Chapter 72 - Finding a Storefront (4)
“If you are transferring ownership, it must be in the same line of business. If it’s any other business line, it will require my approval first. My place is so new. I wouldn’t want a restaurant put in there. In addition, the rent will increase by 15% every year.” The landlord was a bespectacled man in his 40s who looked very intelligent.
Shu Yan pondered a little bit and said, “Alright, but we are also going to add another clause that the side who breach the contract has to pay a penalty that equals to ten times the rent.”
“How about double?” said the landlord, frowning.
After Lao Hu’s mediation, they finally agreed on three times.
The boutique’s contract was up in a month and the current only still insisted on $3,000 transfer fees. It was a little on the high end; naturally, Shu Yan wasn’t going to be that sucker.
Finally, Lao Hu was able to talk her down to $1,500 plus throwing in the cash register.
“You sure you don’t want this couch? I only just bought it a year ago. It was barely used, like 90% new. If you want, I will give it to you for $50. And these cloth racks were all new. I will let them go for $100 total,” said the boss lady passionately.
The red couch did look pretty new, and she would need cloth racks. But it’s not a good habit to not negotiate.
“All of them for $100. You have no use of them anyway and will have to pay people to have them moved.”
The boss lady wasn’t happy about it, but finally agreed to leaving them all behind for Shu Yan for $100.
“What about the clothes? You can have them all for $1,000.” She had spent several thousands of dollars on her merchandise. It pained her just thinking about it.
Shu Yan shook her head. She wasn’t going to take the clothes. She would be remodeling the place and filling the racks all over again. She might not have the best eye for clothes, but her taste would at least be better than the others of that time period.
The boss lady didn’t have any makeup on today and looked a little languish. After she had walked out of the front door, she turned and looked at the boutique a few times before she sighed and said, “This place had already gone through a few different owners. Everybody said the fengshui was bad. I wish you luck.”
“What kind of bullsh*t was that? We are a modern society now. Nobody is that superstitious anymore.” The landlord gave Shu Yan a careful look, worried that she’d take her words seriously. “My place is fine. She was bad at running a business and tried to blame it on the storefront.”
Shu Yan didn’t look too well. She didn’t used to believe in superstition, but now that she had transmigrated, she had an added respect for the paranormal. Of course, deep down inside she understood that the owner’s management style was the real culprit, but that didn’t make her feel any better.
“There is nothing wrong with my place. I am going to call the cops if you don’t stop talking,” said the landlord as he gave the boss lady a death stare.
“Oh, I’m just rambling,” smiled the boss lady, a bit embarrassed. She was just in a bad mood having just lost a bunch of money.
The rent for the storefront was $800 a month. $800 back in ’92 and throwing in water, electricity, and all sorts of other expenses. One would lose through their noses without any sort of business.
Lao Hu nodded on one side and leaned in and said to Shu Yan softly, “This is a pretty fair price.”
Shu Yan had already done some research yesterday and knew that the price was pretty fair. “You sure we can’t have a longer contract?”
The landlord said, “Three years is pretty long already. Everybody else around here only renew annually. Plus, my annual raises are so low.” Over the last two years, the rent had been going up and up. He had no idea what the rent would be like a year from now. He was already feeling like he had the shorter end of the stick.
“Alright, let’s do it.” Shu Yan was an efficient person and would move forward immediately with her decisions.