Married Couple Owners of Rhodes Chef King Store

Married couple, Adrian and Marelize Smith, are the recent owners of the Chef King store at Rhodes, NSW. Chef King are part of the King of Knives homewares franchises.

A year ago, Adrian and Marelize Smith had arrived Australia from South Africa with their two sons Reagan and Connor. Their decision to move to Australia was strongly influenced by their safety concerns for their two boys.

Adrian Smith has over 20 years of experience in food franchising in Africa, however his interest was for an industry that provided more business scope and product options.

"I was still interested in retail as I enjoy the interaction with the customer, but, I wanted something a little cleaner and that would allow me more scope to develop the business and choose my product. King of Knives fitted the bill, and with the current interest in anything culinary at the moment, I could see a big upside," says Smith.

The couple eventually made contact with King of Knives and after many meetings, store visits and finance organising, Adrian and Marelize Smith were able to purchase the Chef King store, located at Rhodes NSW.

"It's nice working as a married couple. We realise that it's best for a business to have one boss and Marelize lets me be the boss, at the store only. Well, most of the time!" says Adrian Smith.

Since their purchase in October 2010, the kitchen accessories franchises have averaged 20% in growth. Adrian Smith is currently negotiating plans in purchasing a second King of Knives store.