Episode 52. Storm 3.
The executive director in charge of sales for the department store division, having received word from the chief secretary to wait outside the president’s office, was taut with nerves.
When Min Jeong-ae summoned someone like this, there was no telling what kind of thunderbolt would fall.
And yet, no matter how he looked at it, there was nothing bad enough to warrant being called in.
As he fretted over what this could be about, the sound of his phone ringing reached his ears.
The president’s chief secretary again.
“Yeah. Chief Kwon.”
[The president has just issued another instruction.]
“Instruction? What is it?”
[She said to find out who is operating the outdoor brand called Discovery, and why it is only in the Jamsil branch.]
“Jamsil branch, Discovery?”
[Yes.]
“Got it.”
The executive director hung up and made a call as he strode quickly down the corridor.
An outdoor brand called Discovery that was only in the Jamsil branch...
It was a brand he had never heard of before, but the name sounded strangely familiar.
* * *
Mancheon Department Store, Jamsil branch, rooftop smoking room...
The head of sales for the fashion division beamed as he spoke to the outdoor team leader.
“Hahaha, this is a complete jackpot. In the outdoor section, we’ve caught up to the Gangnam branch.”
“See, Department Head? I told you this would blow up.”
“Yeah, yeah. You were right. Still, it’s true I was nervous. How was I supposed to believe they’d come in as some no-name brand without even a common launch event or any promotion? Other brands start promoting a year before launch and are practically pouring money into it three months out.”
“That bothered me a little too, but the planning was just too good. On top of that, the clothes were made by Discovery themselves. I judged that alone as enough promotion.”
“Khhh... Team Leader Lee, you were right. Do you know how high my shoulders have been these days thanks to your judgment? For now, we’ve beaten down the Gangnam branch, and I think we’ll beat down the main branch this week too, hahaha.”
The team leader curled up the corners of his mouth in a smug smile and took a drag from his cigarette.
It really was a jackpot.
With results like this, promotion was as good as guaranteed.
After all, since an MD’s judgment had led to a branch-exclusive placement and it had succeeded, his evaluation score would be extremely high as well.
Yesterday, he had even had a drink with Assistant Manager Eom Yo-seop of Mancheon Apparel.
Though he was in the ultimate position of power as a department store MD, he had bought the drinks himself.
It was the first time since joining the company that he had paid the bill while drinking with someone from a vendor.
That was how fond he was of Eom Yo-seop.
He had liked the man’s easygoing personality from the beginning, too.
As he savored the relaxed smugness of success and exhaled cigarette smoke, a cell phone rang.
It was the department head’s phone.
“Yes, Executive Director.”
[Mm, yes, Department Head Choi. Doing well?]
Because the department store sales department transferred people between branches and sections every few years to prevent corruption, by the time someone became a department head, he generally knew everyone from department heads on his level up to executive directors.
“Well, same as always. How about you, Executive Director?”
[I’m dying. The president is too scary. Every day feels like I’m standing on thin ice, wondering when she’ll call me in. It’s like being a junior staffer or assistant manager all over again.]
Department Head Choi had, of course, heard plenty about President Min Jeong-ae, who was rumored to be a witch.
“Haha, when you were at the branch, you wanted so badly to go to headquarters.”
[Don’t come. It’s much better there. Now that I’m here, I realize branch department head and executive director were the cushiest posts. But anyway, Department Head Choi.]
“Yes, Executive Director.”
[You have an outdoor brand called Discovery that entered your branch a few days ago, right?]
“Discovery?”
[Yes. I heard only your branch has it.]
“Yes. It came in last Thursday. It was a complete smash, hahaha.”
[Right. I saw it too. But the president asked about it. Who the vendor is, and why only your branch has it.]
He had been told the vendor was Mancheon Apparel, but he did not know why only the Jamsil branch had brought it in.
“I’m out of the office right now, but I’ll look into it and call you back immediately.”
[Call me quickly. The president summoned me over this issue.]
“Yes, Executive Director. I’ll call you right away.”
The department head hung up.
Perhaps because the word Discovery had come up during the call, the team leader was staring at him.
