Former GNR founder Gbt recently shocked the server by being banned for x-raying. This marked the end of the famous but slowly fading retail giant GNR that he ran together with MrSuperRed. The sale of the RC mall location is the last nail in the coffin and now the retail throne is up for grabs. However, are GNR’s former competitors strong enough to take over the throne?
The retail industry has been a bumpy ride lately, mainly due to sales stagnating in the economy and backbones of the economy becoming inactive. One of these backbones of the Hellominers economy used to be GNR, one of the largest retailers with an astonishing 5 million forsals market cap. When GBT got banned he also banned half of that fortune and it seems very unlikely that MrSuperRed will continue GNR without his partner. Especially now Vanguard Industries bought the former River City flagship mall for 710.000 forsals.
Now with the former retail champion out of the way, the economy is begging for another store to take over the crown. This obviously means that we’ll witness a plot and price war between old and new retailers looking to become the next GNR. While this might mean we’ll see companies come and go, it also means that consumers will probably enjoy low prices. The following stores are most likely to take over.
SFC
SFC is a well-known and respected store in Helloclan City, a one-man empire owned by one of the server’s richest millionaires, Freshblood. SFC already is the largest retailer with an estimated market cap of 7 million forsals. However, SFC normally acts as a kind of neutral Switzerland in the retail world but lately that changed. The retailer lately tends to adjust prices to match the market prices like it did with concrete and it recently opened a location in Cape Coral.
SFC has arguably the best location on the server and enough cash to burn in a potential price war. However, judging on SFC’s neutral history this doesn’t seem very likely. Another disadvantage for Freshblood is the fact that SFC is a one-man company which increases the pressure of stocking stores.
Vanguard Industries
Vanguard Industries, the company that already started nibbling at the throne 3 months ago, continues to grow stronger. The retailer opened a North City location in response to the removal of warp trade. As of today, it also owns the former GNR-mall in River City which will soon become their new flagship store.
One of the key advantages of Vanguard Industries is the fact that the company is run by 3 hardcore grinders. This allowed the company to flourish while other stores were backing down. Thanks to this massive workforce Vanguard Industries can restock their stores on time. Stocked shops tends to be a painpoint for most stores these days.
We don’t see Vanguard Industries aggressively participating in the price wars, but they already won half the battle by purchasing the high traffic former GNR mall.
Ironside Industries
Ironside Industries, currently operated by Tekton9 and Kino, has a chance to become the next dominant retailer of HelloMiners. The powerhouse stemming from serial entrepreneur and Troller-in-chief CMVO’s wealth has a bunch of premium plots in government cities. These plots include half of front-row Swamp City and a front row Helloclan City plot.
The recent decision to buy plots in Swamp City was frowned upon by competitors. But with the right stocking process and promotion, ISS might have the last laugh.
Other stores worth mentioning.
Even though the companies named above are very likely to become the next big thing, others might have a chance as well. ESS for example might have a chance as it currently owns pretty much the single best plot on the server. However, this store must be utilized more before it can even consider competing with the likes of SFC.
Aramega is also a company worth mentioning, the one-man company owned by Paradise Hills owner Arakorni89 has famously betted on moving his core business to his private city Paradise Hills. This makes Aramega one of the largest retailers to depend on private city traffic.
Seeing Aramega emerge as a next industry leader would be quite interesting as it would prove that location isn’t everything. It would show that being a smart business owner is more important than owning a front row plot. Which would make ISS’s decision to move to Swamp City also more logical.
Currently the fog is still surrounding the throne as we’re still grieving the loss of GNR. But if you look very closely you can see that the flag appears to be lime-coloured.