Chapter 177 The Business Rival Across the Street
After the speech, Olivia bowed deeply at the audience beneath the stage, hence winning a round of applause.
Next, some hostesses led the VIP guests to their respective spots on the stage with Olivia at the center. Eugene and Brian stood beside her to the left and right. Beside them stood Marcus and Nathan.
With trays in their hands, the hostesses handed over golden scissors to everyone on stage, and the ribbon-cutting began. The bow on the ribbon fell onto the tray from the ribbon-cutting, at which the audience applauded, marking the end of the brief ceremony.
Afterward, Kate and Nathan helped to clean up, and the studio staff busied themselves with greeting the customers.
Be it attending out of courtesy or love of fashion, the guests and customers packed the studio. They chatted or tried on clothes. In general, the atmosphere was good, and business was booming.
The hotel was not very far away. Therefore, Olivia decided to head over at 11 in the morning. With only half an hour left before her departure, she decided to sell as many items as possible. Out of her expectations, she heard someone shouting her name.
“Miss Olivia!” Sophia jogged over to her. “We ran out of clothes!”
Olivia frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Helpless but proud, Sophia announced, “The 68 pieces we prepared for the opening day were sold out.”
Shocked by the good news, Olivia gulped and checked with her staff again, “Not one left?”
Sophia nodded hard. “Yeah. Just now, the stars themselves ordered around 19 pieces. Some other customers who showed up as fans were waiting for this exact moment. When you announced the 12% discount, they ordered more for their friends. Anyway, we’re out of products now.”
Olivia found it hard to believe. Was this someone else’s doing under the table?
“How about this? If the customers are still interested, we’ll leave them our contact. Or you could jot down their preferred item style and have them wait for a few days while we restock. The 12% discount still applies.”
Smiling, Sophia replied, “Alright. I’ll head in now.”
Olivia beamed at her staff. She had anticipated that her products would sell out, but she did not expect it to be snatched up in a matter of moments. It felt good to be validated.
On the other side, Anna was still fixated on the merriment across the street. She observed the money tree being delivered and Olivia coolly giving a short speech for the ceremony. She was basically putting herself under torture. Even though she knew she would feel awful for watching the ceremony, she still decided to stare on.
Time passed when she was staring. At the end of the day, she noticed that Olivia’s studio was empty and the doors shut, looking deserted as if it was not open for business yet. If not for the flower baskets at the entrance, Anna would have thought so too.
Why was no one in the studio?
Anna kept staring at her rival across the street until afternoon, but no one returned.
She looked at Sarah. “What does that mean? Are they closed for the day, not taking any business?”
Sarah furrowed her brows in suspicion. “No way. The first day usually sees more customers. How could they not sell anything on the first day?” After that, she glanced at Anna and suggested, “Miss Anna, maybe they are sold out.”
“Sold out? That’s impossible! Their studio sells high fashion. One item is at least worth a hundred thousand or even millions. How do they sell out?”
Sarah could not find a plausible answer. “Should I go over and peek? I should be able to see something through their windows.”
At first, Anna was reluctant to send Sarah over out of her pride. If she kept her eyes on her rival without a good reason, it might show that she was unconfident. On the other hand, she was dying to know what happened to the studio. After some hesitation, she nodded. “Just be careful. You need to pretend that you’re strolling around.”
Sarah agreed and went out.
Anna remained in her studio and perched in front of the windows to observe Olivia’s studio. She saw Sarah running across the street after looking around, leaning into the windows to peek into that studio and running back hastily after the inspection.
Soon, she heard the door creaking open and Sarah’s panting. “Miss Anna, t-their studio…”
