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As the woman flicked the switch, one row of industrial strip lights after the other lit up, until the whole warehouse was fully illuminated. Dust had begun to collect on the tall shelves that reached almost all the way to the ceiling. A soft buzzing could be heard coming from the lighting fixtures above, one of which was flickering and would need to be replaced soon.
It was evident the place had been abandoned for a while, something that was about to change in the near future.
The Boss hadn’t been in here since Pierce, Shaundi and herself had assaulted the building in order to obtain intel on the whereabouts of Phillipe Loren, former head of the Syndicate. Powder had been out of business ever since, with most of its former employees either dead or in hiding, as well as its manager having been killed several months ago, no one was left to run the designer gun store.
But now that the Syndicate was no more, and STAG had been driven out of the city, the Saints were focused on rebuilding and fully establishing their presence in Steelport. And one step in achieving this was the re-opening of Powder under the Saints brand. Similarly to how the Third Street Saints had taken control over Safeword and the Three Count Casino, the Boss wanted to claim the premium weapons store that had previously been under Morningstar management.
When Velvet had first approached Viola with the idea of reviving Powder, the former Morningstar wasn’t all too thrilled about the notion. Powder had always been Kiki’s pet project, thus it felt weird for her to operate it without her late twin. Despite being owned by Phillipe, it had been her sister who breathed life into the establishment and kept the day to day operations going.
Emotional reservations aside, the thought of her having to run it was another point which troubled the black haired woman. She already had her hands full overseeing Safeword; being in charge of both businesses seemed too much, even for the workaholic. And the concept of sharing administration over the brothel with Zimos, a solution Vivi had offered, didn’t sit well with her either. She still held the old man in disdain, as did he likewise.
While she didn’t deny his abilities at successfully running hoes and his newly reopened carwash, she doubted he’d make for a decent manager, or co-manager. He was a pimp, not a businessman. It took a lot of convincing on the Boss' part for her to agree to letting Zimos take care of hiring and staffing, while she would still handle the financial and logistical aspects of the business.
This decision would relieve the former Morningstar of some of her duties, allowing her to in turn focus some of her time into overseeing Powder.
As the pair made their way upstairs and across the metal catwalks leading towards the office, Velvet was amused by Viola’s attempt at walking on the grated floors in heels, something she herself achieved through the use of her demon magic, which allowed her to appear attractive regardless of the terrain.
“We’ll have to change these,” the woman huffed in annoyance after she nearly tripped, which prompted Velvet to swiftly scoop her up and carry her the rest of the way, to which the other woman had no objections.
When they reached the manager’s office, Vivi gently let Viola down, who uttered a brief ‘thanks’ for the assistance.
“This whole place will need a make-over,” she wrinkled her nose at the run-down state the room was in. The brick wall looked old and unpleasant, while the other two walls had an uninviting, boring appearance, their gray paint peeling off towards the ceiling. The matching filthy gray carpets were equally unattractive. The clock hanging on the wall had stopped working a long time ago, and a layer of dust covered every surface in the room, from the desks to the large printer. The air was cold and funky, the lack of windows did the interior atmosphere no favors.
Velvet on the other hand didn’t share the same sentiments, “I think it’s alright, maybe a new wallpaper and some cozier lighting and this place’ll be just fine.”
She inspected the decoration with a hand on her chin. When she had last been here, she was only focused on keeping waves of Morningstar from reaching the room while Shaundi was hacking the databases of the business, so she had barely paid attention to the interior design back then.
“Makes sense someone who used to live in a sewer would think that,” Viola remembered when Velvet had mentioned the old Saints hideout that was located underground, “but my standards are a little higher. Kiki didn’t come here often, she did most of the work remotely, but if I’m expected to work from here frequently, this won’t do.”
“It was an abandoned hotel, not a sewer,” the redhead corrected with a raised finger, causing Viola to raise an eyebrow.
“You told me you had to get rid of a homeless colony when you first got there and had rat problems for months,” the black haired woman recalled.
“That was just part of the aesthetic and added to the charm,” the Boss shrugged in defense.
“The aesthetic of a sewer,” she crossed her arms, “I’m sure the rat poop brought the place together.
“Ay, sewer or not, nowadays it’s the number one nightclub, bar, and hangout spot in the whole city,” the redhead mimicked Viola’s body language and folded her arms as well.
“Only because you bribed every health inspector in Stilwater,” the former Morningstar smirked as she saw Velvet copying her.
The latter only shrugged in response, “Well, if it works.”
