Robert Esser has cooked up a business sure to leave any serious home chef salivating. He has created a Pantry Magic store stacked with pots and pans, and other gadgets, at a quality and price most kitchen lovers will happily swallow.
'I had an epiphany when I was walking round a trade show in Hong Kong recently. Everybody in the world knows you can buy cheap crap in China, but I had no idea about the quality that was available. I walked past a booth with these magnificent copper pans and when the guy manning the stall told me the price, I was blown away. I thought, 'If they can make pans like that at this price, then who knows what else they can do',' Mr Esser said.
That was in April. Five months later, the 37-year-old American resigned from his high-powered job with a gourmet food company, and in January his first store opened in the Pedder Building in Central.
In the months it took to get Pantry Magic up and running, Mr Esser put his negotiating skills to good use. He came up with a business plan that secured him the US$1 million he needed, and spent hours with suppliers in Hong Kong and on the mainland discussing - in fluent Cantonese and Putonghua - the designs for the 1,000 products that make up the company brand.
'I know my way around a kitchen. My family has been in the hospitality business for years and I've been cooking since I was 14. I've also travelled around the region and I know what's out there. There's not a lot of kitchenware and what there is either average quality or top of the line and very expensive,' said Mr Esser, whose products are '30 to 40 per cent cheaper than products of a similar quality'.
With the capital and product behind him, Mr Esser had no idea that finding retail space would be one of the biggest challenges. 'Getting the right space is really hard in Hong Kong. It's not even the cost of renting so much. Some landlords won't even consider letting you into their mall if you've got no prior record.'