People in Guangzhou, aged 70 or 80, remember that from the 1930s to the end of the 1940s, there was still a Xianshi department store on the Long Causeway in the Yuexiu area, which was a good place for Guangzhou citizens to go shopping. Ma Yingbiao, the "general supervisor" of Xianshi Company, built the first modern department store in China, and was praised as "the pioneer of China's modern department store industry" with its novel and flexible business methods. Located in Yuexiu District, "Xianshi" is the first modern department store in the mainland, pioneering the modern business model, making Yuexiu area the birthplace of Chinese mainland modern department store industry.
Selling vegetables started as a department store
Ma Yingbiao (1864-1944), a native of Xiangshan (present-day Zhongshan), Guangdong. In his early years, his family was poor, and he went to Australia to earn a living at the age of 20. When he first arrived in Sydney, the attentive Ma Yingbiao found that many of his compatriots came to Australia to grow vegetables for a living. Chinese expatriates are originally low-educated, and because they do not understand English, they cannot communicate well with the locals, and the vegetables and fruits grown are often bought by white people at low prices. Ma Yingbiao felt that in order for vegetables and fruits to sell well, he needed to have fluent English and be able to bargain with foreigners. However, a young man who has left his hometown and has no money, it is not easy to go to an English school to learn English! In order to learn English, Ma Yingbiao took the initiative to work in an English vegetable and fruit shop, and he told his boss that he did not receive wages for part-time work. The British boss is a little strange, others work very concerned about wage income, this Young Chinese man actually does not want wages, "stupid" incomprehensible, but in vain to get a migrant worker who does not have to pay wages, the boss is still very happy. But he did not expect that in the future, this "stupid boy" would become his opponent.
Working in the English environment of the British vegetable and fruit store, the smart and studious Ma Yingbiao quickly mastered English, and took advantage of the convenience of trading with foreigners to understand the trading market of vegetables and fruits and met some foreigner customers. Ma Yingbiao began to fight the world, he left the owner's house, started another stove, rented a small shop, and sold vegetables and fruits for fellow vegetable farmers. Because he understands English, understands the market situation, can bargain with foreigners, the vegetables and fruits sold on behalf of him are sold at good prices, and the credibility is credible, and the trust of the villagers has entrusted him to sell vegetables and fruits, and the business has developed rapidly. Ma Yingbiao went on to open a small shop in Sydney. Later, with the expansion of business, it has opened 3 stores in Yongsheng, Yongtai and Shengtai, and specialized in growing bananas in Fiji and shipping them to Australia for sale, and soon became a famous overseas Chinese merchant in Sydney.
In 1892, Ma Yingbiao returned to China, and in 1894, he opened Xinzhuang and Yongchang Golden Villa in Hong Kong, opening overseas Chinese remittance and distribution import and export business. Due to business needs, Ma Yingbiao often traveled to the province and Hong Kong. Ma Yingbiao, who was quite economically minded, slowly observed that the domestic department store retail industry at that time was very backward, basically a traditional grocery store model, small scale, few varieties, and a single way of operating. If the business methods and management system of the Sydney foreigner department store can be brought back to China, the department store industry will definitely be profitable. After he told Cai Xing and other compatriots about his ideas, he got their support. In 1899, Ma Yingbiao took the funds raised from overseas Chinese in Australia for 25,000 yuan, bought a shop at 172 Queen's Road Central in Hong Kong, opened the Xian Shi Department Store, and officially opened in January 1901.
Ma Yingbiao borrowed from the business methods of the Western department store industry, paying attention to the way of packaging the façade, and he used most of the funds raised for the company's decoration, only using 5,000 yuan as working capital. Due to the company's luxurious and beautiful façade and wide shopping environment, it has changed the narrow clutter of the old-fashioned department store, attracting many customers. Moreover, the new department store pays attention to the scale of operation, and the variety of goods is complete, which is well received by the public. Soon the situation opened up.
In 1904, Xianshi's business was on track: in 1907, it began to be profitable, and in addition to dividends and bonus shares, the company had a surplus of 90,000 yuan. In order to expand the business, Xian Shi was changed to a limited company on February 27, 1909, the fixed capital increased to 200,000 yuan, and new shares were added. The scale of business has also expanded to four floors, as a display yard, the scale is the same.
