Pierce couldn't respond imdiately.
How could he let speak freely in front of the CEO when even I didn’t know what I would say?
He likely wanted to refuse outright.
However, it wasn't easy for him to reject my request outright either.
According to the rules Pierce himself had established, if a client pointed to , I had the right to speak.
I had adhered to those conditions perfectly.
"Wouldn't it be fine to hear him out? After all, the kid has probably done so related research,"
Whitr prodded, and Pierce reluctantly gestured toward .
The motion indicated I should step into the center of the conference room, not stand behind him.
I moved as instructed.
After briefly glancing at the two of them, I opened my mouth.
"First, I’d like to ask for your understanding as my tone tends to be quite direct. If I say anything inappropriate, please regard it as the mistake of an inexperienced newcor. Additionally, I’d like to make it clear that my opinion does not reflect Goldman’s official position."
I started with a disclair.
Then I went straight to the point.
"It would be best to sell Harbor Lobster as soon as possible."
"And why do you think that?"
"Just a few days ago, I visited one of their stores and noticed a high proportion of African-Arican custors."
A cold air filled the conference room.
Race-related issues always felt this way.
Pierce, a white MD, looked visibly uncomfortable.
Discussing race unexpectedly in front of a Black CEO was a surefire way to find oneself on the hot seat.
Nevertheless, I continued without hesitation.
"Unfortunately, African-Arican custors do not bring imdiate profitability. Since corporations are profit-driven entities, it's prudent to shut down unprofitable businesses. From this perspective, a swift sale is the best course of action…"
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Pierce yelled, cutting off abruptly. Then, hastily turning to Whitr, he apologized profusely.
"I'm terribly sorry. This guy has serious communication issues and frequently misspeaks. My sincerest apologies for this great offense."
"Haha, I was inford beforehand that he was blunt… but this exceeds my expectations."
Pierce froze mid-apology.
Whitr’s reaction was surprising.
Though he seed a bit taken aback, he didn’t appear overtly displeased.
"A bit shocking, but it’s fine. Actually, it’s refreshing."
Whitr graciously accepted Pierce's apology and turned his gaze back to .
With a warm smile, he posed a question.
"An interesting assertion, but the claim that African-Arican custors lack purchasing power is rely a prejudice. Do you have any evidence to support it?"
He wanted to elaborate.
This reaction confird that my assumption was correct.
"Of course. As an analyst, I’ll speak objectively with data. May I show you so materials?"
Upon my request, Pierce hesitated briefly before nodding.
I promptly approached the two of them and flipped through the booklet to the necessary page.
It was data I had included in the appendix yesterday.
"This is the 2014 Consur Expenditure Report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Please focus on the graph at the bottom."
The graph displayed trends in dining expenditure categorized by race.
While White and Asian expenditures had increased by 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year, African-Arican spending had decreased by 2.7%.
"Since the financial crisis, all racial groups have tightened their belts. However, two years ago, spending trends began to diverge. While other groups have started to open their wallets, African-Aricans alone have failed to reverse the negative growth trend."
"……"
"This is why Harbor Lobster struggles more than its competitors. Their custor base has a disproportionately high percentage of African-Arican patrons. Moreover, this trend is unlikely to reverse easily. Please refer to the articles at the bottom of this page."
I directed them to the footnotes at the bottom of the page.
There, I had listed headlines from pre-selected articles:
—The Impact of the Financial Crisis, Concentrated on African-Aricans…
—Evidence of Discriminatory Mortgage Practices by Banks…
—Subpri Mortgage Fallout: The Decline of Black Consur Spending – Why?
"It’s already well-known that during the financial crisis, nurous financial institutions targeted African-Aricans with unfavorable loan conditions. High-risk products were forced upon them, even those with good credit."
Though it seed tangential, it was intrinsically connected to the issue at hand.
