Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Kanagi.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Hello Sushi Store was started under my mother’s business, Kanagi Design, in 2010. It was inspired by a genuine love for Asian foods and by a desire to create something different. After beginning with only sushi, designs now include dim sum, spam musubi, Hawaiian food, Filipino food, and Korean food. All of the artwork used on Hello Sushi products is original work created by Kanagi Design.
In early 2016, my mother was ready to retire. I decided to take over Hello Sushi Store in March 2016 and set it up as a new company. Today, it is still fueled by the same concepts that it was first inspired by. My mother still does the artwork, which is the part she always enjoyed. I do everything else with the business, from new product development to logistics, including printing several of the products on my own.
Has it been a smooth road?
The business has had its share of ups and downs, of course. I don’t think it’s ever really a smooth road when you run a business yourself. Overall, I’d say the good definitely outweighs the bad. I do a lot of traveling for the business, so it gets tiring.
September through December is my busy season, and I pretty much don’t have free weekends until Christmas time. There’s the sacrifice of missing birthdays and anniversaries. I’m not able to be home with my family as often as I’d like to be sometimes.
Running your own business comes with countless hours of work, late nights with early mornings, and a lot of ups and downs when your success depends only on you. It gets stressful, but I wouldn’t trade this into work for anyone else.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hello Sushi Store – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Hello Sushi Store is the one-stop gift shop for Asian food-inspired merchandise. We create a variety of products with cute and vibrant designs of your favorite foods. Quality is key, and we always want to make sure you are getting the best from us. All products sold by Hello Sushi Store are exclusive to the company and select retailers.
I think I’m most proud of being able to share my mom’s artwork with the world. She started this as a hobby in addition to her full-time business. I’ve been able to grow a lot so far and still believe that I’m only getting started on what Hello Sushi Store can eventually become. When customers tell me they love the designs, it makes me happy to know they appreciate my mom’s creativity and the originality of it.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I just moved into my office space in Norwalk at the beginning of this year. I like that it’s centrally located based on the events that I do here in Southern California, which is in Orange County and the South Bay. I wanted it to be in a convenient enough location for customers to come by and shop. There is a showroom set up, which is currently by appointment only.
There’s not really anything I like least about the city, but it’s not quite where I want to be in the long run. I do have a showroom, but it’s not a retail store, which is my main goal for Hello Sushi Store. It would, however, need to be in an ideal location, such as Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make that happen down the road.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hellosushistore.com
- Email: [email protected]
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