabeth on the shoulder, "I think it's actually at least 20.00% higher."

"We'll be satisfied with £4000." Jane said happily.

"Oh, no, you can't be too easily satisfied, Jane." Mary patted Jane's hand and smiled happily. "I still want to make more money, and then open a few more food stores. I can earn at least [-] pounds a year!" Mary looked forward to the situation where she would spread the pounds on the bed.

Elizabeth laughed out loud.

For the next month, Mary, Elizabeth and Jane often visited the food store on Tianensi Street.

The flow of people there gradually decreased after three days. Jane was a little anxious seeing this situation, but Mary and Elizabeth were calm and relaxed. It was the same when Meridon's food store first opened. People experienced the novelty at the beginning. , It always takes a while to accept a new thing.

A week later, the situation changed, the number of repeat customers gradually increased, and the turnover began to rise steadily.The turnover in the first month reached 850 pounds, and many customers came here admiringly.It is worth mentioning that the slides in their store attracted many people to watch the excitement, and many people came here not to eat but to play on the slides.Less than a month later, this slide trend quickly swept the whole of London, and Fanny's Food Store became famous for it.