"Current investigations into the scale of asset losses among African-Aricans reveal shocking figures. About 30% faced foreclosure, and on average, they lost nearly half their assets. In contrast, Whites suffered losses of only about 10%."
The group that bore the brunt of the financial crisis?
It was African-Aricans.
They also happened to be Harbor Lobster's primary custors.
"This is the root cause of the deteriorating performance. It's not a temporary issue caused by market fluctuations or an economic downturn. It’s a structural problem."
After all, what good is economic recovery and job growth?
When your house is gone, who would feel like dining out on lobster?
"This isn’t rely a psychological retreat. It will take at least 3-5 years to recover. For a brand facing prolonged stagnation, swift liquidation is the best course."
"… …"
Pierce fell into deep thought.
While he acknowledged the validity of my analysis, he still seed doubtful about sothing.
"Even if what you’re saying is true, it doesn’t an we need to sell within the next couple of months."
His skepticism wasn’t directed at my analysis itself.
Rather, it was a question of whether such reasoning sufficed to explain the CEO’s frantic actions.
Whitr was pushing to sell the company’s flagship brand at a bargain price—almost like a “buy one, get one free” deal.
Even at the risk of his own dismissal.
Such hasty decisions didn’t align with the structural issues at hand.
Pierce’s gaze briefly flicked to Whitr before returning to .
What followed was a thinly veiled piece of advice for Whitr.
"Even if we must sell due to the custor demographic, there’s no need to rush. Next year or the year after would allow for a safer process."
In other words, Pierce agreed that Harbor Lobster was a ticking ti bomb, but he questioned whether the tir was truly running out.
"If we proceed with an abrupt sale now, we’ll be forcing it through the board’s authority without consulting the shareholders. Even a token effort to engage in dialogue would help mitigate backlash."
"Dialogue… What exactly would you say to persuade them? That it’s because Black custors aren’t profitable?"
"……"
"This sale must conceal its true reasons."
Indeed, the real reason behind Harbor Lobster’s sale was too sensitive to publicize.
Race had always been a delicate topic, and to blatantly abandon the financial crisis’s most vulnerable group?
That would invite a torrent of public outrage.
"Temporary criticism can be weathered. People tend to forget quickly."
"Under normal circumstances, perhaps. But these are not normal tis."
I paused briefly to steady my voice, then t Pierce’s eyes directly.
"Have you heard of the Black Lives Matter movent?"
Black Lives Matter.
A slogan encapsulating the value of Black lives and a rallying cry for the Black civil rights movent.
Abbreviated as BLM, this movent would soon resonate globally, sparking imnse social impact.
The catalyst? A tragedy from just last year.
A White police officer had fatally shot an innocent 17-year-old Black teenager.
Yet the court delivered a verdict of not guilty.
Outraged by the decision, citizens flooded the streets,
raising their voices in an organized and peaceful opposition to racial injustice.
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was already spreading rapidly across social dia.
If my mory served right, by September, this movent would escalate into nationwide protests.
"Interest in Black civil rights is at an all-ti high. This movent addresses not only police brutality but systemic discrimination across society. There’s heightened awareness of economic inequality in particular."
"……"
"People are paying close attention to whether Black consurs are treated fairly as custors. Even the lack of adequate banking or telecommunications infrastructure in predominantly Black areas is being called out as evidence of systemic bias. Similar articles are flooding the dia right now."
"……"
"If Harbor Lobster is sold under these circumstances, it will not go unnoticed."
Harbor Lobster had long been cherished by Black custors.
During the peak of the BLM movent, one or two years from now, even the fad pop artist Beyoncé would reference the chain in her lyrics.
To include the brand in a song celebrating Black pride signified its symbolic importance.
"Moreover, keeping Toscana Garden while selling only Harbor Lobster? That choice will undoubtedly raise eyebrows. If this were rely an issue affecting the family restaurant industry as a whole, wouldn’t both brands need to be sold?"
Epicura owned two flagship brands: Harbor Lobster, beloved by Black custors, and Toscana Garden, favored by Whites.