“You said Discovery belongs to Mancheon Apparel, right?”
“Yes.”
“Is it an imported brand?”
“I suppose so. You can’t launch a brand with just one store. And the fact that it opened mid-season, too.”
Even the department store MD in charge thought that way, but Discovery was not an imported brand. It was a native Korean launch brand.
“Hmm...”
He nodded as if that made sense, then asked again.
“But why did it only open at our branch? With planning like this, there must have been quite a few places besides us that would take it. It would’ve been even easier if they went to the provinces.”
“They said they targeted only the main branch, the Gangnam branch, and our branch from the start. Since it was a mid-season opening, I guess they felt burdened. But the main branch and Gangnam branch didn’t take it, and only we did.”
“Hmm...”
“Why do you ask?”
“Hold on.”
The department head furrowed his brow and thought quietly.
Discovery, an imported brand of Mancheon Apparel.
It had opened only at the Jamsil branch and become an unprecedented surprise hit.
But the branches Mancheon Apparel had approached were the three known as Mancheon Department Store’s “Big Three”: the main branch, Gangnam branch, and Jamsil branch.
Since department store sales conditions differed from branch to branch, it was not something that should have been a problem.
And yet President Min Jeong-ae had summoned the executive director in charge of sales for the department store division and asked about it.
The fact that she asked why only the Jamsil branch had opened it meant she had taken an interest and looked into it.
In other words, something that should not have been a problem had become one.
Because the president had begun digging into the details.
Having thought that far, a sardonic smile formed on the department head’s face.
He lit a cigarette and turned his head toward the team leader.
“Team Leader Kim.”
“Yes.”
“You might be sitting in my seat soon.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m saying you’ll become a department head.”
“What do you mean...”
“We hit the jackpot, didn’t we?”
“Come on, how could I get it right away just because of that?”
“Kk-k, you can. I can see the path.”
The team leader tilted his head and asked.
“...Then where will you go, Department Head?”
“I’ll probably go to another branch. One with an empty executive director spot.”
Looking at the bewildered team leader, the department head blew out a long stream of cigarette smoke.
“Hoo... Now then, let’s find out why the main branch and Gangnam branch passed on Discovery.”
Right now, there was no doubt those places were in trouble for having passed on Discovery.
With one or two calls, it would be easy to find out which bastard had done the idiotic thing of turning it away, and why.
The department head, holding a cigarette in his mouth as one corner of his lips jutted upward, turned on his phone screen and looked through his contacts.
* * *
The executive director in charge of sales for the department store division entered the president’s office and bowed to Min Jeong-ae, who was sitting on the sofa.
“I’ve come to report on your instructions regarding the Discovery brand.”
“Which company’s is it?”
“Mancheon Apparel.”
“Mancheon?”
“Yes, President.”
Min Jeong-ae gave a faint laugh.
“They only ever made and sold outdated clothes, but they did something decent this time.”
“It appears to be an imported brand. Judging by its scale and opening timing, it’s the usual...”
At the obvious mention of an imported brand, Min Jeong-ae cut him off.
“Never mind that. Move on.”
“Ah, yes, President. Originally, they were apparently trying to enter three locations: the main branch, Gangnam branch, and Jamsil branch.”
“And?”
“So I looked into it, and at the Gangnam branch, the outdoor team leader had submitted the approval with a positive recommendation, but in the end they decided to bring in a brand called Wild Zone instead.”
Min Jeong-ae’s eyes narrowed.
“Who did?”
“The department head of fashion sales apparently did.”
“Idiot... For someone who’s a fashion sales department head to have so little sense...”
Min Jeong-ae, who had muttered with a contemptuous look on her face, asked again.
“What about the main branch?”
“It seems they rejected it outright from the team leader level.”
Despite the heavy makeup she wore, Min Jeong-ae’s face flushed red.
The managing director felt as if his heart might give out.
The manager at the Gangnam branch and the team leader at the main branch would probably have their heads cut off, and the whole place would be turned upside down.
Because what Min Jeong-ae hated and despised most were people with no business sense.
She spoke in a cold, icy voice.
