The first expansion of China: from housewife to supermarket president

? In Canada, in Vancouver, for China immigrants, Datong is China? It is a familiar title. Who doesn't know you, Dawen? This is not an exaggeration. When you move to Canada, no matter how old you are, you have to live at home. You can't get around the daily necessities, and you have to deal with the unexpected meeting in Datong, China.

In Richmond, the headquarters of China, Datong, near No.9 Road, the north and south buildings are opposite. It is both an administrative center and a logistics storage center. Although it is in a corner, it performs an orderly scheduling function. The interview with Ms. Li Luochangyu, President of Datong China District, was more relaxed and cordial than expected. So at first, she refused to be called the president, saying that she was still used to Cindy's name and did not shy away from the difficulties of immigration and her initial business. This kind of confession and sincerity is actually more awe-inspiring.

Wandering in the rain and snow

In winter, it rains and snows in Vancouver, mixed with wisps of wind. Walking in the street feels a little cold.

The sunshine in winter is very short, and the sun sets at 4 pm, and the sky is dark.

A young woman who looked a little thin stood in the corner of the street, stamping her feet back and forth, shaking all over.

Three sisters * * * use a car. She was waiting for her sister to drive to pick her up, but one after another, she still disappeared.

It's already dark, and she looks a little lonely and helpless. The emptiness around her also made her a little nervous, and a sense of loss gradually came to mind. She thought about the traffic in Taipei, the excitement and warmth of Ximending Night Market, and wondered why she came to Vancouver, far away from Wan Li. Unemployed, she doesn't know what to do, and she really wants to go back to her dream and miss Taiwan Province Province in China. ......

This young woman is Li Luochangyu, now the president of Datong China. It has been more than 30 years since the early 1970s.

Immigrants? Same song?

For Li Luochangyu, 1972 is a turning point in her life. At that time, she had just graduated from the Finance and Taxation Department of Taiwan Province University of Political Science in China for two years, and everything was still up in the air, so she moved to Canada with her family.

Although the climate in Vancouver is more comfortable than that in Kadong, it is colder and wetter than that in subtropical China and Taiwan Province provinces, especially in winter. Li Luochangyu, who just arrived here, is quite uncomfortable. In addition, because there is no job, she has been at a loss for nearly a year. Like many new immigrants, her mood is a little depressed. At that time, she couldn't get out of the economy and was cautious everywhere. Three sisters share a car. While she was waiting, her heart fluctuated and she wanted to go back to Taiwan Province Province, China.

At that time, Li Luochangyu didn't have enough spoken English, so he took classes at his own expense. In addition, she has otitis media in both ears, which affects her hearing and needs surgery.

Later, after constant searching, Li Luochangyu finally found a job as a bookkeeper in a real estate company. Although the hourly wage is only 5 yuan, she is very happy because she finally found a job in another place, otherwise she would really go home. She cherished this hard-won job for several years until she started her own business.

There is one thing that has made her feel so much. When she first came, her English was not good. When she parked on Broadway, she was hit by a westerner and the back of the car was damaged. The two sides exchanged addresses, and the other party called at night to ask if there were any witnesses. Li Luochangyu didn't take it seriously at first, saying that there were no witnesses, just in time for the insurance company to strike. The other party immediately asserted that Lillo Changyu took the blame, bullying her as a stranger and ignorant of the law. Angry Li Yu said that there was a witness and the other party was afraid, so he had to take a step back and get even with him. In the end, I did as he said, but I still asked the other party to check it.

How many years have passed, and now sitting in the spacious and bright office of Datong's headquarters in China, Lillo Changyu said with great emotion that she and thousands of immigrants have had the same or similar experiences, had difficulties and hardships in the initial stage, and suffered impacts and collisions in the cracks of different cultures, but don't give up easily, be brave enough to break through yourself, and persevere will enter a new realm.

Compulsory supermarket

Li Luochangyu met her husband in Vancouver, and he came to Canada after finishing his studies in the United States. At the beginning of my family, life was tight. Li recalled that simple furniture was second-hand.

