How Anderson Souvenir LLC, a local Asian American owned business, has taken on the effects of the pandemic and Asian hate crimes
By Kayla Smothers
As the coronavirus struck the nation, and the rest of the world, one of the categories that was hit the hardest were family owned, local, and small businesses. Another aspect that hit businesses hard was the decline in tourism. Today I will be focusing on the story of a family owned and local business called Anderson Souvenir LLC, an import and wholesale company based in Las Vegas, Nevada serving souvenir and gift needs owned by Andy and Jennifer Chen. During a time where supporting locally owned and Asian owned businesses is crucial in the United States, Anderson Souvenir LLC is definitely worth taking the time to check out.
Tourism and souvenir businesses are extremely competitive, especially in Las Vegas where a lot of the city’s income is based on tourism and attractions, so I asked Mr. Chen how he started Anderson Souvenir LLC, and how it become to be the business he is proud of today.
With the help of a small loan, Mr. Chen started working on his company ten years ago in 2011. Before starting his current business, Andy owned a company in Reno called Century Trading, which specialized in promotional items and apparel for casinos in Reno, Nevada. His two older siblings, an older brother and an older sister owned a business based in Reno as well. When his older brother decided to move his company to California, Mr. Chen decided to create a new business in a different location. Being his primary goal since finishing college to own his own business, and having experience in sales from the first business he owned, he sought to create and build up an LLC out Las Vegas. Knowing that it would be the target and ideal place to design and sell souvenirs, his family gladly came along for the ride, and the Chen’s moved to Las Vegas from Reno permanently.
Since Mr. Chen can speak Mandarin, he used this skill to visit the Canton Fair in China, which is one of the world’s largest conventions. The Canton Fair highlights factories and companies from around all around the world that produce and sell countless goods. Visiting this convention gave him the spark of inspiration he needed to start playing around with different ideas for designs of souvenirs. He found another designer, and together they came up with the concepts and designs through photoshop for his first marketable products. When they finalized the products they came up with, Mr. Chen then started to communicate with various factories, and began working on a small shipment while renting out a storage unit to store his products.
Mr. Chen began approaching a variety of multiple stores in Vegas that he saw as great places to sell his souvenirs. He said, “It was a rough start, but my products were unique”. Having unique products was how things began to kick off for Mr. Chen. “We were renting 5 storage units and then finally had enough funds to shift all of our goods into a warehouse”.
Anderson Souvenir LLC sells over 200 products consisting of key chains, magnets, coffee mugs, bags, picture frames, reusable shopping bags, and so many more items.
As Anderson Souvenir LLC is a family busines, their son Austin Chen, 22, is also very involved in the packing, presenting, numbers, and marketing of the business. “As the son of the owners, I pick up any slack in the warehouse if there are tasks our workers are having trouble with or unsure of what to do. I often try to do research on the latest trends and share those design aspects with my father”. Austin works and maintains their business’s website while being away at university. And when he comes home, he does a lot of physical labor for the handling of the merchandise. From being in the warehouse packing orders, stocking inventory, and pricing items, to also physically visiting the stores for sales with his dad and delivering the orders to the stores, he helps out as much as possible as he is just as passionate about their business as his dad.
As everyone’s lives and businesses have been impacted and changed by the pandemic, it most certainly affected Mr. and Mrs. Chen’s souvenir company. For a company that heavily relies on tourism, the pandemic’s shut down impacted it greatly. Since the model of their company is to sell their souvenirs to stores on the strip, stores in resorts, gift shops in casinos, and markets along Las Vegas Boulevard, their sales were negatively affected from all of these being shut down for a considerable amount of time. Having no tourists meant not being able to sell anything either, which ultimately ended up in the stores not buying tourist souvenirs from the Chen’s supplying company.
“With Las Vegas being a tourist hotspot and travel destination, we never would have thought the strip could get shut down indefinitely, as it is always bustling with people from all walks of life, here to experience the various attractions,” said Mr. Chen.
On top of what was already a complete shutdown, the Chen’s learned that China may not be the best source for the of the products anymore. Even though they have worked with some factories in China for almost a decade, it became clear that the pandemic was creating a worse strain between the United States and China. So, when the Chen’s realized this, they began outsourcing from and researching alternative factories in other countries that will possibly have the necessary competitive pricing for the products that they need for their business.