“Call the Gangnam branch and the main branch and tell them to bring it in right now. Before their heads roll.”
Fortunately, she did not cut off their heads immediately.
“Understood, President.”
“······.”
“Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”
After thinking for a moment, Min Jeong-ae opened her mouth.
“For the next few years, this brand, Discovery, will devour the entire outdoor market. Contact the person in charge of Discovery and tell them I want to see them.”
“Yes, understood. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
After the managing director left, Min Jeong-ae rose from her seat and walked to the window.
Her gaze was directed toward the forest of buildings in Myeongdong, but in her mind she was picturing the Discovery store at the Jamsil branch, packed wall to wall with people.
It was only a single store, but the jackpot had been proven.
She had to secure it no matter what.
Fortunately, since it was said to be a brand imported by Mancheon Apparel, if she intervened, things would become easier.
* * *
Hyeonu and Eom Yo-seop were sitting side by side, looking at the monitor.
Looking at the Discovery brand’s homepage, Hyeonu asked,
“There are five minutes left now, right?”
“Yes.”
Sitting across from them, Choi Won-pyo opened his mouth with an incredulous expression.
“I’ve seen all kinds of brands, but this is the first time I’ve seen limited sales on a homepage. And only for registered members, limited to the first two hundred people per style. Haa······.”
Eom Yo-seop added,
“And payment is in advance, too. Once it all sells out, we post a notice saying it’ll be back in stock in a few days, then again, first-come, prepaid······.”
He shook his head and asked Hyeonu,
“No, how did you even think of such an arrogant method?”
When Hyeonu first brought up this method, Eom Yo-seop had strongly opposed it.
Because given the nature of a mass-market brand—mass production and mass sales—it was not a fitting method.
This kind of high-handed sales tactic was used when selling products that were truly rare or highly scarce.
Hyeonu calmly opened his mouth.
“Our brand has scarcity right now. It has originality, too. I heard somewhere that common products should be made quickly, in large quantities, and sold, while products with value should be sold by creating a fantasy around them. Make consumers desperately want them, make them impatient.”
Eom Yo-seop had nothing to say.
On the first day he met Hyeonu, when he heard the brand name Discovery and the strategy, he had immediately been certain it would succeed.
That was how simple yet groundbreaking the plan was.
The problem was that no one had thought of something that simple.
And the same went for first-come, prepaid sales on the homepage.
As Hyeonu had said, it had scarcity, originality, and even fantasy, so what was there to be afraid of?
Because no one else did it that way, and because there were established methods, everyone simply tried to follow those methods, so they could only end up doing the same thing every time.
But Hyeonu was different.
Maybe it was because he was not someone from the industry, but his way of thinking was completely different.
And all of it was falling perfectly into place.
As he smacked his lips with a bitter feeling, he suddenly saw the clock at the bottom of the monitor.
“Oh! One minute left.”
Choi Won-hyo also came around the table, and the three of them stared at the monitor side by side.
The number “200” beneath each product photo.
As 11:59 became 12:00, every single 200 changed to 0 at the same time.
Eom Yo-seop chuckled.
“Kekeke, sold out······.”
Since they had taken payment in advance, it was already sold out, but they had still waited to see it like this.
Because it was a satisfying sight.
Hyeonu spoke.
“Now post a notice saying that two hundred pieces of each product will be back in stock in five days.”
“Kekekeke, got it.”
Just then, Eom Yo-seop’s cellphone on the table vibrated.
‘Mancheon Gangnam Branch Outdoor Team Leader Kim In-cheol’
“It’s the Gangnam branch.”
After telling Hyeonu, he answered the call.
“Yes, Team Leader. Hello.”
[Oh, Assistant Manager Eom.]
“Yes, Team Leader.”
[Ah, well, you see······ your brand······ could we possibly put it in our branch?]
Eom Yo-seop met Hyeonu’s eyes, gave a small laugh as if to say it was just as expected, and answered.
“You don’t have any empty stores there. The one that opened up was turned over to Wild Zone.”
