- Words by Tess van Straaten Photography by Lia Crowe
Manuel Bernaschek乌鸦传媒檚 path to representing one of Europe乌鸦传媒檚 top luxury clothing brands and selling some of the most coveted pianos in the world isn乌鸦传媒檛 what you might expect.
乌鸦传媒淚 worked at a bank for seven years, while I was in school and college, and then went into an accounting job, which, to be honest, was a little bit boring!乌鸦传媒� says Manuel, the rep for Stefano Ricci in Canada and the owner of Showcase Pianos. 乌鸦传媒淚 didn乌鸦传媒檛 realize how much I liked interacting with people versus staring at a screen all day.乌鸦传媒�
The Coquitlam native started working in music stores instead, where his ability to speak Mandarin was put to good use selling pianos. It was here that he first heard about hand-built Fazioli pianos.
乌鸦传媒淎ll the research I did showed that anyone who touched a Fazioli piano said that it was a whole world of difference from any other piano,乌鸦传媒� the 47-year-old explains. 乌鸦传媒淚f price was no object, what would it take to make the best piano in the world? That乌鸦传媒檚 what Mr. Fazioli乌鸦传媒檚 goal was and they乌鸦传媒檙e used by top pianists.乌鸦传媒�
Manuel asked his manager if they could bring Fazioli pianos to Vancouver, but was told it wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 be possible because the store was a Steinway piano dealer.
乌鸦传媒淢y wife, Judy, and I talked about it and we decided we could bring the brand to Vancouver,乌鸦传媒� Manuel says. 乌鸦传媒淲e opened up a shop in 2007 and a second location the next year, and the rest is history.乌鸦传媒�
In that first year of the business, the founder of Fazioli invited the couple to Italy to see their factory in Sacile, northeast of Venice. It was there, while visiting Rome, that Manuel discovered the luxury lifestyle brand Stefano Ricci, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e always been big into ties乌鸦传媒攁s a salesperson I always wanted to have a tie that was a conversation piece乌鸦传媒攁nd I saw the most incredible ties in Italy. I was in love! My wife said, 乌鸦传媒榃hy would you get a tie that expensive?乌鸦传媒� But for me, it was a work of art and I knew I had to bring the brand to Vancouver.乌鸦传媒�
They opened their high-end Stefano Ricci clothing store exactly 10 years later, in 2017.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 actually a bit of crossover between the two because we乌鸦传媒檙e meeting all sorts of fantastic families that are buying pianos and they乌鸦传媒檙e the type of people who aren乌鸦传媒檛 swayed by popular opinion,乌鸦传媒� Manuel says. 乌鸦传媒淭hey research and want the best, so that乌鸦传媒檚 how they find Stefano Ricci and Fazioli. They乌鸦传媒檙e not the kind of people who want to be like everybody else.乌鸦传媒�
Navigating the businesses through the first years of the pandemic wasn乌鸦传媒檛 without its challenges乌鸦传媒攅specially for the clothing store, which saw sales slump.
乌鸦传媒淪ales were basically dead because people didn乌鸦传媒檛 need new suits and accessories during that time,乌鸦传媒� Manuel explains. 乌鸦传媒淏ut we came back with our 乌鸦传媒榤ade to measure乌鸦传媒� events and that乌鸦传媒檚 really become a hot thing for Vancouver. We fly out a master tailor from Europe, one of the best master tailors in the world, and have live music and champagne and food.乌鸦传媒�
The first year of the pandemic five people ordered suits at the event. That number skyrocketed to 30 after things started to open up again.
乌鸦传媒淭hese are quite costly suits but they乌鸦传媒檙e the best,乌鸦传媒� Manuel says. 乌鸦传媒淭hey start at $13,000 for a made-to-measure suit and they go up to $50,000乌鸦传媒攁nd we had people in the entire range. But no one does the amount of measurements Stefano Ricci does, or the customization, or the incredible fabrics. We basically start where the other brands leave off in terms of the quality of the fabric.乌鸦传媒�
Piano popularity actually surged during the pandemic乌鸦传媒攕omething Manuel credits to people being stuck at home. Instead of travelling, they invested in pianos.
乌鸦传媒淓ven while the store was closed at the start of the pandemic, I put my number on the website and asked people to reach out to me if they wanted to see a piano and, sure enough, every couple of days, we had people coming in to look at a piano. I would just meet them there and then close up again.乌鸦传媒�
Manuel admits he乌鸦传媒檚 made mistakes along the way, which have all been learning experiences, but the biggest misstep was one he managed to avert before the doors even opened.
乌鸦传媒淚 wanted to partner with a friend, who乌鸦传媒檚 also a piano player, so we乌鸦传媒檇 have shared responsibility and I wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 have to be in the store seven days a week,乌鸦传媒� he recounts. 乌鸦传媒淚 offered him 25 per cent of the business乌鸦传媒攅ven though he wasn乌鸦传媒檛 putting any money in乌鸦传媒攂ut he said a 50/50 partnership would be better, and turned me down when I wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 agree to that. Now I look back on it and think I almost gave away part of my business! It feels great knowing I dodged that bullet.乌鸦传媒�
But the biggest lesson as an entrepreneur has been to not give up.
乌鸦传媒淲e really have to work hard for everything, and for me to even survive to this point, it乌鸦传媒檚 taken a series of almost endless miracles.乌鸦传媒�
One of those miracles was connecting with the owners of Westbank, while they were building the Shangri-La in Vancouver, and convincing them to buy a Fazioli for the hotel.
乌鸦传媒淚t took about 60 emails and phone calls to get a contact for the hotel乌鸦传媒檚 general manager and I finally found out where their off-site office was during the construction, and I went there with goodies,乌鸦传媒� Manuel says. 乌鸦传媒淚 could tell he was annoyed because he was trying to get rid of me the entire time and he said it wasn乌鸦传媒檛 even his decision. As he started to close the door on me, I found out who I needed to talk to at Westbank and we made a deal. To this day, we乌鸦传媒檙e very good friends with them and they乌鸦传媒檝e bought at least 26 pianos now for various properties. So, the moral of the story is, don乌鸦传媒檛 give up!乌鸦传媒�
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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