Later, Mr. Wang joined the real estate industry and gradually improved, so he considered that there should be a daily necessities store in the shopping mall to provide local convenience services. At that time, referring to the model of Dahua supermarket in the United States, we began to cooperate with Dahua Group and China Taiwan Province Uni-President Group to build a supermarket in Vancouver.

When the new supermarket was named, three-word names were popular at that time, such as Carrefour. As a result, unification and Dahua merged into one, named? Datong Hua? , has become a famous brand today.

Canada's first Datong Hua supermarket 1993 settled in Bennaby, a gas town. Li revealed that the Richmond family was the first to negotiate, but the progress was very slow; However, due to the sudden bankruptcy of the company negotiated by Gas Town, 40,000 square feet of office space was either completely rented or returned. Originally, we talked about 20,000 feet at first. It was too big to think about it at first, but things were forced to this point, which was tantamount to defeating an army of Lori Changyu. Enemy at the Gates, had to fight, Datong Hua supermarket opened first in gas town. On the surface, it was well laid out from the beginning. In fact, there are hidden reasons.

There are other mountains, where stones are suitable for jade-other people's advice can help a person overcome his shortcomings.

From 1982, all the way was stormy and muddy, and Li frankly said that it was not smooth sailing. Before that, she had no practical experience in business. She was originally a housewife, living in the shadow of her husband's wings? Isolated from the world? Life. When she needs to go to the society to take on heavy responsibilities, everything must start from scratch.

At first, Dahua people came from America to help, but they soon quit. Therefore, they have to do it themselves and learn while doing it. Li Luochangyu joked that at the beginning, he invited some helpers from Chinatown and didn't obey the rules. They take the invoice home after work and can't even settle the bill. When employees get together, they can't even hold a meeting, and their morale is very low. At that time, it was like having a hundred things to do, and there were constant complaints from guests that some staff members had bad attitudes, such as selling meat and throwing things away, which made buyers very uncomfortable.

As it has just started, various rules and regulations are still not perfect. Lillo Changyu said that the employees who just took up their posts at that time could not talk about any systematic training, and they could only make constant adjustments in practice. She went to the library to borrow books on business management, find relevant teaching videos, and study with employees. It is stipulated that when complaints are encountered, emotions should be dealt with first, and then things should be handled.

Due to lack of experience and insufficient understanding of the market, the business lost two-thirds in the first year. Li Luochangyu admits that she is frustrated and can't sleep at night. At that time, she also backed out. It was her father who gave her positive encouragement and made many constructive suggestions. Father said that solving problems should suit the remedy to the case, just like middle school students going to college. What we need most now is a right-hand man.

Therefore, Li Luochangyu tried to hire suitable managers, so that the whole operation gradually improved, and he could turn into a benign operation track, and finally turned losses into profits after one year.

According to expert analysis, it is not easy for a large enterprise like Datong Hua to embark on the road of profit within one year.

Are you online? Curse? Moderate growth

Anyone who has visited China in Datong will feel that, especially in the cooked food part of the supermarket, the details are very considerate for the guests, and the varieties are becoming more and more abundant.

Li Luochangyu said that the supermarket kitchen has experienced a development process from scratch and from small to large. At the beginning, the business content was far worse than it is now, and the quality was unstable. Sometimes she goes to a friend's house for a walk or catches up with some parties, and acquaintances will put forward many dissatisfied opinions, saying that this taste is not right and that taste is not good. Li Luo Changyu is a caring person. She records it every time she listens, and when she goes back, she will prescribe the right medicine, or add and subtract one by one to improve it.

Therefore, Li Luochangyu said humorously, to some extent, Datong China is where it is today. Curse? Growing up in. From the perspective of enterprise promotion and development, those? Curse? It is priceless.

