America 1919-Chapter 724 - : 249, The Chain Stratagem
Chapter 724: 249, The Chain Stratagem
John Hardford learned about Apollo Chain’s new promotional plan right away.
All items in Apollo chain stores were given a 40% discount!
It was that brutally simple, that shockingly speechless-making!
But what truly made John Hardford feel helpless was Apollo Chain’s response time. In less than one day, in just a single morning, they reacted to A&P’s announcement of a new promotion plan, rolled out their reply, and by the afternoon, this promotion plan had already been implemented in all two thousand stores!
This efficiency was what John Hardford had hoped for, yet it was something he could not achieve.
Just like now, he had again called a high-level meeting for A&P to discuss a new promotional strategy, but these people hadn’t learned from their previous failure.
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Regarding John Hardford’s decisions, there were again differing opinions!
This situation made John Hardford angry, and finally, he dismissed the opposing views and forcefully decided on a new promotion plan to match the promotional intensity of Apollo Chain.
A 40% discount across the board!
However, for a huge company like A&P, such a decision was not one that could be immediately communicated and executed.
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From the time John Hardford made the decision to the necessary coordination from the stores that needed to carry out the specifics, the whole process lasted three full days.
During these three days, A&P’s sales continued to decline.
The surge in stock price brought about by the affiliation with Kraft Foods also disappeared at this time, and A&P’s stock prices began to drop again.
What frightened John Hardford most was that A&P’s cash pool began to show signs of crisis.
The old merchandise had not been sold off, and new stock had already come in. Previously, A&P could rely on its strong cash flow to cope with such issues, but now A&P’s cash pool was touching their red line due to retained inventory and the plunge in company’s stock prices among a series of other issues!
“A&P! The hidden dangers of rapid expansion begin to emerge!”
At this time, the “Wall Street Journal” suddenly published a report.
It was about A&P’s current predicament!
At the beginning of the 20th century, A&P had fewer than 200 stores. In these twenty years, they were on a fast track, using all their working capital for expanding their number of stores.
In this same twenty-year period, A&P grew from fewer than 200 stores to now nearly ten thousand.
Such rapid expansion was seen as a sign of a highly dynamic company when there were no problems.
But when A&P encountered a cash crisis, this rapid expansion became the reason for A&P’s downfall!
Media don’t have the power to predict, but they can express their opinions based on the current situation!
As the most economically authoritative newspaper in America, the “Wall Street Journal” report could be said to have directly pushed A&P into the limelight of public opinion!
“Sir, the board has sent an inquiry asking if you have a way to handle the current situation with the company’s stock price decline, and if you can lead the company out of this predicament?”
Josh Hunter, as John Hardford’s secretary, came to John Hardford’s office with a letter!
At this time, Lao Hobbs took the inquiry letter from the A&P board from Josh Hunter’s hands!
“A bunch of visionless fools!”
John Hardford didn’t even look at the inquiry letter, just expressed his opinion with some anger.
“The company is indeed facing some difficulties, but such difficulties are not insurmountable for us, and the cash problem is not unsolvable!”
“If it weren’t for their constant dawdling, the company would never be in the situation it is in now!”
Lao Hobbs said, “Sir, I’ve contacted Morgan and Wells Fargo banks respectively, and they have great faith in our company’s capabilities, so they are both willing to provide us with some cash support at this time!”
John Hardford was very capable, and he had anticipated that A&P would face the current predicament. Hence, a few days earlier, he had instructed Lao Hobbs to contact the banks.
It was apparent that the A&P name still held sway. Even in the face of some crisis, those banks were willing to offer a certain amount of credit loan to A&P at this time!
John Hardford nodded slightly and first said to Josh Hunter, “Transfer these two funds into the company’s account immediately. We cannot fall behind Apollo again this time!”
Then he instructed Lao Hobbs, “Go and communicate well with our suppliers, tell them A&P won’t have any problems, ask them to consider the long-standing cooperation between us, and give us some leeway in the payment of the goods. Also tell them that after such a long period of promotions, Apollo Chain’s cash should be nearly depleted. As long as we can get through this period, A&P will make sure to thank them properly in the future.
Also, go tell Frank Norris from the sales department that from now on, those stores must respond immediately to the company’s orders. If there’s no response, his tenure as the sales department manager is over!”
If it had been a time of peace, or even a time when the crisis wasn’t that severe, John Hardford would’ve been willing to give some face to the management and the board, not to take matters too far.