[Haa······ But it seems the higher-ups are in an uproar. They’re comparing us to the Jamsil branch. Please help me out somehow, Assistant Manager Eom. If we can’t bring Discovery in, the department head’s head is going to roll. I’ll be in a difficult position, too.]
“······Hold on.”
Covering the phone’s speaker with his hand, Eom Yo-seop said to Hyeonu,
“The Gangnam branch is asking us to come in. What should we do?”
Hyeonu asked Choi Won-hyo,
“How’s the supply?”
“All the reorders have gone in, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
After thinking for a moment, Hyeonu asked Eom Yo-seop this time,
“How much did we agree to give the Jamsil branch for the department store commission?”
“Thirty-five percent. All our company’s other brands are at thirty-four percent, but since it was an exclusive entry, they said there was risk and asked us to raise it by one percent.”
“What percentage does the brand with the lowest rate pay?”
“Thirty-three percent.”
“Then tell them we’ll only give them twenty-nine percent.”
“Twenty-nine percent? Then the department store side might not accept it.”
“If they don’t like it, tell them not to.”
Eom Yo-seop, who had been momentarily stunned, gave a small laugh.
“Got it. It’s not like we have any reason to crawl to them. They’re the ones who turned us down first.”
Eom Yo-seop put the phone back to his ear.
“Team Leader.”
[Oh, yes. Assistant Manager Eom.]
“The commission is twenty-nine percent. Would that be all right?”
[Twenty-nine percent? Hey, isn’t that too much? Where in our department store is there a twenty-nine-percent commission?]
“Then I guess it won’t work.”
[Hey, Assistant Manager Eom! Are you really going to be like this?]
“There’s nothing I can do either. The person in charge of Discovery overall said no because they’re in talks with another department store, and I barely managed to get these terms out of them for your sake, Team Leader.”
[Even so, twenty-nine percent is, hah, honestly······. Who is this person in charge?]
“Someone from headquarters. Someone unrelated to our industry······.”
It meant that since the person in charge was from headquarters, there was nothing he could do, and no room for them to try to appeal either.
[······All right. I’ll talk to the higher-ups and call you back.]
“Yes, Team Leader. Then please call me quickly. Before we sign with another department store.”
[Yeah. Got it.]
He hung up, and a short while later, the call came from him again.
“Yes, Team Leader.”
[I spoke with the department head and the managing director······ Couldn’t we do thirty-one percent?]
When Eom Yo-seop wrote “31%” on a piece of paper, Hyeonu shook his head.
It meant no.
“Come on, I told you that won’t work······ Well, then let’s just pretend this never happened. There’s always next season, so we can discuss entering the store again then. Anyway, good luck, and let’s grab a meal sometime soon.”
He was about to hang up when the other man’s voice came through.
[Wait! Just a moment······.]
“······.”
[We’ll give it to you. Twenty-nine percent······.]
Eom Yo-seop smirked and answered.
“Understood. I’ll bring the seal over in a bit, so let’s discuss the details in person.”
[All right. Come quickly.]
“Got it. After the contract is done, let’s have a meal together. I’ll buy.”
After hanging up, Eom Yo-seop said to Hyeonu,
“They agreed to twenty-nine percent. In the end, not getting that store back then actually worked in our favor. We’re getting five percent more in margin now.”
Hyeonu smiled gently, and Choe Wonhyo said a word.
“Looks like luck really is on our side. Things that didn’t work out are heading in an even better direction. It’s like even if we fall backward, we break our nose.”
“That’s not what that saying means.”
“Is it not? Anyway, you know what I mean.”
Eom Yoseop shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Honestly, ever since joining the project team, I’ve really experienced all sorts of things. Even throwing our weight around at a department store...”
Hyeonu did not think this was throwing their weight around.
They had been the ones to refuse first, and he did not think a 29% commission was an excessive lowball either.
After all, even if it wasn’t the Gangnam branch, even if it wasn’t Mancheond Department Store, they could sell plenty elsewhere.
Just then, his cell phone vibrated again.
Eom Yoseop, who checked the screen, flinched and said,
“It’s the main branch. The head of the outdoor team at the main branch.”