Booking Glory-Chapter 38: Limited Edition Merchandise

A/N: Hey Folks...

With the last Chapter, this book is officially over 100K words and we are just getting started. Pretty excited to achieve this milestone.

Do drop a REVIEW about what you liked so far in this fic and what you want to me to include more in the future.

Now, let’s get cranking...

*****

Rob had just walked out of the meeting not even five minutes ago when his phone rang. It was from someone new and the number wasn’t in his contact information. Rob hesitated a bit, but eventually answered the call wondering who was calling him and how they got his number.

"Hello, this is Rob Williams."

"Rob, I am Nelson, the owner of Top Slam bar. I have a very interesting proposition for you," the other person said with an excited voice.

Rob didn’t need to know how to feel about it. It was weird to have a guy talking to him this excitedly over the phone when he didn’t even know the guy. Sure, he had heard about Top Slam bar.

Top Slam was the preeminent bar for pro wrestling fanatics to hang out in. Any day of the week, you can walk in there and start a conversation about wrestling with anyone there. It was the meeting ground for the fans in Longham City.

"Nelson, right? I really don’t know how you got hold of my number. But, I am currently busy right now. Can you call me later?"

Rob wasn’t lying. He really was busy. He needs to prepare Dacey’s next week’s segment. He had a general idea of what the segment will be about, but he didn’t have the proper opening planned out.

While it was only a two to three minutes segment, Rob wanted it to be perfect from all angles. And this segment will segue into next week’s program. So, Rob didn’t want to take any chances.

"Come on brother, no one is too busy to make some money," Rob heard the other person say still in an excited voice. "Actually, it was Mr. Gibson who gave me your number. I just called him."

The mention of Mr. Gibson made Rob pause. He had just finished a meeting with Mr. Gibson and others regarding the programming for next week. And Mr. Gibson was indeed receiving continuous calls by the end of the meeting.

"Listen, I know you are skeptical about my identity. But, bear with me for a few moments. I have a very profitable idea for both LWC and me. But, the time for implementation is running out. That’s why I am in a hurry," the other party continued.

"I am listening," Rob said finding a quiet corner to take the call.

"Good, good, now the first thing I want you to do is to stop the production of any more Dacey’s merchandise shirts," the other party said abruptly making Rob doubt his hearing.

Was this guy mad? Dacey’s T-shirts were in hot demand. There was no way Rob would ask the factory to stop the production.

"What?" Rob said in confusion.

"I know this sounds crazy, but trust me, this will pay dividends in the future. Did you know that people are calling the 500 shirts you produced yesterday The Original 500?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, the demand for those shirts is at an all-time high. But, till now only 500 of them have come out. So, the public is calling it the Original 500. If you can step out of your office building and walk into a sports bar you will know what I am talking about."

"Fine, but it still doesn’t explain why I need to cancel the order."

"Not cancel it, just stop producing that particular T-shirt. It is not often we get the public so interested to own something. But, if those T-shirts are mass released, then it will cause their value of them to drop drastically."

Rob understood what the other person was talking about. But, he didn’t think Dacey was that big yet. So, it didn’t make much sense.

"What I am telling is, let LWC print out another 500 or so T-shirts of that particular design. You can change the design and sell more merchandise but not this one."

"You want me to create a limited edition T-shirt," Rob said catching on.

"Exactly! Just imagine, if only 500 more shirts are available, the demand for them would go over the roof," the other party said excitedly. "You can put a higher price on them and sell those. The profit will increase at a minimum of two-fold. But, if you give me those shirts to sell, I will increase the value of that T-shirt tenfold."

Rob remained silent as his mind whirled. He didn’t reply to the other party. His mind was buzzing with countless ways to maximize the advantage this would give. As a person who had seen and experienced Apple’s marketing strategy, he knew how crazy people would go to get something that had high demand and low supply.

"Hello, hello, are you there?" the other party said anxiously.

"Ya, ya. Look I will call you back in ten minutes. I need to think about this."

"But, the production..."

"Look I will call back. Give me ten minutes. Just ten minutes."

Rob quickly cut the call and ran towards Mr. Gibson’s room. He wanted to see if this could be spun to create another talking point for LWC. He hurriedly knocked on the door and entered the office.

Mr. Gibson was just looking up from the mountain of paperwork that had been piled up on his desk. He had an impatient expression on his face, but it changed to a curious one seeing Rob rushing in.

"Mr. Gibson, can we stop the production of Dacey’s shirt?" Rob asked unceremoniously.

Mr. Gibson’s eyebrows raised up in confusion.