It is this kind of tolerance that makes Datong Hua successful in the field of Chinese supermarkets in Canada? Overlooking , so as to understand why Datong China can succeed. If you want to achieve something great, you must have the courage to be tolerant.

Train senior managers.

Those new skilled immigrants have master's and doctor's degree certificates in their pockets, and many of them have to work in Datong China, which has become their accumulation? Local experience? what's up Whampoa Military Academy? .

In particular, there are many skilled immigrants from the mainland who have worked in Datong, China.

As the saying goes? Iron camp, mobile soldiers? In today's era of free economy, the flow of people is a normal phenomenon, and many people have become? Rushing by? But it also precipitated some plastic talents for the sustainable development of enterprises. In this regard, Li Luochangyu said that the increasing number of mainland immigrants has affected the demographic composition of the Chinese community in Canada and will inevitably affect the local consumption trend. To have a long-term development vision, we should pay attention to promoting the business backbone of mainland immigrants, and train senior managers from them to preserve the strength of the company.

Li Luochangyu emphasized that talent training needs a process, which should be gradual from bottom to top. Only by starting from the bottom can we have a solid business ability.

Li Luochangyu said that the demand for management talents with mainland background is also related to the increasing supply of goods in Chinese mainland. At present, the quality of goods from the mainland is constantly improving, and the types are becoming more and more abundant, but it is also necessary to continuously expand the purchase channels, so people who are familiar with the local situation need to coordinate. Li Yu said that at present, some mainland goods are provided through wholesalers, and some are purchased directly.

Enter the mainstream market

There used to be one along Richmond Road No.3? Hualian? For example, supermarkets were not large in scale and momentum at that time, but once upon a time, they closed down when they said they closed down.

Among Chinese supermarkets in Canada, Datong Hua can be said to be unstoppable and in the limelight. In Jiaguoren Supermarket, Datong Huaneng stands out because it can assess the situation and know yourself. Lillo Changyu analysis, some China supermarkets anticlimactic or give up halfway, mainly because they are not familiar with local laws and market conditions and blindly invest. She thinks that some people are too confident to operate for many years, so they start to let go? Front? The store is too long, but I don't know that past experience can't replace local experience. Moreover, there are various differences between regions, such as the regulations on household appliances, so we still have to do some homework and know ourselves.

There is no doubt that the consumers of Datong China are mainly Chinese and their Asians. Li Luochangyu made it clear that there are plans to target mainstream customers and rush out of the Asian market. In late summer and early autumn this year, a new store will be opened on the shore of Jiadong Lake, which is such an attempt.

Hubin Branch will be the fifth branch in Datong China, formerly known as? Niutou market? The location of knob hill farms is not dominated by consumers in China. However, Datong Hua only intends to get involved in the western market, hoping to gradually promote Asian food culture in western society. Judging from the past development process, Datong Hua will play a leading role no matter where it is, and will gradually promote the prosperity of surrounding businesses.

Now Datong China has more than 2,000 employees and 8 departments. There are 8 in British Columbia, 3 in Alberta and 4 in Ontario. Five of them opened in the last two years and developed rapidly. In the future, Chase China plans to open 10 stores in Ontario and expand to other provinces.

The advantage of women

In Canada, Chase China has 15 chain stores. The president's busyness can be imagined, but Li Luochangyu seems to be able to operate with ease.

For women's business, especially the sales of daily necessities, Lillo Changyu bluntly said that she has certain advantages and a more accurate direction. Because living at home is a woman's business? Longevity There is an innate sensitivity, narrow-mindedness, a better taste in life, a clear understanding of consumers' needs and trends, and the ability to constantly adjust the structure of goods and services to make them more reasonable.

Li Luochangyu said that on weekdays, she would get together with some wives to discuss the experience of living and consumption, and then make adjustments according to the content of her own business. Although chatting at home, it is sometimes more beneficial than the so-called market research, because it comes from the bottom of life? Insight? , often can get to the point.

That's it? Do you have a heart? Li Luochangyu had a brainwave and turned the stone into gold.