From the shop with the smell of lunch to the best retail in the world. "Our philosophy was different back in 1992," recalls Pavel Staněk
Going back to the very beginning of your career - which moment played a crucial role in your future?
The first milestone was probably my first year in the Czech Republic. That's when I came back after my studies and work in the US and started my first miniature business selling premium kitchen brands. It was cookware and also pepper and spice grinders that were made in the USA. The year was 1991 and I was offering these products to homeware stores that were still in business at that time, as well as to hotels and emerging private restaurants. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, my activity did not meet with much success.
What barriers did you encounter at the imaginary starting line?
In most cases, I was rejected with my offer because the price was too high at the time. Everyone liked the products I presented and offered, but they didn't understand why they were often ten times more expensive than the products we had been used to for many years. At that time, almost all of us had the same enamelware in our kitchens and also the same cutlery or the same available pepper mill. It was very challenging to convince people that there were other, much better quality and nicer products that they could use to make their daily lives more pleasant and enjoyable.
What was another key breakthrough in your business?
The second milestone was a completely accidental meeting with my namesake Miloš Staňek, who is still my best friend and companion to this day. We met in a small restaurant in Žižkov, which Miloš not only ran after the revolution, but also served and cooked there. After a short conversation, I asked him if he could help me as a professional chef to demonstrate the quality and function of the products and brands I represented at that time, and Miloš agreed. However, he had one condition...
I'm guessing correctly that he had to be quite limited in time?
Yes, he told me that he could only collaborate and demonstrate my products on the weekend when he was free. I agreed, and this started us on our journey through the many restaurants and hotels that were newly opening at the time. We also travelled to hotel schools - usually we would go there by train with our products in our suitcases and then present them to the students, in specially arranged training sessions with their teachers. So first we had to convince the teachers to give this opportunity to both us and our own students.
I have a great feeling about the fact that many of these students from back then are now our customers - and they tell us that it was during our presentation at their school that they first saw Milos and me. I am very pleased that they have remained loyal to us to this day, now that they are working as chefs or owners of prestigious restaurants.
What else has moved your business forward significantly?
The third major breakthrough came in November 1992, when we opened the very first Potten & Pannen - Staněk store on my birthday. We managed to persuade the absolutely wonderful Mr Bednář, who had restituted a beautiful house in Vodičkova street number 2, to rent us the space. We moved into the former pharmacy, which was used as a hat factory under the communists. You offered premium kitchen equipment, which the Czechs were not used to in the 1990s.
Did you come up with a similarly innovative look and concept for the store?
Miloš and I laid the cork floor in the shop ourselves, which was very fashionable at the time, and we installed wooden shelves on which we presented about eight brands of cooking and dining products - the best that existed at the time. Nobody had even seen their products in our country until then. For the first three years of our business, we also sold in the store every day ourselves. Everything was presented in such a way that every customer could personally touch everything and even try any product directly on the large cooking kitchen counter. In addition, Miloš also cooked our lunches and tastings for our customers every day, which made the shop smell great.
That must have been a very modern philosophy for post-revolutionary times...
This form of presentation was unprecedented. Classic homeware stores always had everything "hidden" behind the counters and the saleswomen of those days were usually not very willing to explain anything in detail, let alone show you anything or give you anything in hand. This is where our concept and overall friendly and professional approach made us completely different from the very beginning. This is our philosophy and approach that we still follow today in all of our 14 stores that we operate in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Moreover, one of our showrooms is still located at Vodičkova 2, right?
Yes, I am most proud of the fact that this, our first ever store, is still in place after many changes and renovations, even after 34 years - and among other things, it has been home to our premium cooking school "Gourmet Academy" under the direction of Martina Muldoon for nine years. She has succeeded in bringing the best domestic and international chefs and pastry chefs to our school. Every day she teaches people to enjoy cooking and baking in the best possible quality, thus fulfilling our belief that "Kitchen makes the man".
Jumping to the present, what's the most significant thing that's happened in your business in recent years?
In 2023, we opened a new ATELIER - POTTEN & PANNEN - Stanek store as our brand new, exclusive concept. It is located in the Cukrovarnický Palace on Senovážné náměstí in Prague, in the headquarters of the five-star Hyatt - Andaz hotel. In March this year, our store was awarded the title of the best retail concept in the world.
As part of the store's Global Innovation Awards, 50 independent judges and retail experts from around the world are involved in the annual judging process, and then the GIA is announced on the occasion of "The Inspired Home Show", a global exhibition held in Chicago. That our concept store won here is not only a great joy for me and our entire team, but above all a confirmation that what we do together and how we feel about things has finally received a beautiful award compared to the global competition.
