- Tess Van Straaten Photography by Lia Crowe

Chris Rothery乌鸦传媒檚 passion for furniture and design dates back to when he was still in high school.

乌鸦传媒淚t might have started in shop class!乌鸦传媒� says the 45-year-old owner of , a high-end furniture store in Victoria and now Nanaimo, with a laugh. 乌鸦传媒淚 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 I乌鸦传媒檝e always wanted to be a part of that.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淚 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,乌鸦传媒� Chris explains. 乌鸦传媒淚 didn乌鸦传媒檛 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.乌鸦传媒�

The next progression for Chris was to move more into a retail direction, after he found his passion for creating furniture waning.

乌鸦传媒淚 found that it was difficult to do it as a job and still love it,乌鸦传媒� he explains. 乌鸦传媒淚 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.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淚 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,乌鸦传媒� Chris admits, saying it was the biggest mistake of his career.

乌鸦传媒淭hat was a very painful mistake at the time and the failure was excruciating. But in retrospect, it乌鸦传媒檚 what got me to where I am now, which is a place where I feel comfortable, and I feel good and confident about what I乌鸦传媒檓 doing. All the things that I乌鸦传媒檝e been picking up were worth something and they got put back into a package that is Chester Fields.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淲e have a really unique offering in that what we sell here, with a couple of small exceptions, isn乌鸦传媒檛 sold anywhere else in town, and probably 80 per cent of what乌鸦传媒檚 in our showroom is designed by Canadians, which is a point of pride for me,乌鸦传媒� he says. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e always been purveyors of things that are sort of on the cutting edge in terms of design.乌鸦传媒�

With people driving from all over Vancouver Island乌鸦传媒攆rom Campbell River and the Comox Valley to Port Alberni, Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley乌鸦传媒攖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.

乌鸦传媒淲e get a lot of people walking in and they say things like: 乌鸦传媒楩inally, there乌鸦传媒檚 something like this!乌鸦传媒� and 乌鸦传媒業乌鸦传媒檓 so glad you乌鸦传媒檙e here!乌鸦传媒� and 乌鸦传媒楴anaimo needs something like this!乌鸦传媒� So, it乌鸦传媒檚 been very positive. And then there乌鸦传媒檚 lots of people who are just seeing this kind of stuff for the first time.乌鸦传媒�

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 can乌鸦传媒檛 be everything to everyone.

乌鸦传媒淵ou have to kind of stick to what you乌鸦传媒檙e very good at and push that, and roll with it, and really go for it,乌鸦传媒� he advises. 乌鸦传媒淒efining what we are乌鸦传媒攁nd what we乌鸦传媒檙e bringing to the consumer乌鸦传媒攈as been really important, so that we aren乌鸦传媒檛 chasing something new all the time. We乌鸦传媒檙e doing what we乌鸦传媒檙e really good at.乌鸦传媒�

Chris says this all stems from the best advice he乌鸦传媒檚 ever been given, which is to really understand your customer乌鸦传媒檚 needs, and then be very good at satisfying that need.

乌鸦传媒淵ou really need to ask people what they want,乌鸦传媒� Chris says. 乌鸦传媒淒on乌鸦传媒檛 presume you know! Just because you think you have a good business idea, doesn乌鸦传媒檛 mean it will work. Ask and make sure, and you乌鸦传媒檒l probably find you might be wrong or you can tweak something and really hit it out of the park.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 lots of research you can do without a budget and those answers are very valuable,乌鸦传媒� Chris explains. 乌鸦传媒淭hey can make you a success and save you a lot of pain.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a lot easier to buy a pair of shoes online than to buy a sofa,乌鸦传媒� he says with a laugh.

As for the career and successful business he乌鸦传媒檚 crafted after many design iterations?

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been a bit of a long winding road to get to this point and my advice to other entrepreneurs is to expect that things won乌鸦传媒檛 be a straight line,乌鸦传媒� Chris says. 乌鸦传媒淏e comfortable with uncertainty but at the same time, don乌鸦传媒檛 be reckless.乌鸦传媒�

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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