Shops that are still working well have to close more and more often because the owners cannot find a successor.

The same could have happened at the long-established Frankfurt spice and tea house Schnorr on the Neue Kräme.

Luckily there was Kai, the owner's nephew, who loved visiting his aunt's shop even as a young boy.

The intense smells, the enthusiastic stories about journeys to tea-growing regions in Japan and China - it was all "like a little magic box" for him.

Petra Kirchhoff

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Growing up with three siblings and drinking fruit tea in Bad Vilbel, he later discovered his love for special types of tea and creative cuisine in which spices play the leading role.

The desire to work with it professionally developed while the student was writing his doctoral thesis in chemistry.

The desire to work in his aunt's shop, with goods and people, grew in him more and more concretely, he says.

Kai Schnorr can still clearly remember the day he went to see his aunt.

It was April 30, 2014 - and the nephew felt a little worried.

Completely unfounded, as it turned out.

"Kai, I find that subber, that's how I do it," said the aunt.

Almost two years later, Schnorr, who was in his early thirties, took over the specialist shop that his grandfather had founded in 1956.

Today he stands confidently in the shop, his thick top hair tied in a bun on the back of his head – “my Corona hairstyle” –, prepares a Japanese Sancha to greet him and tells how much the country inspired him during his visit.

With his friendly, approachable manner, the young man himself is someone who quickly succeeds in winning over his counterpart.

As managing director, Kai Schnorr has initiated a lot in recent years, starting with new shelves in the storage rooms, which are now air-conditioned for the first time, to a modern merchandise management system and the development of a professional online shop.

In this way, the specialist shop reaches new customers and generates more sales.

The investments were urgently needed, he says.

Not to make more money,

but to have an economic future.

At some point he will also have to shake the shop fittings.

Calmness while meditating

Basically, Schnorr is someone who likes to stick to tradition, but also appreciates the efficiency of new technology.

He wears a smart watch on his wrist, which he uses to read his e-mails, drives spices and tea leaves to the shop on a cargo bike and is concerned about his employees, whom he counts as part of the "Schnorr family", some of whom have been with the company for decades .

Generosity, tolerance and respect – his grandfather already stood for these values.

The private Schnorr family now has three children, so there is not much time left for other passions apart from everyday work.

There is plenty of that.

As an exchange student in Hawaii, Kai discovered his passion for surfing.

The one for climbing came later.

He gave up motorcycling when he had his first child.

From time to time he still plays in a church rock band.

Today, the Buddhist philosophy is closer to him than the Christian.

The businessman regularly takes time to meditate.

That has always helped him to gather and ground himself.

The good thing is: "It doesn't matter where you are, you sit down, concentrate, and the circle becomes a point."