After finishing their little back and forth, Viola returned to the topic at hand, “Regardless, if you want me to successfully run this place, there will need to be some changes.”
“I’m fine with that, I know you like fancy stuff, so go nuts renovating this joint,” Velvet accepted the other woman’s terms, “my only condition is that we swap the pink for purple, this is a Saints brand now.”
Viola felt a bit conflicted about the proposed change, pink had always been Kiki’s color, but she understood the Boss’ reasoning, after all, they had done the same with Safeword.
“Very well,” she hesitantly agreed, “speaking of branding, we have to find a way to establish ourselves on the market again.”
“You think re-opening the store and some advertising won’t be enough? I thought Powder was established already,” Velvet was curious what the other woman had in mind.
“It is, and we’ll definitely do marketing,” Viola began to explain, “but despite the fact that I have no doubts we will be having return customers who’ve done business with us in the past, we should also look into attracting new customers.”
Vivi nodded in agreement, “Alright, what’s the plan?”
“Marketing is only one part of establishing yourself, there are two important pillars for any brand, do you know what those are?”
Velvet thought about it for a moment, “Quality and good prices?”
“Not quite, but quality will definitely be an essential part of our brand,” Viola elaborated, “it’s consistency and recognition.”
“Okay, and how do we do that?” The Boss kept her eyes on Viola who was pacing up and down the office as she laid out her plans for the store.
“Lucky for us, we already have the basics covered, we’ve got a name, a logo, a prime location, as well as history, experience and a good reputation,” she stopped in her tracks before continuing, “now we have to think of what exactly we want our brand to be.”
The redhead understood what Viola was talking about, while she herself never studied business 101 like her dark haired partner had, the former Morningstar made it easy for her to follow the conversation. “Guns, right?”
“Close,” Viola flicked a strand aside that had fallen over her face from the constant movement, “high-end guns, luxury products. Think of it this way; you could always go to Friendly Fire down the street, pick up a cheap pistol, and use it to protect yourself or rob a liquor store with. In those cases the gun is nothing more than a tool, a means to an end. What we want to sell is no tool, but an experience. We sell people not what they need, but what they want.”
Velvet sat down on one of the dusty desks as she listened to Viola’s business proposal.
“Our business model will focus on the difference between a necessity good and a luxury good. And it has to be clear that our goods are not for everyone (something that will be reflected in our prices, as well as the quality and services that we offer), but for the elite.”
The former Morningstar paused for a moment, allowing the Boss to process that information. When the redhead nodded, she continued. “The average Joe will still go to Friendly Fire, and that’s fine, our goal is not to stomp out that competitor, because they really aren’t our competition in the first place. Our customer base is the upper class, those who want to feel special.”
“I can make someone feel special, give me five minutes and a secluded spot,” Velvet joked, causing Viola to shake her head with a light smile.
“Think of it this way; no one really needs an Attrazione, but Zanin still finds customers. Nobody truly needs to own a Bezier, and yet,TM is still in business; why is that?”
“Because they’re awesome cars that look cool and having one means you’re rich?” Velvet tilted her head at the obvious question.
“Precisely, and that’s exactly the same effect we want to achieve with our weaponry!”
Viola took a deep breath, she didn’t mean to ramble so much, but proposing business models and thinking of marketing strategies was her element.
Velvet swung her legs back and forth as she sat on the desk, “All that sounds good, but how do we actually pull it off?”
“Well, the foundation is already in place, marketing shouldn’t be too hard; we can get radio ads and rent out some of those large screens downtown like we did in the past,” Viola weighed their options, “Oh! We could use the screens on our towers for that too, we won’t even have to pay for that ad space!”
“I don’t know, I like those giant stripper ladies,” Velvet couldn’t help but be a little disappointed Viola wanted to replace the iconic Steelport stripper screens with advertisements, “what about the internet, we make a lot of money from having ads on Saints Book.”
“Good call, social media is more popular than even the radio these days,” Viola complimented the Boss on her idea.
Vivi came up with another marketing strategy, “If you like, I can also pose with the weapons for shit like billboards or magazines. Picture me in the nude covering my private parts with nothing but some high-end rifle.”
Viola could only blush at the mental image.
“Oh, and I can also do demonstrations, like having a camera crew filming me as I use our merchandise to cause some mayhem,” she put her fist in her hand, “seeing the gun on a shelf is one thing, but witnessing it in action should really get some attention.”
The former Morningstar was impressed with those suggestions, it took someone as crazy as the Boss to come up with such unorthodox methods, an ability Viola sorely lacked. “Sure, I’ll put it on the list.”