Entering the interior is well known
With the continuous development of the business of Hong Kong Pioneer Company, Ma Yingbiao decided to expand its business in Guangzhou and accelerate the circulation of goods between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. In 1914, Xianshi Co., Ltd. invested in the opening of its first branch, Guangzhou Xianshi Company, on the Long Causeway in Guangzhou, to operate Chinese and foreign commodities in the way of an internationally popular department store at that time. Many domestic goods are Shanghai products, but also products from Guangzhou and Guangdong; foreign goods are mostly in the United Kingdom, followed by Products from European countries such as Germany and France and the United States. At that time, Guangzhou's department store retail industry was still the mode of operation of small stores in the warehouse, with a single variety, outdated styles, and backward means. On the opening day, the shelves and counters of the shopping mall on several floors of the Xianshi Company Building are dazzling, colorful, and you can enjoy the various commodities around the world after shopping, which is refreshing, naturally attracting a large number of Guangzhou citizens, for a time, "visiting the company" has not only become a buzzword, but also a fashionable move in the neighborhoods of the provincial city.
Ma Yingbiao opened a department store and paid great attention to attracting customers in terms of business means. Guangzhou is a subtropical region, summer is long and winter is short, summer is hot at night, Guangzhou people must have a place to play in summer to spend time. Ordinary citizens often cool off on the street in front of the door, play chess and poker and talk about the world. The shrewd Ma Yingbiao saw the business opportunities here. When he started the Long Causeway Pioneer Company, he opened a playground on the rooftop. Every night, the playground has Cantonese opera, acrobatics, song and dance and other programs, as well as movie screenings, attracting a large number of citizens who come out to cool off, and the business of Xianshi Company has increased greatly. Then, Ma Yingbiao built an East Asian hotel with an elevator and a bar, restaurant, and billiard room in the next neighborhood close to "Xian Shi". Tying up entertainment and shopping malls was a bold attempt by Ma Yingbiao, and the company attracted a large number of citizens and attracted many customers. Guangzhou Xianshi opened for three years and made twice as much profit.
The ambitious Ma Yingbiao followed suit by opening a processing factory for cosmetics, shoes and hats, clothing, etc., and opened branches in Guangzhou Eighteen Fu and Hui'ai Middle Road. Guangzhou Xianshi has developed into a strong company.
Later, Ma Yingbiao raised another 2 million yuan to open a Pioneer Company in Shanghai, a five-story building (later seven floors) with a magnificent hall and standing majestically on the north side of Nanjing Road. Compared with the low old wooden buildings and narrow shops at that time, it was nothing less than a flock of chickens, and it was a sensation on Shanghai Beach, and the entire Nanjing Road was blocked on the opening day. In the second year of the company's opening, the turnover has been equivalent to twice the investment capital, and "Xianshi" has ushered in a new era in China's department store industry.
Integrity management dare to mark the new
The name "first giving" is a transliteration of the English word Sincere (honesty and reliability), which means honesty. In the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the company's opening, Ma Yingbiao explained the origin of Xianshi's name, which is taken from the last verse of the "Gentleman's Way IV" of the four books "Zhongyong": "The way of building a business is the first to be honest." ”
The great success of Xianshi Company is inseparable from Ma Yingbiao's new business philosophy. The first person in China to eat "crabs" in a department store has a flexible mind, long sleeves, and a strong will, and has many reforms to the old habits of Chinese shopping malls, and has also created many "firsts" in China's department store industry:
The first initiative is "no two prices". The business model of department stores founded by Australian foreigners is known as the "commercial retail revolution". Ma Yingbiao was the first to gain the atmosphere, and he took the initiative of "giving first" to make the real price clear. "No two prices" is based on the quality of the goods, the goods are priced according to the quality, and the customers choose the goods according to the price. Breaking the tradition of doing business in China, this practice is one of the biggest advances in modern Chinese commercial sales technology and a pioneering move to lead the business model. This one-size-fits-all approach is a rebellion against the traditional way of being vague, ambiguous, and warm-hearted, and it is also closest to the essence of the commercial economy. Soon it gained credibility and attracted many customers.
