Kenneth Madsen, president of Pandora Jewelry Asia-Pacific, calls himself an "entrepreneur at heart" with a passion for the commercial aspects of running a company."You could never put me in a business that has been running for 30 years, growing 2 percent each year and optimizing on cost. That's not me. I love to grow a business and explore new cultures, new countries as well as new markets," he tells China Daily.Though born and raised in Denmark, Madsen has been living out of the country for years, having spent a long time in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.He joined Pandora in 2009 as managing director for Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw, Poland, where he built up the brand as a new startup from zero within four years. With two or three people in his team, Madsen made business plans in Starbucks at the very beginning. The company quickly expanded with the joint efforts, taking root in Poland and having found distributors in Russia. Next, it went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and opened stores there.Madsen moved to Hong Kong five years ago to take over the nascent business here."We had to set up a new team and close down some stores that were not working. But, this kind of resetting and then building up the business is definitely where I get my energy from."Before Madsen's venture into the jewelry business, he had been associated mainly with sales and marketing. The industries involved ranged from Danish beer brewer Carlsberg and music publishing company EMI to footwear retailer Ecco."I had been with Ecco shoes for six years when I decided to change. Part of it was because I was familiar with Pandora from back home in Denmark," he says. "The work I did for Ecco shoes before has helped me put more life into a jewelry store. We try to modernize a little bit in how to operate as a jewelry business."According to Madsen, the jewelry business is quite old-fashioned. Back in the old days, normally there were two collections per year, spring-summer and autumn-winter. People would visit a traditional jewelry store once or twice a year, depending on their consumption levels.His early career equipped him with the ability to combine the fast fashion trend with traditional business, making it possible there's always something new at Pandora's stores."We have seven launches every year. It's relatively affordable to buy one charm and build a little bit on the bracelet," Madsen says."What we're trying to do at Pandora is actually adding innovation to the traditional business and that's a big part of our success." make rubber braceletstyvek wristbands ukprintable wristbandsprinted braceletsuv bracelet24 hour wristbandswristband creation
Mourners attend a candlelight vigil at the corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard on Monday for the victims of Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES/AFP Netizens express sympathy over Vegas shooting, concerns about travel safety President Xi Jinping sent a condolence message to his United States counterpart Donald Trump on Monday over heavy casualties caused by the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. A gunman opened fire on a country music concert there on Sunday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. In his message, Xi extended deep sympathy to the US government and people, profound condolences to the victims and sincere solicitude to those wounded, and said he wished for a quick recovery for the injured. No casualties were reported among Chinese citizens visiting Las Vegas at the time of the shooting, according to a Tuesday news release by the Chinese consulate general in San Francisco. The consulate general sent a team to Las Vegas on Monday to check on possible casualties among Chinese. The team met with and reminded Chinese tourists there to travel safely and watch for safety alerts issued by Chinese diplomatic missions and local governments. Las Vegas has become a popular destination of Chinese tourists, and celebrations are held there each year to mark the Lunar New Year. Many tourists go there during China's National Day holiday. The incident has alarmed the entertainment and gaming industries and evoked sympathy and discussion in China. Macao authorities beefed up security measures at gaming facilities, the special administrative region's gaming watchdog said on Tuesday. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macao said after the Las Vegas shooting, it immediately contacted the six major gaming enterprises and asked them to keep alert and boost security. The bureau also decided to meet with those companies after the National Day holiday. On the Sina Weibo social network, many netizens posted emojis of lighted candles to express condolences. Microblogger @Anhaosuanbusuanzuihao wrote on Tuesday, praying and mourning over the tragedy and added, Tomorrow it is believed will be better. God bless Las Vegas, microblogger @Harry_Yishi wrote on Monday. Some potential Chinese travelers to the US voiced their concerns over safety caused by easy access to guns. Microblogger cindylynch wrote, Hopefully this kind of thing will never happen again. (If there's no tougher control on guns, I would not be bold enough to take a US trip).