"Rob, are you ok? We did an entire segment just yesterday to market that shirt. Now you want me to stop the production. Are you all right?"

"Mr. Gibson, just hear me out. I know this will sound crazy but..."

Mr. Gibson snorted.

"Kid, I am becoming immune to crazy shit ever since I gave you booking power. Tell me, what insane idea had you cooked up now!"

Rob hurriedly explained the conversation he had over the call just now. He stressed how he was going to spin this into an angle itself and how great the demand would be.

"So, as long as we change the design slightly, it won’t be the original one. We can hype it up as limited edition merchandise and sell it at a high price," Rob finished his speech with an eager gleam in his eyes.

"That is all well and good, but in that case, that entire segment would go to waste, right? We put over the T-shirt so much. Why did we do that? To gain some merchandise sales. If we do this, aren’t we shooting ourselves in the foot?"

"Not exactly. This will only create more demand for that particular design. We will be able to see good profit by using this limited edition method. On the other hand, the new design will sell as usual. And with what we are going to do next week, it will have the same demand."

"But, we will lose a week."

"I understand, but it will also make more people talk. It will create more interest in LWC as a whole. Giving away our small profits for a week will in turn give us more popularity with the public. I think it is more important on the whole."

"Let’s say I agree, what is the new design going to be? You made it clear you don’t want the picture of Dacey in the designs. So, what will be the new design?"

"We don’t need to think much. We will invert the colors for the new design. It will have both a great look and will tie into the story as well."

"So, it will be black on white instead of white on black, huh," Mr. Gibson fell into thought for a bit. "Are you sure they are calling it Original 500?"

"That’s what he said," Rob shrugged.

"Anyway, what is his angle? I don’t think anyone will give us such a good idea for free."

"He wants to sell the limited edition T-shirts in his place. I think he is going to auction them. Anyway, we can send a limited supply to regular outlets and give a few over to him as well."

"Right, the more outlets, the better for us. We are not AWF to only allow licensed sellers to sell their stuff. We are not in that league.."

"...yet," Rob said softly causing Mr. Gibson to look up and smile.

"Yet, indeed. Well, let’s confirm the truth about the Original 500 first. Wait, let me call Todd first."

"Todd?"

"It is Todd’s number from which the call came in. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even entertain the call. Todd is a person in the circle. He knows what should be done and what shouldn’t be done. No need to worry."

Mr. Gibson called the number back as Rob anxiously waited near.

"Put Todd on," Mr. Gibson said gruffly. Rob could hear shuffling sounds from the other side.

"Todd, tell me the truth. Is that shit about Original 500 real?" Mr. Gibson listened as the person on the other side spoke for a bit. "Then fine, I am taking a risk on this Todd. I will suffer some losses, but it is manageable. I hope you aren’t bullshitting me."

"Fine, I will order the production to stop. We have decided to invert the color and print new T-shirts. It wouldn’t be much of a difference anyway. And as for your friend’s request. You can talk to Rob directly about it."

"Hmmm, ok. I will ask Rob to come over. You guys can discuss it face to face. You are there right? Then, good. Rob will come over there in half an hour. Ok, I am hanging up."

"Rob, I want you to go there and meet this Nelson guy. See what he is all about. You need some exposure in this area. This will be a good start. And Todd will be there as well. You can trust him."

"Ok Mr. Gibson," Rob nodded.

"As for that new design, we are just inverting the color. So, no need to send a new sketch over. I will inform the manufacturing unit. If that is all, I have a mountain to clear now. Get going."

Rob smiled and walked out of the room.

*****

"What did they say?" Nelson asked anxiously.

"Well, Mr. Gibson is sending Rob over to discuss stuff with you. And they agreed to give you some of that limited edition T-shirts as well. I think they are not going to release it all at once."

"Smart, the less there is, the more demand for it," Nelson said nodding.

"You know, you are one crazy guy. You actually convinced LWC," Todd said shaking his head.

"I think I didn’t do much. The moment I put that idea into Rob Williams’ head, it was already done. If you noticed, they didn’t call to ask how to do it. They wanted to confirm the Original 500 thing. I bet my wallet that the Rob guy had already figured out everything by the time the call came," Nelson replied.

"You sound like you like that guy," Todd chuckled.

"Todd, that guy just needed to hear my idea to come up with a marketing plan. I am telling you, that guy knows how to make money. Look at LWC now, everything that makes people talk has come out of him. And he is barely even twenty from the looks of it. If such a guy doesn’t impress me, then I am not sure who will," Nelson said in a serious tone causing Todd to be taken aback.

"When you put it that way, he does sound impressive," Todd said slowly as his thoughts formed.