Selling off the Black-oriented brand because it wasn’t profitable?
And during these turbulent tis?
I turned my gaze sharply toward Whitr.
"Above all, the personal backlash will be severe."
Currently, only five Black CEOs lead Fortune 500 companies.
Whitr was one of the five Black CEOs, and his position would undoubtedly fuel public outrage.
"Perhaps it will only add fuel to the fire."
This would be even more poignant if we substituted ‘Black' with ‘Korean.'
For example, imagine a company announces that it’s shutting down a Korean restaurant brand due to low profitability.
If the decision-makers were White executives, the Korean community would likely accept it with mixed feelings—acknowledging that Korean food hadn’t yet taken root in the local market.
But what if the CEO leading the brand were Korean?
Many in the community would feel betrayed.
Regardless of the imdiate business performance, they’d expect a sense of responsibility to preserve and promote the cuisine of their holand.
This is the plight of minority-group CEOs.
Whether they want it or not, their actions are often seen through the lens of the expectations of their racial or ethnic communities.
When they fail to live up to those expectations, the result is often cold, unforgiving rejection.
"To summarize, the timing of Harbor Lobster’s sale is crucial. The public hasn’t yet fully caught fire. At this mont, it can still be spun as just ‘declining profitability of an aging brand.' But delay it, and the narrative could shift to one where it’s about ‘abandoning unprofitable Black custors.'"
If it reached that point, it would be akin to social suicide.
In fact, it might be better for Whitr to step down cleanly as CEO.
This was the nature of the ticking bomb.
And because Whitr was a Black executive, the bomb was particularly lethal for him.
"Haha, the young man has an interesting theory. It sounds plausible, but lacks realism. The chances of this situation escalating are slim."
Whitr dismissed my argunt with a laugh.
Naturally, he had to reject it.
If he even agreed slightly, it could be interpreted as, ‘Yes, I actually want to abandon these unprofitable Black custors.'
Whitr then locked eyes with Pierce.
"I don’t believe this nonsense, but I do agree on one thing: Holding onto this brand doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere. We should probably wrap it up as soon as possible. What do you think?"
Pierce was being asked whether he would continue with the deal.
Whitr was seeking to confirm Pierce’s change of position after his earlier ultimatum.
Pierce hesitated for a mont, then responded firmly.
"Yes, understood. Let’s wrap it up before the shareholder eting."
At last, Pierce agreed to sell imdiately.
Of course, I didn’t expect the situation to unfold exactly as I had predicted.
Even I, aware of the ripple effects of the BLM protests, couldn’t predict exactly how much harm it would cause to Harbor Lobster.
What mattered now wasn’t the accuracy of my future predictions.
It was that Whitr, the CEO, was taking proactive action, anticipating the worst crisis.
The golden rule of all service industries: ‘The custor is king.'
In tis like this, the best course of action is to give the custor what they want.
Pierce’s reluctance to continue with the deal stemd from his fear of inadvertently getting entangled in a legal issue.
But once he judged that the risk had passed, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
Pierce glanced at his wristwatch and spoke.
"We should discuss the strategy for the shareholder eting now. You’ve done enough for today; it’s ti for you to step back."
In other words, ‘You’ve outlived your usefulness. Go back to being the background.'
I dutifully stepped back behind Pierce again. But I wasn’t content with just that.
I had gained so of Whitr’s trust by uncovering the nature of the bomb, but it wasn’t enough.
At this point, I might be seen as a capable strategist, but that was hardly sufficient.
What I wanted was the general’s position.
I needed to be at the front lines of the war for the bread, wielding the sword myself.
To reach that level, understanding the problem wasn’t enough.
I needed to know how to defuse the bomb.
But there was no need to rush.
Pierce, newly aware of the crisis, wouldn’t co up with a better solution than mine.
I just needed to wait patiently.
Until the two of them reached a dead-end and asked for my help.
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