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When Ivana and Kevin entered the suite, everyone knew that Raj had been fired. After absorbing the news, the teams got down to business. Because Chris had complained the previous week that Apex wasn't a cohesive team, Trump decreed that Chris would be Project Manager for this task. In an interview, Chris admitted that he put himself on "the chopping block." Chris' first order of business was to gather his team. With "colorful" language as his aid, Chris laid out his philosophy. He told the group that no one was there to be friends. He said that what they were doing was simply business. In an interview, Jennifer M. privately worried about whether Chris could be an effective Project Manager when he felt so negatively about the team. On Mosaic, Kelly offered to be Project Manager and Maria liked the idea. It looked like Kelly might land the position without objection, but then Andy jumped in. He said that he wanted to be Project Manager too. In an interview, Andy said, "They tried to push me out and I'm not going to have that." So, the team drew a name at random and Kelly won the job.
The next day, the candidates met with Donald and learned that they would work in the $30 billion dollar a year wedding industry. Each team would have to transform an empty space into its own bridal shop and then hold an exclusive sale. The team with the greatest profit would win. The other team would meet back in the boardroom for the ultimate divorce, where one person would be fired. Trump told Sandy, a bridal salon owner, that she had a big advantage. But he also warned, "If you lose this time, it would not be good." Trump joked that he knew a little something about weddings and got the teams to lighten up with a laugh. As usual, George and Carolyn would be around to observe everyone's progress - or lack thereof.
After The Donald left, Mosaic was all grins. Smiling, Sandy said, "You have got to be kidding me." In an interview, Kelly said, "We've got a ringer on the team." The mood on the Apex team wasn't nearly as jubilant. But Chris tried to spin the situation as best he could. He said that the team had an opportunity to create a great victory with the deck stacked against them.
Mosaic met back at the suite where Sandy said she needed to make appointments with bridal salon owners to talk with them in person. Kelly put Wes and Maria in charge of the marketing. Their goal was to get as many brides into Apex's new store as possible. Sandy directed Wes and Maria to a bridal website that they could work with to send an email out to thousands of engaged women in the New York area. Sandy outlined the email and told Maria and Wes to put the team's phone number in the message.
Apex visited their empty store space and liked what they saw. Chris said that the first plan of attack was to contact bridal vendors and offer them rent-free spots in the location to sell their wares. Apex and the vendors would split the profits on all that was sold. Chris got on the phone and called bridal vendors. But after many conversations, Chris came up empty. He couldn't convince a single vendor to come down to Apex's space to sell their products. In an interview, Ivana said, "Chris is supposedly the guy who can sell ice to Eskimos. Why couldn't he get anywhere with these vendors?" After enduring rejection after rejection, Chris finally declared the task to be "impossible." In fact, he said he wouldn't be surprised if both teams lost money. This attitude of defeat didn't rally the troops. In fact, Ivana said, "To throw up your hands that early in the game is pathetic."
On Mosaic, Sandy, Kelly and Andy visited bridal shops. Sandy had the idea of asking for discontinued wedding gowns. The owners really liked the prospect of unloading their old merchandise. By the end of the day, the trio had managed to get over 300 wedding dresses promised to them. Back at the suite, Wes and Maria worked on the team's marketing campaign. Wes didn't think it was an accident that their Project Manager wasn't part of the effort. Wes said that Kelly left himself out of the "mission critical" aspect of the task so that if it "…goes wrong, he has someone to point to." For a thousand dollars, Wes and Maria were able to send out an email to 23,000 brides-to-be. Wes admitted that marketing was a "huge" component of the task; he said that if no one showed up to their bridal shop, the team wouldn't sell any dresses.
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