- Tess Van Straaten Photography by Lia Crowe
Chris Rothery91裸聊视频檚 passion for furniture and design dates back to when he was still in high school.
91裸聊视频淚t might have started in shop class!91裸聊视频� says the 45-year-old owner of , a high-end furniture store in Victoria and now Nanaimo, with a laugh. 91裸聊视频淚 became interested in furniture in my late teens and I like doing something with my hands. I appreciate quality and I appreciate other people creating things that are beautiful and interesting and quality, so I91裸聊视频檝e always wanted to be a part of that.91裸聊视频�
After graduating from , Chris spent a few years making furniture for different companies before starting his own custom furniture business, making dining tables, chairs, free-standing cabinets and other pieces out of a little workshop in Rock Bay.
91裸聊视频淚 then opened up a little gallery in Dragon Alley [where he was living at the time] and eventually, we moved out of there to a slightly larger place, and then another slightly larger place, and then another slightly larger place,91裸聊视频� Chris explains. 91裸聊视频淚 didn91裸聊视频檛 have much business experience, so I was just kind of winging it, but with just a lot of passion and care and love for design and interiors.91裸聊视频�
The next progression for Chris was to move more into a retail direction, after he found his passion for creating furniture waning.
91裸聊视频淚 found that it was difficult to do it as a job and still love it,91裸聊视频� he explains. 91裸聊视频淚 was just trying to get by, and I felt very compromised making furniture. But I enjoy talking about furniture, and I enjoy interacting with people about it, so the retail aspect came from that.91裸聊视频�
That store, Only Human Modern Furniture, would also teach Chris the toughest lesson of this entrepreneurial evolution. After a couple of hard years, he was forced to close the store in 2014.
91裸聊视频淚 was in way over my head and I think I let my passion interest rule everything, when really I needed to balance that out with a successful business,91裸聊视频� Chris admits, saying it was the biggest mistake of his career.
91裸聊视频淭hat was a very painful mistake at the time and the failure was excruciating. But in retrospect, it91裸聊视频檚 what got me to where I am now, which is a place where I feel comfortable, and I feel good and confident about what I91裸聊视频檓 doing. All the things that I91裸聊视频檝e been picking up were worth something and they got put back into a package that is Chester Fields.91裸聊视频�
Chris also decided to partner with Ross Taylor and Amber Leask, who had a lot more business experience, when Chester Fields launched in Victoria more than nine years ago, offering modern, high-quality, and mostly Canadian-designed furniture and lightning.
91裸聊视频淲e have a really unique offering in that what we sell here, with a couple of small exceptions, isn91裸聊视频檛 sold anywhere else in town, and probably 80 per cent of what91裸聊视频檚 in our showroom is designed by Canadians, which is a point of pride for me,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e always been purveyors of things that are sort of on the cutting edge in terms of design.91裸聊视频�
With people driving from all over Vancouver Island91裸聊视频攆rom Campbell River and the Comox Valley to Port Alberni, Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley91裸聊视频攖o visit the Victoria store, Chester Fields opened the Nanaimo location in May, and Chris says the response from the Central Island market has been great.
91裸聊视频淲e get a lot of people walking in and they say things like: 91裸聊视频楩inally, there91裸聊视频檚 something like this!91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频業91裸聊视频檓 so glad you91裸聊视频檙e here!91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频楴anaimo needs something like this!91裸聊视频� So, it91裸聊视频檚 been very positive. And then there91裸聊视频檚 lots of people who are just seeing this kind of stuff for the first time.91裸聊视频�
For Chris, who recently completed a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management at Royal Roads University, the biggest lesson in his small business career has been that you can91裸聊视频檛 be everything to everyone.
91裸聊视频淵ou have to kind of stick to what you91裸聊视频檙e very good at and push that, and roll with it, and really go for it,91裸聊视频� he advises. 91裸聊视频淒efining what we are91裸聊视频攁nd what we91裸聊视频檙e bringing to the consumer91裸聊视频攈as been really important, so that we aren91裸聊视频檛 chasing something new all the time. We91裸聊视频檙e doing what we91裸聊视频檙e really good at.91裸聊视频�
Chris says this all stems from the best advice he91裸聊视频檚 ever been given, which is to really understand your customer91裸聊视频檚 needs, and then be very good at satisfying that need.
91裸聊视频淵ou really need to ask people what they want,91裸聊视频� Chris says. 91裸聊视频淒on91裸聊视频檛 presume you know! Just because you think you have a good business idea, doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean it will work. Ask and make sure, and you91裸聊视频檒l probably find you might be wrong or you can tweak something and really hit it out of the park.91裸聊视频�
Chris says he did that a lot before opening the Nanaimo store, joking that any chance he got to talk to someone moderately interested in modern furniture north of the Malahat turned into a mini market-research session.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 lots of research you can do without a budget and those answers are very valuable,91裸聊视频� Chris explains. 91裸聊视频淭hey can make you a success and save you a lot of pain.91裸聊视频�
With constant challenges from online competitors and more manufacturers moving toward a direct-to-consumer model, knowing your market is more important than ever in such a competitive landscape. Chris says having a physical showroom where people can actually sit on and feel things also helps.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a lot easier to buy a pair of shoes online than to buy a sofa,91裸聊视频� he says with a laugh.
As for the career and successful business he91裸聊视频檚 crafted after many design iterations?
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 been a bit of a long winding road to get to this point and my advice to other entrepreneurs is to expect that things won91裸聊视频檛 be a straight line,91裸聊视频� Chris says. 91裸聊视频淏e comfortable with uncertainty but at the same time, don91裸聊视频檛 be reckless.91裸聊视频�
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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