Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 11: The Beginning of Brutal Competition

In June, Vienna is so green and full of flowers that it seems like a fairyland on earth - which of course, is never going to happen. Vienna in the 21st century is more like it.

After June, the retail business has become highly competitive. The struggle between the major supermarkets has also spread to the local fish. One by one, every traditional grocery store has been forced to close.

It reduced the hustle and bustle of Vienna all of a sudden. The streets were marked with relocation notices, and only a few small stores were still open. There are dozens of small stores doing sales of daily goods facing a choice to switch to other businesses or close.

In the capitalist world, one hair will move the whole body. -- Das Kapital

In the future, some supermarkets will not be able to survive. The smart capitalists have chosen to adapt. The loss of selling daily goods will sell alternatives, such as changing into a clothes market or the restaurant business, setting up a buffet.

With the earlier gain in popularity, one business thrives and convinces more people to join in, and many sales businesses in Vienna are in a mess.

The unrest in the market soon spread to the financial markets. A small-scale economic crisis actually broke out in Vienna. It was natural for speculators to show no mercy, and the storm came.

Of course, that is something for the future. It will take time for the unrest in the market to ripen, and for now, it is still limited to the retail industry's struggles.

Gottfried is now well-funded. Ruprecht is even more ambitious, and he does not yet know that a falcon has set his sights on him.

"Mr. Cameron, how long do you think it will take to end this war?" said Ruprecht with great spirits.

"If the current situation is kept up, it is possible that by next month the number of supermarkets in Vienna will be reduced by a third. In six months it will be reduced by half again. By then, everyone will be drained, and those who survive will be the ones with strength. With fewer players, this price war will come to an end!" Cameron analyzed it.

"No, the shareholders will have a bad opinion if we lose money for a long time. Moreover, it has now spread to the department store and will affect our plan to go to the stock market!" Ruprecht vetoed the idea.

"Then we can only let intensify the price war. We will lose a lot!" Cameron said with a frown.

"Then we will just proceed to lower it, and I hope to end the battle within three months. At all costs, take out that bunch of mongrels and make back the money we lost!" Ruprecht said firmly.

With a grin, Ruprecht thought of a good plan and said, "The retail price of goods in the supermarket now is lower than our current purchase price. You can secretly send people to other supermarkets to buy it."

"That is, we can blow the other side and reduce the cost of purchase! Keep in mind to do it in secret. If they find out, it would be a problem if they follow the same model."

"Yes sir, as you wish. I'll lower the price by another ten percent today, maybe I can scare off a few stray fish!" Cameron said with a smile. VIsit n0(v)eLb(i)n.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience

The retail market was once again in a state of distress. The Volvo got printed with Volvo franchise on most of the items required because of its size.

The goods from Volvo had to be repackaged to make sure to avoid the reveal out. After a little attempt, Ruprecht had to give up.

Then other supermarkets hit a stroke of big bad luck with heavy losses for a while, but Ferdinand soon discovered that they reduced Gottfried's purchases in the Shuanghui Food Group.

Ferdinand smiled wryly and thought to himself, "Ruprecht is killing himself. He'll soon learn the hard way about being a target for all of us!"

Volvo can do that is large enough to spread out everywhere, with just a goal for the Gottfried side. If it exposes Ferdinand, he can also afford to leave.

It does not look like the strength of those small capitalists is not good. If they all move together, even Ferdinand needs to be afraid for a moment.

Ferdinand also did not waste time and simply let out the news that Gottfried's purchase is reduced. He believes that anyone who is not a fool will know that there is a problem with it.

It didn't take long. The smart capitalists imitate the model and send people directly to the Gottfried supermarkets to buy goods, making Cameron's work a mess.

Those capitalists with backgrounds also used a lot of connections to give Gottfried more trouble. For example, they often cut off power and water at Gottfried's stores.

Of course, there are no less than a few punks to mess up now and then, when the most intense also took a human life.

Everyone knows that Gottfried Department Store is losing money. All tacitly agreed to target department stores, of course, without Ferdinand's secret support.

In a half month, Ruprecht had bombs dropped on his home twice. He was ambushed three times on the road, and members of the Helder family were not spared from scrutiny.

Gottfried Department Store workers do not lack impact. There are not a few who are beaten and asked for a leave of absence. Those who are not granted will simply resign.

No doubt they are competent capitalists. The Helder family looks like it is not the first time they have faced it. They are a little used to it and respond at once.

After ramping up security measures and finding connections to pressure the police department on one side, they quickly quieted the chaos. However, their already bad status now became even more infamous.

In order to quell this trouble, in just one month, Gottfried paid a high price of two hundred thousand pounds.

The supermarket's loss can only be seen as average, only a mere forty thousand pounds. In addition, the department store now has a big drop in customer numbers and enters a deficit.

The biggest expense is naturally public affairs. To find a good connection, of course, it has to throw money! When it comes to such a fat sheep, anyone who does not come to bite is still called an official of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

Of course, this is not over. While the official steps to quell it, but the struggle is still going on! Gottfried is not only losing money in the supermarkets. Even the department stores also lose money. If there is no income, who can not afford it!

Jakobus was forced to step out and soon secure the department store. He knew this time they had been targeted. Otherwise, if no one had guided them, how could they all have targeted the department store and not touched the supermarket?

The veteran Jakobus quickly identified the target. After reviewing it, he said, "Ruprecht, get ready to shut down the supermarket, we lose!"

"Why, Uncle? They're all going crazy because they can't hold out any longer!" Ruprecht said reluctantly.

"The other side has not yet made a push, and we have been badly hurt. I am afraid that if we keep going, the Held family will cease to exist!" Jakobus said with sadness.

"Are you saying that the Kohry family has taken a move on us?" Ruprecht asked unsurely.

Jakobus shook his head and said, "Not yet, or this one would have killed us! I guess at most it was a move by that Franz guy, and I can't say what happens next!"

It is not that Ferdinand does not want to play. It is mostly about prestige. If he does it now, is not to tell the world that this is what he did?

It doesn't mean, however, that Franz sits back and watches as well. If he fails to strike, it will be fatal.