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Entrepreneurs, Expats, Small Business

HK41: Michelle Koller โ€“ US teen seamstress ends up building iconic furniture brand in HK

April 5, 2021
yourHKstory
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Michelle grew up in a creative household in New Jersey sewing clothes from a very young age. She developed keen sense of patterns and design using different colors. When she moved to Asia with her husband, she realized there was a need in HK market for a furniture brand that would sell unique antique and modern style furniture with bold and colorful patterns and design. This led her to found Tequila Kola, HKโ€™s iconic furniture store.

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๐๐จ๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ:

“๐ผ๐‘กโ€™๐‘  ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ [๐ป๐พ]. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ; ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’; ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ก; ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ.“

โ€œ๐ต๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’ ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  16-17 ๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘‘, ๐ผ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ .โ€

โ€œ๐ผ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘. ๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐ผ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž ๐ด๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘Ž, ๐ผ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ง๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘”๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘–๐‘’๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘ . ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘œ๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘›.โ€

โ€œ๐‘Š๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ .โ€

โ€œ๐ป๐พ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘™๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›. ๐ป๐พ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ด๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘“๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘“๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’.โ€

โ€œ๐ด๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘™๐‘’, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘“๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘‘.โ€

โ€œ๐ป๐พ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก. ๐ผ๐‘กโ€™๐‘  ๐‘‘๐‘ฆ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘. ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘–๐‘  โ€˜๐ธ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘Š๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘กโ€™ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ.โ€

๐†๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฅ๐ž:

New Yorker, Michelle Koller founded Tequila Kola in 1991. Michelle is a graduate of Manhattan’s “Fashion Institute of Technology” (FIT). Her keen eye for color and design has been the driving force behind the growth of this iconic Hong Kong โ€œhomeโ€ brand.

From the initial small shop in the Princess building, the company has grown into a fabulous emporium full of unique furniture, fabric and accessories. Tequila Kolaโ€™s huge flagship showroom, located on the south side of Hong Kong Island, is a home decoratorโ€™s paradise. Beautiful striking displays of living room, bedroom and dining room furniture dominate the inspirational space. From stylish sofas to dramatic bedrooms to trendy accent furniture; each room setting helps your imagination come to life and create your perfect home. Tequila Kola sells both modern and antique furniture with bold and colorful patterns which creates a warm and inviting look and is family friendly. Tequila Kola also specializes in upholstering and reupholstering of old furniture.

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