“I think we got marketing covered, but what about the goods?”
“Well, as we established, we won’t sell regular firearms or ammunition, we will focus on special items for a more sophisticated clientele, with a more refined taste.”
“I get all that, but that’s what Powder’s been doing from the start, right? If we want to attract new customers, we could also look into adapting our range,” the horned woman raised a point.
“We won’t lower our prices, that would make our goods less exclusive and sought after,” Viola thought she had made it clear that Powder shouldn’t appeal to the average consumer.
But Velvet shook her head, “That’s not what I meant, I mean offering a wider variety of items, other than just guns.”
Viola was curious,“Okay, what do you have in mind?”
“Imagine if we also sold stuff like, I don't know, custom armored cars, attack choppers, vehicle mounted turrets!” Velvet got up in excitement, “Wouldn’t that be so badass?”
Viola was quiet for a moment, it sounded silly at first, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. There definitely was demand for armed vehicles, potential clients could include private armies, security forces, perhaps some bored rich guy who would like to take an attack helicopter to his personal shooting range.
“A custom APC,” she uttered, “that does sound badass.”
“Right?” Velvet had a sly grin on her face.
“But I don’t even know where we would get that sort of stock from.”
“Easy, I can go jack some for you,” Velvet offered nonchalantly, “if we’re lucky I might even be able to get some STAG N-Forcers for us, I bet the parking garage underneath the PR center still has some that they didn’t bother retrieving when Hughes called them off.”
“Alright, let’s entertain this thought and assume you actually hijack military grade vehicles; even so, we’d still need a place to display them. Neither the sales area nor the storage are designed to fit something so big,” Viola worried.
“Maybe there can be a round stage in the store for a vehicle to be on, somewhere central where it gets a lot of attention. That could be built when you plan on renovating this office and storage anyway,” Velvet suggested, "I dunno if it’ll fit through any of the gates though, so maybe the stage can also be like an elevator, and we have a garage underground where the APCs are parked and we put them on display that way," she went off on a tangent, "Keep in mind that we won’t have to keep a large stock on hand. If someone wants a custom job done, we’ll have to take it by commission anyway.”
Viola was speechless for a minute, “You have the most insane ideas, you know that?”
“More like brilliant,” Vivi had a smug look on her face, well aware that her unconventional plans usually yielded the greatest results.
“Honestly I’m loving your input, I think we can get this done,” Viola was visibly happy with the progress so far, “that only leaves our regular stock, and that’s what I’m most worried about.”
“You mean the guns, why? Where’d Kiki get them from?”
“Abroad,” the black haired woman sat down on an office chair, “Phillipe had been in contact with the Russian mob, they specializes in arms trafficking.”
“Okay, so give them a call that we need their services again,” Velvet was oblivious to the circumstances revolving around the deal with the Russians.
“If it was that simple, I would have already called them,” Viola let out a sigh, “Phillipe has had a long lasting business relationship with them, one which was based on mutual respect and professionalism, but after he died and Killbane took over, that asshole didn’t adhere to the same principles, so they swiftly cut their ties with the Syndicate.”
“Do you think you’d be able to reestablish contact with them now that he’s out of the picture?" Velvet saw where Viola’s concerns stemmed from, Killbane’s way of handling things could have soured that relationship irreversibly.
Viola was deep in thought, “It won’t be easy, especially with Phillipe gone, he was the sole reason we had that contact to begin with. And now that the Syndicate is no more, we’d have to start anew, and try to strike a deal between the Saints and the Russians. My hope is that as one of Phillipes successors, they might be more inclined to give us a shot.”
Velvet shook her head, she didn’t like that it had to be this complicated, “Look, try making contact and let me know once you hear back from them, but if they decide they don’t wanna supply us, then it’s their loss, we’ll get our contraband elsewhere."
The black haired woman didn’t answer right away. It wasn’t as easy as the Boss made it sound, these were powerful people they would want on their side, but her leader didn’t understand that yet. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I trust you’ll get results,” the redhead held out her hand to help Viola get up from the chair, “I think that’s all for now, we’ve been here for way longer than I expected, let’s get outta here.”
“Very well, thanks for joining me,” Viola was glad the Boss had accompanied her to discuss the details of getting Powder up and running again, and she didn’t just send some lackey or Pierce instead, “I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you today.”
“No shit, you’d still be stuck on the catwalks,” Velvet gave her a teasing look, “come on.”
Velvet extended her hand once more, which Viola took with a blush. She then picked her up again and began carrying the woman across the grated metal, bridal style.”