Coordinate global cargo. In the old days, merchants sold goods, and good things were easily refused to show, while ordinary goods were single and had no choice. For the first time, Xian shi introduced the concept of "Global Department Store", searching for goods from various countries, with a wide variety of products, pioneering the atmosphere, with a variety of goods to attract customers' attention and retain their feet. In the 1930s, Xianshi Company imported a number of high-end perfumes, one of which was a high-grade "Paris Night" perfume, which had been volatilized by the mid-1940s, still priced at HK$1500, and in 1947, he Feifan and Chu Xiuyun's Extraordinary Xiang Troupe premiered "Love Monk Stowaway XiaoxiangGuan" in Guangzhou, and performed 300 consecutive performances, Chu Xiuyun was known as "Reincarnated Lin Daiyu", and when the Extraordinary Xiang Troupe performed in the rooftop playground, it sold this perfume to Chu Xiuyun at the most preferential price of HK$80, which caused a sensation.
Gift certificate. In order to attract customers and expand retail revenue, Xianshi took advantage of its superior conditions to print and sell a large number of "Tongtian gift coupons" to those customers who wanted to give gifts but did not know what to send, and used gift certificates to give gifts, and the recipients purchased the goods they needed according to the denomination of the gift certificates. The denominations of the gift certificates are one, three, five and ten yuan. The so-called "Tongtian" refers to the goods that can be purchased at will in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao and Guangzhou as local currency in the company. Gift certificates do not count interest, do not bear names, and do not recognize people.
Employ female clerks. Ma Yingbiao lived in Australia in his early years, was deeply influenced by Western culture, and was open-minded. At the beginning, the company did not have enough manpower, so it posted a notice to recruit female clerks. However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, women were influenced by the "three from four virtues" and were reluctant to show their faces, and as a result, no one applied for more than a month. Ma Yingbiao's wife, Huo Qingtang, personally dressed up as a sales clerk in the company's cosmetics department, and also led two sisters-in-law to sell goods with her. She is not only dignified, but also good at rhetoric, familiar with the performance of goods, circumventing between customers, well received by male and female customers, for a time "three women on the same stage" the good story spread throughout the market, people in the community have come to the first company shopping and entertainment, they all want to see this courageous lady boss, but also want to see how the service of the saleswoman is attractive. At this time, women finally came to apply for sales clerks. Ma Yingbiao will recruit young women and train them before they take up their posts. This move greatly attracts customers, and business is naturally booming. In China that day, this was an incredible thing. The spirit of pioneering innovation continued into decades of operation. Xian Shi held his first fashion show in the 1930s, using British floral cloth to make women's shorts and shorts, which caused a sensation throughout the city. At that time, the world-famous cosmetics brand Misfortuo Cosmetics Factory sent makeup artists and to the first company to make up for customers, and Ma Yingbiao and Huo Qingtang used their friendship with Sun Yat-sen's family to invite Mrs. Sun Ke to the store to be the first to receive makeup, which became the big news in Guangzhou at that time.
Let employees take turns resting on weekends. The company's business continues to expand and its workforce continues to expand. Their weekend breaks have also become a problem. Ma Yingbiao pioneered the idea of employees taking turns to rest on weekends, that is, employees in the same department taking turns to rest, which not only arranged employee rest, but also did not affect the business.
Of course, the pioneering deeds of Xianshi Company are far more than these, but no matter what kind of measures, they are inseparable from the purpose of honest service set by Ma Yingbiao.
Ma Yingbiao had a strong sense of national pride; he had funded Sun Yat-sen's revolution in his early years, and when he witnessed the overseas Chinese being discriminated against by foreigners overseas, he felt a sense of emotion: "You don't treat me as a Chinese, and I also treat you as a ghost." The senior cadres of the Xianshi Company he presided over were all Chinese and bent on fighting for Chinese.
In 1936, Ma Yingbiao resigned as the chief supervisor of Xianshi Company and retired to the pension, but still hung the title of honorary general supervisor. He died in Hong Kong in 1944.
Source: (Excerpt from Yuexiu District", Yuexiu Business Celebrity)