Overview
It started as a crazy idea - just another wild idea in my quest to draw different buildings, primarily businesses. When I draw or sketch, I enjoy drawing existing buildings of different businesses around me, focusing on each building's unique outside architecture. By 2002, I had been drawing some ideas of my own of businesses or chains that I might own or operate in life - purely figments of my imagination. There were a few restaurants, gas stations and stores of every kind. However, most of them were designed as franchises to existing companies, with few unique changes in the buildings' designs. In February of 2002, I thought of 'creating' a corporation of my own. After drawing the stores that would become typical within their respective division of the company, I went a step further and came up with operations, growth and budget plans that are highly realistic. This corporation would be called “Mighty Mart
Incorporated”. Starting this company would be a monumental, slow, but enormously rewarding
task if done properly and successfully. The company’s eventual mission is to become the
proverbial “Wal-Mart killer” by offering customers with products of good value at rock-
bottom prices.
Formation Plan
Mighty Mart would start out as a private sole proprietorship operated by myself, in
Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Through a dangerous, risky combination of bonds and loans,
three convenience stores and a large distribution warehouse to serve current and future stores
would be built under the chain name “MicroMart.” As revenue from these three stores pay off
remaining start-up debt and begin to generate profit, additional stores would be built to increase
profit and market share. In addition, a modest company headquarters would be built in Elizabeth
City, North Carolina. In an effort to lower prices and attract more consumers, a bulk purchasing
of retail products program would then ensue within the first two to four years. The expansion
program will continue, with the construction of stores under the chain banner “MicroMart” into
new and existing markets. Subsequent MicroMarts would be planned to include fuel pumps, as well.
After seven to ten years or less, profit revenue permitting, the Company will be reformed into a
corporation, going public shortly thereafter, offering stock to accelerate the Company’s growth.
With this change, the Company will appoint a board of directors to oversee and direct the
Company’s expansion. At approximately the same time, the first store under the “Mighty Mart”
banner will be built. Averaging at about 80,000 square feet, this Mighty Mart will be the first of
many to challenge the retailing juggernaut Wal-Mart. Mighty Marts will be slightly smaller than
regular Wal-Marts in size, but offering comparable products in quality and quantity, basically
general merchandise and a small grocery offering. It would be our hope that additional, centralized
warehouses could be built to accommodate new stores in new market areas, thus maximizing
efficiency in the transportation of products from manufacturer to store, lowering prices greatly
for our customers.
With the construction of Mighty Marts, the MicroMart chain banner and all assets would be sold
to allow the Company to focus on its core markets and core consumers. Profit allowing, we would
expect to build one new Mighty Mart every three weeks within fifteen years. To truly achieve
the Company’s mission as “the Wal-Mart killer”, we must also offer our own rival to Wal-
Mart’s Supercenters. Wal-Mart Supercenters already offer so many different services from
Grocery sections to Optical Centers and Pharmacies. Some even have auto lubes and gas
stations. In response to this threat, the Company would unveil our own “Mighty Mart
Superplex”. Offering general merchandise, pharmacies and a small grocery store within our
store, the Superplex is the rough equivalent of the Supercenter. To provide even better service,
particularly in grocery, each Mighty Mart Superplex would make a contract with a regional grocery
chain to operate a store within our store. The contract grocery chain will vary according to which
part of the nation that the Superplex is operating in. In addition, a small hardware section and
oversized garden shop would be added to enhance product variety. For every one-hundred and
fifty Mighty Marts that would be in operation, the Company expects that fifteen Mighty Mart
Superplexes would be built to complement the regular stores, especially in urban locales.
Mighty Mart Superplexes are projected to be over 120,000 square feet in size.
Within twenty-five years, the Company and I as its chairman, expect to unveil
Code-name “Atomic Bomb”, the “Mighty Mart Mega Superplex” is designed
to ‘crush’ numerous Wal-Marts and other competing stores in an urban or suburban area. The
Mega Superplex is armed to the teeth with a huge general merchandise selection, a full-size
contract supermarket, a full-line hardware department, pharmacy, auto lube, restaurant,
expanded garden center, Mighty Mart bank (a division operated by Elizabeth City-based
Gateway Bank), optical center and a food court. Hopefully, they will be known as the true Wal-
Mart killers, as attributed by their range of services and their crushing, gargantuan size of
270,000 square feet, roughly three times the size of a regular Wal-Mart and over twice the size
of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. For every five Superplexes built, the Company expects that one
Mega Superplex would be built in areas near or in cities with populations exceeding 1.5 million
people.
