(1) Meng Luochuan, founder of Ruifuxiang Cloth Shop, is from Jiujun Town, Zhangqiu County, Shandong Province. There are many cloth weavers in this area of the old military town, and Meng Luochuan's ancestors also engaged in cloth industry. His father Meng Hongsheng is a famous businessman in Jinan, Shandong Province. In Shandong, there is a kind of homespun called hemp flower cloth, which is durable and deeply loved by local people.
Meng Hong was promoted to be diligent, and worked tirelessly between urban and rural areas for a whole year from 200 1 year, selling large twisted cloth. After years of hard work, I saved some money and opened Ruifu Cloth Store (later renamed Ruifuxiang) in Jinan on 1870 (the ninth year of Tongzhi).
Although Meng Hongsheng is a businessman, he is very studious, has a good study of literature and ink, and has met several ruined literati. Meng Hongsheng thinks that the names of most shops are vulgar and not desirable. He wants to give his cloth shop an elegant and auspicious name. Therefore, he specially invited several friends to visit his home. After careful consideration, several people think that the word "Ruifu" is good and can be used as a name. In ancient times, there was a legendary insect called green mosquito, which was slightly larger than cicada and could gather copper coins. Later, people called green mosquitoes copper coins. "Ruifu" means not only bringing good luck to people, but also amassing more money. After opening, business is really booming. 1880 or so (Guangxu six years). Meng Hongsheng died, and his son Meng Luochuan became the manager of Swift. Meng Luochuan is a promising young man. He is good at thinking. After he took charge of Swiss Fu, his business became more prosperous. In order to expand his business, he set up a weaving factory in Zhangqiu, specializing in weaving large twisted cloth, producing and selling it. The storefront of the store was expanded from two to three, and for better luck, the name of "Ruifuxiang" was changed to "Ruifuxiang".
After the opening of Beijing Ruifuxiang, he returned to Jinan and handed over Beijing Ruifuxiang to Hou for management. Because Rui Fuxiang is located in the downtown area, there are many pedestrians coming and going; And because Hou is good at business, his business flourished soon after he opened. However, within a few years of opening, Rui Fuxiang caught up with the Gengzi Incident (the 26th year of Guangxu) and the store was destroyed by fire. After the Boxer Rebellion subsided, Hou raised funds to rebuild the store and reopen it.
About 1890 (in the 16th year of Guangxu), Meng Luochuan visited Beijing, where he saw many tourists and his business was booming. After returning to Jinan, he asked the staff in the store to take an apprentice and transport some big twisted cloth to Beijing for sale by cart. After they arrived in Beijing, Jin Meng rented two rooms in Buxiang, at the Fish Mouth outside the front door. Shandong's hemp flower cloth is very popular with some people in Beijing, and the cloth is sold out soon. After that, he left an apprentice to look after the house, and brought big twisted cloth and two employees from Jinan. In this way, Hou worked in Beijing for two years, and his business became better and better, and his business gradually expanded. At this time, Rui Fuxiang's old shop in Jinan not only increased the variety of cotton cloth, but also increased the goods such as silk and satin. About 1893 (the 19th year of Guangxu), he negotiated with Hou and planned to open a shop in Beijing. As luck would have it, a shop on the north side of Dashilan Dongkou Inner Road closed down, and Jin Menghou Tuo bought the foundation of the shop. After some preparations, on an auspicious day in the same year, Ruifuxiang Silk Store opened.
After reopening, business is still booming. As soon as the store door opens every day, customers keep coming in. Why is Rui Fuxiang's business so prosperous?
First of all, Rui Fuxiang has a good business style. Its management style is sincere and childlike; Moreover, high, medium and low-grade goods are complete, including silks and satins, woolen goods and furs needed by bureaucrats, wealthy businessmen and large families, as well as blue and white cloth and colored cloth used by ordinary civilians and rural farmers. Ruifuxiang's silks and satins are all woven in Suzhou, and the words "Ruifuxiang" are woven on each thread head. Rui Fuxiang's colored fabrics are most popular with the working people, because they are all made of fine cotton yarn and handed over to the workshop for weaving and dyeing. This cloth shrinks less and does not fade.
Secondly, Ruifuxiang's service attitude is very good, whether it is rich customers or general customers; Whether you buy more or less; Regardless of the length of the selection, it was warmly welcomed.
In addition, when doing business with nobles, bureaucrats and rich households, Rui Fuxiang generally buys things without cash, keeps accounts and settles accounts at the end of the year. For example, Yuan Shikai, Duan, Li and Wu during the warlord period, Wang and Wang Kemin during the fall of Beiping, and some bureaucrats during the Kuomintang period all bought Rui Fuxiang's things. Some transactions cost 10 thousand yuan at a time, and no matter how many things you buy, you keep an account.
Due to the prosperous business and rapid development of Ruifuxiang, in the early years of the Republic of China, Ruifuxiang Hongji Silk Store and Ruifuxiang Leather Store were opened at the west entrance of Dashilan. Soon, Donghongji Tea Shop and Xihongji Tea Shop were opened in the east and west of Dashilan respectively. And using Ruifuxiang's profits, he opened several Ruifuxiang silk shops in Tianjin, Qingdao and Yantai.