Rachel's Shop

The next day came, and preparations for Rachel’s shop reached their final stage.

Today, all the employees of Marie’s Bakery, except for Emily who could not leave the shop, set to work on the preparations together.

“Then, I’m pulling it up.”

“Everything’s okay here too.”

Kent and Elnette were pulling up a newly made self-made signboard using ropes to install it.

The installation position was on the second floor of the shop.

“Stop here. I’m fixing it.”

Kent checked if the signboard was level by applying a spirit level, and then he fixed the signboard using power tools.

“Even so, that’s an amazing tool. It stuck to the wall in an instant.”

Elnette was surprised by Kent’s skillfulness.

Before reincarnating, he had performed countless furniture assemblies and various installation works as part of his job during his part-time work.

Because he had that experience, this kind of work was a piece of cake.

“Yeah, isn’t it looking pretty good?”

Rachel said satisfyingly while looking up at the signboard.

“I feel like it’s a bit flashy, though…”

“We have to make it stand out at least this much, or it won’t stand out with so many shops around.”

Kent spoke while looking at the gorgeous-looking signboard that used a lot of gold and silver.

Rachel was saying this was better, in contrast to Kent’s negative impression.

The colors were gold and silver, but no metallic gold or silver was used.

It was merely a wooden board with a base coat and painted with gold and silver paint.

Since it was only material costs, the signboard cost less than it looked.

On the signboard, “Marie’s Bakery - Branch No. 2” was written.

Incidentally, at the original Marie’s Bakery, “Main Shop” was added in small letters under the small signboard hanging near the entrance to coincide with the opening of Branch No. 2.

“Are you okay with this, Marie-san? You are the owner, after all.”

“Well… I left it entirely to Rachel-chan, so I don’t intend to say anything. But, be prepared for when it fails. smile.”

“Eek!”

Marie’s face was smiling, but the feeling of “You know what happens if you fail, right?” was coming through.

Because they were putting up Marie’s shop sign, if a problem occurred, it could also lead to responsibility issues for Marie.

Rachel read that and let out a scream.

For the exterior, all preparations were finished now that the signboard installation was done.

Next, they moved on to the interior finishing work.

Preparations were mostly finished as of yesterday, but today they planned to devote time to employee training after the interior finishing was done.

Basically, Rachel and Laura were supposed to be in charge of this shop, but depending on the situation, there was a possibility of moving personnel from the Main Shop as help.

For that reason, all the shop’s employees except Emily were gathered today, including for training.

“Then, Big Bro—I mean, Kent-san. Please give the explanation.”

Rachel dumped everything on Kent.

Since he had no choice, Kent decided to explain the shop’s equipment.

“First, the differences from the Main Shop. Branch No. 2 doesn’t have machinery for manufacturing bread. Basically, the bread for sale will be transported from the Main Shop. Though, since the sales area is just those small shelves over there, I don’t think there’s a need to transport bread in large quantities.”

Kent said while pointing at the small shelf placed next to the register.

“Basically, this shop will handle items for nobles to groom themselves, rather than food and drink. The products are on these shelves and inside the showcases. Since the unit prices are set a bit high, please be careful not to make mistakes with the amounts when ringing up the register.”

Kent spoke while explaining the showcases where cosmetics were placed and the shelves where various shampoos, conditioners, and body soaps were lined up.

“I always used a lot of them, but they were such expensive things…”

“These are the things we always use, right… If the amount used is deducted from my salary, my take-home pay might disappear.”

Catherine was surprised when she saw the prices.

Patty, who was told to take a shower before work, also spoke as if surprised upon seeing the price tag.

“No… actually, the cost price isn’t this high… So please use the things at home or the supplies at the shop without hesitation.”

Kent said that to reassure the two for now.

“So, Kent-san, I’ve been curious about it for a while, but what are the things inside that glass case?”

Josette seemed curious about the items in the glass showcase.

