Three years ago, in Paris, Vivian, a young Chinese student majoring in fashion design drew a little bear for Lucas, a fellow Chinese student studying graphic design. He took her design and made a little bear for Vivian and gave it to her with dozens of love notes hidden in the bear's stomach.
Months later, the young woman finally found out the little secret of the bear and she and Lucas fell in love in the world's most romantic city.
Their story didn't end up with the cliché that they lived happily ever after. Instead, they made their token of love into their own business and they hope to spread it to the world.
They started their own company called Panda Town in November 2007, after finding two other university graduates returning from overseas, and two friends who had their own businesses in Beijing. Like the Chinese version of "Friends," these six young people decided to flex their talents into designing, producing, marketing and selling the bear.
The female pandas have large bright eyes and long curly eyelashes, just like young girls in real life who are trendy and seductive. And the male pandas are cute guys who have two crosses on their silly eyes.
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Lucas and Vivian never thought the little bear they drew on a piece of paper could ignite not only passion between them, but also a business idea. [Global Times]
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However, these toys aren't for kids. Positioned for adults aged 25 to 35, Panda Town sells these pandas for 256 yuan (US$37.4)each and also has clothes and shoes for sale from 40 yuan (US$5.8) to 200 yuan (US$29.2).
Despite the high prices, the founders of Panda Town aren't worried about pricing themselves out of the Chinese toy market. On the contrary, they believe the dolls for adults have huge market potential in China.
"We are selling them at a high price because our products are superior in quality that similar products in China don't have," said Shouyou Lee, planning director and one of the six founders of Panda Town.
Set up in less than two years, the six young people have expanded their team to nearly 40 staff, and now they have opened two shops in Beijing, one in Maision Mode in CBD area and the other in Glory mall in Chongwenmen Wai Dajie.
Recalling two years ago when they first started out, Lee said they were so lucky each of them specialized in one part of the business.
"We cannot say we are elites, but we are definitely more efficient than others," said Andrew Zheng, chief technology officer and a co-founder, who feels confident about the team. "Studying abroad including doing part-time jobs there gave us precious job and life experiences, and helped us avoid many detours while running this company."
Unlike many fresh graduates who start up their own businesses today, the six founders of Panda Town made an early start.
"We were determined from the beginning we would not work for others but for ourselves, so we six began to run small businesses when we were studying in university," Zheng said.