Thirty-five years from the company's inception, the final annihilator would be brought out after years of secret development. The Mighty Mart Jumboplex would be designed to wreak total destruction on other merchants in the largest urban regions. Equipped with such killer weapons as a jumbo-sized general merchandise selection (guaranteed to be the World's Largest), along with a pharmacy, auto lube, restaurant, food court, Mighty Mart bank, huge garden center, full-size hardware warehouse, optical center, full-size contract supermarket and discount warehouse with the lowest prices, it would be easy to see why this store would shutter all other merchants in a thirty mile radius. The gargantuan store, at 500,000 to 575,000 square feet, would only be built in the largest urban areas in the world, such as Greater Los Angeles, Greater New York, Mexico City, Beijing, London, etc, etc, etc.
Funding
As the company would be started as a sole proprietorship, a dangerous and financially risky
combination of bonds and loans would be required to build the initial first three stores and distribution
warehouse. Once profitable, if profitable, the profit from those stores would be used to expand
the chain and to eventually reform the company into a corporation. From then on, profit and
stock revenue would be used to finance the construction of future stores, pay for wages for
workers as well as maintenance and remodeling at existing stores and facilities. To ensure the
lowest prices for the everyday consumer, all spending within the company would be tightly
controlled. All company assets would be inventoried and audited yearly, and efficiency would be
stressed to all company associates.
For fiscal year 2005, the expected expenses and revenue are listed below. However, as the
company would rapidly take shape over many future years, it is expected that inflation and other factors
would swell the prices and figures of today, greatly.
Store Policies/ Operations
Each Mighty Mart store would be company-owned; there will be no franchises to franchisees. In
part, this is to ensure the company’s success and efficiency, as all stores would be under direct
company control. All stores in rural or smaller communities would be open 5 AM to 11 PM.
Stores in larger communities and ALL Superplexes, Mega Superplexes and Jumboplexes would be open
twenty-four hours a day. Stores WILL be open seven days a week, on all national holidays (see
individual stores for early closing times), except Christmas and New Year’s. All stores would
accept checks, debit and credit cards.
Locations
Pending approval from local banks for loans used on the construction or acquisition of existing
buildings, the company chairman (me) will most likely determine that the three most likely sites for the
initial MicroMarts would be in or around Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The six most likely
locations are at 1180 US 17 South, 510 West Ehringhaus Street (US 17 Business), Halstead
Boulevard Extended land tracts, US 17 North at US 17 Bypass interchange, US 17 South at
Foreman Bundy Road and US 158 on Camden Causeway. These potential locations are in high
traffic volume and visibility areas, areas that are most likely to support a wide customer base for
a MicroMart. Once the banks have released the loans, a decision would be made on the three final
locations. If the company is successful in its beginning years, other locations would be added
gradually through increasing radiuses from Elizabeth City. Eventually and perhaps one day,
Mighty Marts could become landmarks in all fifty states as well as in countries throughout the
globe.
Services
Though the company will be limited in its services during its inception and early growth, it is my
hope that the company, under my good direction, would prosper financially and be able to
transform into a wealthy corporation, offering its customers products of good value at rock-
bottom prices. These products would range from common convenience store items and fuel under
the MicroMart banner to an enormous selection of general merchandise, groceries, hardware and
supporting services such as a pharmacy, optical center, auto lube, restaurant, garden center, bank,
food court and discount bulk warehouse under the one roof of a Mighty Mart Jumboplex .
Ownership
Starting out as a fledgling proprietorship, this company would be owned exclusively by myself. If and when the company makes the transition to a corporation and goes public on the
stock exchange, I would remain as the chairman of the company. Stockholders would then own
some share of the company, therefore, controlling it in part. Hopefully from the very start, I
could gain more power over the corporation by owning a majority, or at the very least, a fairly
large portion of the company’s stock.
Website ©2006 Andy San Juan