“This is perfume. Don’t you use it too, Josette-san?”

A faint scent of some flower always came from Josette.

Because of that, Kent had thought she was wearing perfume.

“This is a liquid made from a floral scent passed down in my family using a special manufacturing method. If you spray this lightly, it has a slight fragrance and deodorizing effect, preventing others from feeling unpleasant.”

“From the sound of it, it might have a similar effect. Want to try it a bit?”

Kent brought a bottle containing tester perfume and sprayed it lightly on Josette’s hand.

“How is it?”

“It has a sweet scent. And yet, I don’t find it unpleasant at all.”

Since the supplier was items sold at a home improvement store, he could only procure relatively cheap items with a cost of a few thousand yen, but even so, if Josette said that, Kent could feel relieved about the quality.

“Anyway, testers for trial like this are placed here and there, so it’s good to use them for product explanations.”

And then Kent and the others came in front of things placed inconspicuously in a corner of the shop.

“Umm, these are salt, sugar, and pepper.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen them, but these are very expensive, right?”

Patty asked timidly.

“Certainly. It’s said they’re so precious that at some shops, they say gold coins of the same weight are required.”

“A-are they that expensive?”

“But we won’t sell them that expensively here. While other products have high prices, we plan to sell these slightly lower than the market price.”

Kent was saying that, but the prices set were high amounts that ordinary commoners couldn’t reach.

“It doesn’t look like I’ll be putting any in my mouth anytime soon.”

Patty spoke in a half-resigned way.

“Huh? Marie-san, weren’t you providing staff meals at lunch?”

“I’m serving them just as Kent-san told me.”

Kent heard Patty’s story and asked Marie for confirmation.

Since summer vacation started and student part-timers began working full-time, Kent had asked Marie to provide lunch.

The costs for the meals were paid by the shop as expenses, and Kent procured the ingredients and such from his terminal.

“The things served for lunch include items that use salt, sugar, pepper, and such, you know?”

“I-I didn’t know… I was putting them in my mouth before I knew it. From now on, I’ll eat with more gratitude.”

Patty spoke, recalling the staff meals she had eaten for lunch since summer vacation started, which were already digested in her stomach.

And finally, they moved to the snack space that occupied half of the shop’s floor area.

“We will provide food and drink here. However, even though I say food and drink, since we haven’t brought in kitchen equipment yet, we only plan to provide ice cream for the time being. Eventually, we plan to introduce kitchen equipment and increase the variety of items, but for now, we’ll concentrate on diverting the noble customers who come to the Main Shop to eat ice cream over to here. And the Main Shop will devote itself to increasing turnover by having the usual regulars use it. Therefore, to eliminate any sense of discrimination between the shops, the prices will remain the same as the Main Shop.”

With this, calling in noble women and having them buy something on the way home was the sales style Rachel was thinking of.

Incidentally, the unit price was the same, but because it wasn’t like commoners who finish eating immediately and there were also certain manners, the turnover would worsen.

Because of that, selling only ice cream would result in a deficit.

The snack space had a wide area, but because it was for nobles, the tables were spaced far apart, and the number of tables was only about the same as the Main Shop.

“The basic customer service can be the same as the Main Shop. Are there any questions?”

No one asked a question at Kent’s inquiry.

“Then, let’s move on to customer service training, assuming a customer has entered.”

Thus, with the opening the next day approaching, everyone set to work seriously on the training.

And finally, the day for Rachel’s shop to open arrived.

Marie’s Bakery had to be closed on Saturdays and Sundays by agreement with the guild, but in the case of new or renovated openings, it was apparently allowed to operate on holidays as an exception.

Normally, a shop’s holiday was only one day a week, so no problem occurred, but unlike other shops, Marie’s Bakery was set to have two days off a week, so one of those days had to be the opening day.

Therefore, they devoted Saturday to employee training and decided on the following Sunday as the opening day.