The next day, preparations for Rachel’s shop entered their final phase.
Today, all the employees of Marie’s Bakery, except Emily who couldn’t go out, pitched in with the preparations.
“Well then, we’re done here,” Kent said.
“We’re good on this end, too,” Elnet replied.
Kent and Elnet were attaching new, self-made signs, using ropes to hoist them up. The installation location was on the second floor of the shop.
“Stop here. We’ll secure it now.”
Kent used a level to ensure the sign wasn’t crooked before fixing it in place with power tools.
“Still, what amazing tools. It stuck to the wall in an instant.”
Elnet was surprised by Kent’s efficiency. In his previous life, he had assembled countless pieces of furniture and performed various installation work as part of his part-time jobs. With that experience, such tasks were a piece of cake for him.
“Yeah, it looks quite good, doesn’t it?” Rachel said, looking up at the sign with satisfaction.
“It feels a little flashy, though…” Elnet commented.
“We have to make it stand out this much. There are so many shops around, it wouldn’t be noticed otherwise.”
Kent looked at the sign, which seemed luxurious with its extensive use of gold and silver. In contrast to Kent’s less enthusiastic reaction, Rachel insisted it was better this way. Although colored gold and silver, actual gold and silver metal were not used. It was simply a wooden board with a primer coat, painted gold and silver. It was a case of the paint being the main cost, making it less expensive than it appeared.
The sign read “Marie’s Bakery Store No. 2.” Incidentally, at the original Marie’s Bakery, a small sign near the entrance had “Store No. 1” added in small lettering to coincide with the opening of the second store.
“Marie, is that okay? You’re the owner, after all.”
“Yes… I entrusted everything to Rachel, so I don’t intend to say anything. However, be prepared for the consequences if something goes wrong. *Nico*” Marie said with a smile.
“Eek!”
Marie’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and Rachel could feel the unspoken message: “You understand what will happen if you fail, don’t you?” Since they were attaching Marie’s shop sign, any problems could also lead to Marie’s responsibility. Rachel understood this and let out a scream.
With the installation of the sign, all exterior preparations were completed. Next, they moved on to the interior finishing work. Preparations were mostly finished by the previous day, but today, after the interior finishing, time was scheduled for employee training. Rachel and Lola were primarily in charge of this shop, but there was a possibility of bringing in staff from Store No. 1 as help if needed. For this reason, all employees of the shop, except Emily, had gathered today, including training.
“Well then, Onii… I mean, Kent. Please explain,” Rachel said, pushing the task entirely onto Kent.
Since it was unavoidable, Kent decided to explain the shop’s equipment.
“First, the differences from Store No. 1. Store No. 2 does not have bread-making machinery. The bread sold here will basically be brought over from Store No. 1. However, since the display area is just that small shelf, I don’t think we’ll need to transport large quantities of bread.”
Kent pointed to the small shelf beside the register.
“This shop will primarily deal in items for grooming, not food and drink, catering to aristocrats. Merchandise is located on this shelf and inside the display cases. The unit prices are set a little high, so please be careful not to make mistakes with the amounts when operating the register.”
Kent explained the display cases containing cosmetics and the shelves lined with various shampoos, conditioners, and body soaps.
“I always used a lot of these, but they were this expensive?” Catherine asked, surprised by the prices.
“These are the things I use normally… If they deduct the used amount from my salary, I might not have any take-home pay,” Patty said, also looking surprised at the prices. Patty, who was told to shower before work, also commented on the prices.
“No, they’re not actually this expensive… So, please don’t hesitate to use things from home or the shop’s supplies.”
Kent said this to reassure the two of them.
“And Kent, I’ve been curious about something for a while. What are those items in that glass case?” Josette asked, her attention caught by the items in the glass display case.
“That’s perfume. You use it too, don’t you, Josette?” Kent asked.
Josette always had a faint floral scent, so Kent assumed it was perfume.
“This is a special method of turning the floral scent passed down in my family into a liquid. A light spray has a subtle fragrance and deodorizing effect, so it doesn’t make the other person feel uncomfortable,” Josette explained.
“It sounds like it has a similar effect. Shall we try it?”
Kent brought over a tester bottle of perfume and lightly sprayed it on Josette’s hand.
“How is it?”
“It has a sweet scent. And yet, I don’t feel uncomfortable at all.”
The procurement source was a home center, so Kent could only source relatively inexpensive items costing a few thousand yen. However, if Josette said so, Kent felt reassured about the quality.
“We have these testers for each product, so you can use them when explaining the merchandise.”
Then, Kent and the others moved to an inconspicuous spot in the corner of the shop.
“Um, this is salt, sugar, and pepper.”
“I’ve never seen these before, but aren’t they extremely expensive?” Patty asked hesitantly.
“They are indeed. Some shops say you need gold coins of the same weight, they’re considered that valuable,” Kent replied.
“T-that expensive?”
“But we won’t sell them for that much here. While other items are priced high, these will be sold at slightly lower than market price.”
Even with Kent’s words, the prices attached were still far beyond the reach of ordinary commoners.
“I don’t think I’ll be tasting these for a while,” Patty said, half in resignation.
“Oh? Marie, didn’t you make us lunch?” Kent asked.
“I did, just as you told me,” Marie replied.
Kent asked Marie for confirmation, hearing Patty’s comment. With the summer holidays starting, student part-timers began working full-time, so Kent had asked Marie to provide lunch. The cost of meals was covered by the shop as expenses, and Kent procured the ingredients via the terminal.
“The food served for lunch includes items made with salt, sugar, and pepper, doesn’t it?” Marie asked.
“I-I didn’t know… I guess I ate them without realizing. I’ll try to appreciate it more from now on,” Patty said, recalling the meals she had eaten for lunch since the summer holidays began, which were already digesting in her stomach. Finally, they moved to the light meal space, which occupied half of the shop’s floor area.
“Here, we will provide food and drinks. However, for now, since we haven’t installed kitchen equipment, we will only be offering ice cream. We plan to introduce kitchen equipment and expand the menu later. For the time being, we will focus on directing aristocratic customers who come to eat ice cream at Store No. 1 to this location. Store No. 1 will focus on its regular customers to increase turnover. To eliminate any perceived difference between the stores, the prices will remain the same as Store No. 1.”
Rachel’s sales strategy was to attract aristocratic women and encourage them to buy something else before leaving. Because the unit price remained the same, and unlike commoners who eat and leave, there were established etiquette rules, the turnover rate would be slow. Therefore, selling only ice cream would result in a loss. Although the light meal space was spacious, it was designed for aristocrats, with wide spaces between tables, resulting in only about the same number of tables as Store No. 1.
“Basic customer service will be the same as Store No. 1. Do you have any questions?”
No one asked any questions in response to Kent’s query.
“Now, let’s move on to customer service training, assuming a customer has entered the store.”
Thus, with the grand opening the next day approaching, everyone earnestly began their training.
And finally, the day of Rachel’s shop’s grand opening arrived.
Due to an agreement with the guild, Marie’s Bakery was required to close on Saturdays and Sundays. However, for new openings or renovations, there was a special exception allowing business on holidays. Originally, a store’s holiday was only one day a week, so there would have been no issue. But unlike other stores, Marie’s Bakery had been granted two days off per week, so they had to choose one of those days for the opening. Therefore, Saturday was dedicated to employee training, and Sunday was chosen as the opening day.
