When Steven Pan joined his parents’ business in 2007, he saw an opportunity to do more than continue what they had built.
He transformed the company’s import and export business into an e-commerce operation, getting in early on Amazon’s fulfillment program and expanding its product offerings.
“I decided, you know what? I should come back to the family business.”
Steven Pan, G&F Products
Nearly two decades later, that shift has helped G&F Products and WorkGlovesDepot.com grow from a family-run middleman business into a company that sells PPE across North America through its own website, Amazon and major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s.
As competition has intensified, Pan has continued to focus on new products and customer feedback to keep the 40-year-old business growing.
“I stepped into the business at a very good time, and I found a very good niche product to sell,” he said.
Pan’s parents laid the groundwork for the company in the 1980s, building a network of buyers and industry connections through their import and export work in China.
After moving to the US in 1996, they continued that work and grew the business into what Pan would later transform.
“I am the majority of the reason they [came] over here,” Pan said. “They wanted to provide me a better life and better opportunities.”
A pivot back to the family business fueled early e-commerce
Pan didn’t initially plan to join the family business.
Watching his parents navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship pushed him toward a different path, studying finance and accounting and starting his career at an accounting firm.
After two years, he realized the corporate world wasn’t the right fit and decided to return to the business he had grown up around.
“I was away from my family as well, my parents,” he said. “So that’s when I decided, you know what? I should come back to the family business.”
When Pan returned to the company, he brought with him a strong understanding of finance and accounting. He also had to learn the parts of the business he hadn’t seen from the office side, including how to use his parents’ industry relationships and identify new product opportunities.
Pan started small, selling just heat-resistant gloves. The company’s PPE catalog now includes masks, reflective vests, hair covers and other workplace safety products.
Around the same time, Amazon was rolling out its Fulfillment by Amazon program, giving companies like G&F Products a new way to reach customers. They could send inventory to Amazon, which would handle storage, packing and shipping orders on their behalf.
“Because of that, our product really took off,” he said.
Scaling nationwide while building a local presence
Nearly two decades after Pan first shifted the company toward e-commerce, the challenge looks different: staying competitive in a crowded and shifting market.
Today, G&F Products sells across North America and works with major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s, while Pan continues looking for ways to grow the brand, enter new markets and develop products based on customer feedback.
Plus, the business works to integrate into its community. Since they’re selling PPE, they also regularly donate products to local fire and police stations, especially during the pandemic, he said.
Pan runs the company’s office and warehouse in Northeast Philly and prioritizes hiring residents from the surrounding neighborhood.
“This way, we establish a presence locally,” Pan said, “and people understand what we’re doing over here.”