A retail destination and community anchor
Sunny Khurana, part-owner of Rokko Sarees and Fabrics on Fraser Street
“You need to know the pulse of the customer,” said Sunny Khurana, part-owner of the family-run Rokko Sarees and Fabrics on Fraser Street. “Keeping a customer is more important than making a sale.”
This belief is what has made Rokko Fabrics an anchor of the neighbourhood – a destination store that attracts customers from all over the province, especially brides-to-be who hear about the store through word-of-mouth.
Khurana’s father, Sarbjit, was a successful fabrics exporter living in Japan who wanted to provide a better future for his family. After visiting every major Canadian city to study the markets, he settled in Vancouver in 1970 and opened Rokko Fabrics two years later.
“You have to have a personal rapport with customers. They come to you because they know you. It makes a difference.”
“My father was an ambassador for the South Asian community,” said Khurana. “He was active in politics and inspired others.”
After his father passed away in 2006, Khurana and his family took over the business, which had grown to include Guru Bazaar on Main Street.
Khurana has been working in the store since the age of 10 and is still as passionate about the business as he was in the beginning. He loves working in the community he grew up in, where his customers are also his friends.
“You have to have a personal rapport with customers. They come to you because they know you. It makes a difference,” continued Khurana.
Like most businesses, it is hard to stay competitive, especially with the added burden of increased property taxes.
“Every time I have to write my cheques for property taxes, I think oh my goodness – there’s going to be a big hole in my bank account,” said Khurana. “It’s like you’re paying one form of a tax or another. The municipal property tax does hurt because it is a really big chunk that goes out.”
Khurana feels his stores are successful because he and his family know their customers and their buying habits.
“People shop at our stores not only because they know us, but they know that we’ll go out of our way to bring in the product they want. Since we deal with our customers first hand and do our own buying, we know what our customers want.”
