The Potten & Pannen – Staněk brand has been operating on the Czech market for more than twenty-five years. During such a time, even in a successful business, it sometimes happens that something does not go according to plan at all. The co-founder and co-owner of the company, Pavel Staněk, shared with us the experience of how a security bet can become a fuckup.
Our lessons for all entrepreneurs? Don’t try to be worldly at all costs. Those ideas that often look absolutely great in the head often don’t quite turn out in reality.
We were convinced of that already in 1996. Our brand Potten & Pannen – Staněk, which we founded with Miloš Staňek, was still young and unobtrusive at that time, but even then we built it on the fact that we want to offer something unique and exclusive. We therefore looked for space for a stone shop in a similar spirit. These were not our first stores, but we wanted to present ourselves at a level at which we already knew we belonged.
That is why we immediately thought of two places, both synonyms for Prague tourism – Wenceslas Square and Paris Street. We were not discouraged by the fact that already in 1997 the cost of renting space in both locations was in dizzying amounts. Half a million for one shop. We did not hesitate for a long time. In retrospect, however, we must acknowledge that this has been one of the biggest mistakes in our entire business existence.
But then we thought, What could go wrong? This is how we address tourists from all over the world in the places where they move most often. After all, they are our main target group, because in our product portfolio we have products from famous foreign suppliers and designers. Unlike the Czechs, foreigners will be familiar with the brandies and will buy them as a souvenir and a memory of a visit to Prague.
In addition, we expected to impress potential clients from abroad with marketing upon arrival. That’s why we launched a massive campaign, we advertised practically everywhere. In-flight magazines were no exception. In short, we believed that we knew who our customer was.
Sobering up came relatively soon. The stores we bet on generated low sales, which was an obvious economic disparity compared to the cost of operating them.
We did not take into account one fundamental thing. These busy places basically only build the prestige of your brand. If this is the main goal you have as a brand, then the place is right, otherwise not. This is especially true of Paris. The whole street is one big shop window and it radiates such an aura. Few people can afford to shop there, so many people don’t even think about buying something here.
In addition, we realized that a tourist who spends a few days in the Czech Republic, and quite often visits beyond the borders of the Czech capital, probably does not need to travel with full suitcases of pans, pots and bowls. That is why we closed the store in Pařížská after three years of operation.
At the store in the upper part of Wenceslas Square, we lived for several years hoping that success would eventually come. But we were a little ahead of our time when we conceived it as a five-star store with a beautiful shop window, which people perceived more as a gallery, so there were usually more of them outside than inside.
Nevertheless, we kept it in operation for 14 long years. Only in the light of the economic crisis in 2008 did we have no choice but to close it and terminate the lease.
The tourist bet simply didn’t pay off. At the same time, we realized that if we wanted to reorient ourselves to our people, we would look for them in similar places in vain. He’s not feeling well there. But what about that? The only logical solution was to find spaces that would not affect them in this way.
Personally, we think that there is no more pleasant experience for our customers than a stone shop. Online sales can complement it perfectly, and nowadays influenced by coronavirus, a functional e-shop is definitely needed. Nevertheless, we know a lot of people for whom personal experience and approach are absolutely essential. We are one of them.
In our industry, this is all the more true. Customers buy kitchen equipment from us, which they will handle with their own hands. In order to have the opportunity to judge the purchase in an informed way, they must be given the opportunity to touch and try the products. Our stone shop had to be a representative concept store that can only enchant with the building you are entering.
We were enchanted by, among others, the Lesser Town. We are aware that it is still a historic center. But that was a condition we did not intend to discount. Everyone warned us that we were once again throwing ourselves against the flow of common sense, that this was exactly what we had done once before. But we decided to rely on intuition and emotions. Hit the black.
In 2009, the first Potten & Pannen Concept store opened in Újezd. Customers found us quickly here as well. The clientele grew, she got used to the genius loci of the store, which is given to her by the historical atmosphere of the Lesser Town. And our employees, who have been with us for an incredible 20 years, have certainly helped us.
But we wouldn’t get where we are today if we didn’t get burned. Focusing on Czech and, to a lesser extent, Slovak clients has keyly changed our business strategy. Every store must be clear about who its customer is. In the beginning, we were groping for this and it worked out for us.
Today we already know that we are here mainly for the Czechs, who in many difficult periods have proved to us that they are above faithful to their favorite brands and will not let them fall for no reason.
Our domestic clientele kept us afloat even during the coronavirus pandemic, for which we are infinitely grateful. It is an honor for us, and that is why we treat their trust with care as fragile porcelain.
Prepared by Zuzana Krajíčková.
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