Not all of the outcomes from the pandemic shutdown were negative, though. There were even a decent number of upsides to the extra time that was given to the Chen’s, which was to really dive into new experiences for their business, their designs, and how they operate.
Watching the news, and anticipating what was to follow shutdown, the Chens knew that “sitting around was not a good solution”. With the extra time of quarantine, they have been learning more and adapting more, and have been working very hard to digitize their business. By digitizing their business, they were able to move their products online for sale on their website, giving people access they did not have before to purchase their products and check out what they have been working on. Digitizing their business more also means for expansion of potential for ecommerce to tourist destinations other than Vegas as well. The Chen’s also revamped the way they process packing list orders, making it more virtual and easier to send compared to the older and traditional hard copy forms.
With the extra time from not needing to attend their normal hours of operation, the Chen’s took on even more, by being able to clear their minds and have a fresh outlook for brainstorming new ideas for their business. Mr. Chen and his design team were able to focus more on researching the new market trends and researching the colors that are popular and in style for the fashion industry. “All this time allowed us to create some new items and new designs and gave us the opportunity for them to be ready to be sent to the factories when everything began to reopen from the shutdown,” said Mr. Chen. He saw this as the perfect time to perform the inventory count of their souvenirs and keep everything up to date in their system.
One of the most beneficial occurrences that came out of having extra time to focus on new things, was that their marketing team was able to develop a website for all of their products. This meant being able to create product descriptions and being able to take pictures of all of the inventory for the buyers to scroll through and look at. The Chen’s stated, “We realized that catching on late to the trend is still better than never converting, and having an online portfolio where customers can visit will ultimately help us at conventions and showcase products for new clients”.
“The pandemic has really shown us a perspective of some of the ongoing issues around the world. We have slowed down, and our fast-paced daily lives are suddenly turned into days at home, counting down the time we can get back to “normal””.
As there have been rising numbers of hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islanders, or also called the AAPI community, the Chen’s now live in more fear than ever before. Mr. Chen expressed, “As I have to visit numerous stores along the strip, inside casinos, I am constantly surrounded by people. Personally, I have dealt with racism as I hear people yell slurs such as “go back to your country”, “chinaman”, etc. My main concern is that one of these days I bump into someone who decides to take things to a violent level, and I am unable to defend myself”.
This is extremely hard on Mr. and Mrs. Chen because as Taiwan is their hometown and motherland, there is already the constant issues with China and their threat to Taiwan. The racism being thrown at the AAPI community is not new for the Chen’s as they have faced racism often in the United States, as well as dealing with China trying to take over and tarnish their culture in Taiwan.
“I worry about all other Asian Americans and their safety,” said Mr. Chen.
So far, the Anderson Souvenir LLC has not been affected directly by these current hate crimes. The Chen’s think the reason for this is that they do not directly provide their products to the general public, so most people do not see who owns the business and who is working behind the scenes. They are also dealing with the same store owners and same clients that they have normally been doing business with, prior to the rise in hate crimes. But this does not erase the daily fear, and as Mr. Chen stated, “Personally, as I roam specific areas to visit some of the store in downtown Las Vegas, I feel the need to carry pepper spray in case someone tries to attack me”.
Even though the restrictions of the pandemic are seeming to loosen up, the Chen’s still take very serious precautions on how they run their business and how they live their day to day lives. They, like most people around the world, had to take a step back on their daily routines and reevaluate how to go about their daily activities. “Prior to the recent progression with vaccinations, our daily lives were put on pause as we could not do many of the normal tasks we were used to doing. Things we would do without second thought, now require a procedure to make sure we stay safe and healthy,” said Mrs. Chen. Even things like just going to the store for an item is not a typical thing to do anymore, as the Chen’s go on much fewer trips to limit their exposure.
During this pandemic, the Chen’s, and the world have acclimated to the new normal, and to a new life in this time of unpredictable outcomes. There are so many scary and real occurrences happening just in the United States, with Asian hate crimes skyrocketing to nearly 150 percent in the year 2020 compared to 2019, and countless COVID-19 cases and deaths still looming over the public. But if there is a lesson to learn from the Chen’s, it is that life will always throw unexpected scenarios our way. The scenarios can be wonderful, or they can be terrible, but how you learn to take on the challenges and blessings is how you will adapt and create newer and better versions of yourself, your businesses, and your life. Another lesson would be to take the time that the pandemic has given us to reflect and grow, and be open to new possibilities, even if it seems scary to do in the moment.