"Anyway, I can’t wait to meet him in person. I want to pick his brains on some stuff as well. And it would be a good opportunity for Malora here as well. If she captures his eyes or even learns a bit from him, she will definitely become a star."

"You seriously think that just talking to someone that green would help Malora in becoming a star," Todd scoffed. "There are dozens of wrestlers out there who couldn’t reach that level despite being in the business for a long time. Even if it was Steven Rush, he couldn’t help someone become a star."

"That may be true, but I see something different in him. Let me ask you this, what do you think is the difference between a star and a wrestler?" Nelson asked Todd.

"A star is someone who brings people in..."

"Exactly, this guy has been in charge of booking the women’s division in LWC for exactly how long? Say, one or two months. But, he has brought more interest in LWC than it had ever had."

"He knows, he knows how to bring the crowd in. He knows how to captivate a crowd. And if Malora even learns a little from him, she will be able to do that when she gets her chance. And any wrestler who could bring a crowd in will become a star."

Todd didn’t exactly agree with Nelson’s viewpoint. Becoming a star was never that simple. But, he also knew that having connections in this industry was important. He also knew that with the way Rob Williams was increasing his stock, he will become a key person in the future of this business.

So, he figured that there was nothing wrong with making a connection with him. To Malora, this might even bring her the opportunity she is waiting for. So, he didn’t rebut Nelson’s statement. He merely nodded in reply.

"So, how long till he gets here?"

"A half an hour, I think," Todd shrugged.

"Hmmm, anyway, you told me earlier about some mess in AWF. What’s that all about?"

"I don’t know. It is still unclear as I said earlier," Todd replied.

"Pfft, pull the other one, I know you better than that. You wouldn’t be coming here to meet me if you haven’t figured out what it was all about," Nelson snorted.

Todd shot him a dirty look which Nelson didn’t even bother to acknowledge. Todd looked at Malora who was also listening eagerly next to them and sighed.

"Look, this doesn’t go out of this room. People will get mad at me if news like this leaked out," Todd said adopting a serious look.

Nelson and Malora nodded in understanding.

"Steven might quit AWF," Todd said causing Nelson and Malora to gasp.

"I really don’t know what is going on. But, apparently, Steven Rush has not been happy with how things are in AWF. He feels very uncomfortable these days. My sources say that there is a huge rift between Gary Osmon and Steven."

"From what I heard, Steven didn’t like Gary using his position to bring in unqualified people to work in AWF. He also didn’t like how Osmon has encouraged some wrestlers to speak up against bookers if they didn’t like the ending or something."

"This has been going on for a long time. This beef was not created just now. But, a recent incident was the final straw. One of the new hires Osmon brought in had gotten into a few veterans’ ears and is creating some trouble backstage."

"Surely, if Steven speaks up Roger would put his foot down right?" Nelson asked in disbelief. "There is no need for him to quit."

"Things are not that simple. Several shareholders are in Osmon’s pocket. And Osmon has been working for AWF even longer than Steven. So, things are a bit murky there. And Roger will be stepping down at the end of this year."

"So, you are telling me that both Roger and Steven might walk out of AWF soon?" Nelson scoffed. "Do they have anyone else there who can fill up their boots? This is nuts."

"Why do you think Osmon has been stretching his legs recently? He and Steven are both prime candidates to replace Roger," Todd said mockingly.

"Only a fool would choose this Osmon guy over Steven Rush," Malora snorted.

However, neither Nelson nor Todd spoke. They exchanged a silent look at each other and Nelson started shaking his head.

"That’s the thing Malora," Nelson said. "Steven is not really popular with management in AWF."

"What?"

"Steven is popular with wrestlers. He has done many great things in this industry. However, he is not an easy man to get along with. Steven and the upper management of AWF have always been at odds. Steven is of the mind that businessmen should not interfere with wrestling affairs, and it doesn’t sit well with the shareholders and other key personnel."

Todd explained patiently causing Malora to look confused.

"On the other hand, Gary Osmon is a true-bred businessman. He can be very very slick when he wants to be. He has a stellar reputation among the upper management and is the favorite of the shareholders in AWF."

"So, I guess, Steven will move out before Roger leaves, huh?" Nelson asked sitting down.

"Things haven’t reached that stage yet. But, it is moving there. We can only wait and watch. Remember... not one word outside. I will never get any other scoops if such a thing was leaked."

"Don’t wor..."

"Boss, there is someone named Rob Williams looking for you," a sound came from the front causing all three to look up.

"Well, I think it is time to meet this enigmatic Rob Williams," Nelson chuckled and stood up. "I will go and bring him in."

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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