Building Kahli One Step at a Time | July 2026 Update

Building kahli One Step at a Time | July 2026 Update

Another month has gone by, and while kahli still hasn't officially opened, I feel closer than ever.

July has mostly been filled with the kind of work nobody will ever see once the shop is running.

Inventory systems. SKUs. Categories. Pricing. Product descriptions. Suppliers. Spreadsheets.

A lot of spreadsheets.

It's not exactly the exciting side of building a brand, but I'm realizing more and more that this work makes everything else possible.

Hundreds of Products and a Lot of Organizing

Over the past several weeks, I've been organizing hundreds of products, building out my inventory system, finalizing SKUs, cleaning up categories and brands, refining pricing, and finishing product descriptions for the items in my first orders.

One of my goals has been to make the shop feel consistent even when the products come from different places.

I don't want every listing to feel like it was copied directly from a supplier. I want to understand what I'm selling, organize it properly, photograph it myself when possible, and present it in a way that feels like kahli.

It's a lot of work upfront.

Hopefully future me appreciates it.

The Original Plan Is Already Changing

One realization I've had recently is that kahli is naturally becoming something different from what I originally imagined.

When I started rebuilding the brand, I expected original artwork and artist collaborations to make up a much larger portion of the shop.

I still want that.

But I've also learned that building an entire product pipeline around independent collaborations can be difficult.

Artists have their own careers, projects, families, schedules, and lives outside of kahli. That's completely understandable, but it also means I can't build the business around the assumption that several different people will always be available when I need new work.

That's been an important lesson.

Instead of fighting it, I'm starting to let kahli evolve naturally.

Maybe I'm More of a Merchant Than an Artist

I've said this before, but I think I'm much more of a merchant than an artist.

And I'm becoming more comfortable with that.

I genuinely enjoy searching for products.

I can spend hours going through Japanese suppliers, comparing designs, looking at tiny stationery sets, finding unusual paper goods, and discovering things I haven't seen everywhere else.

There's something really satisfying about finding an item and immediately thinking, someone is going to love this.

Because of that, kahli has gradually been developing into more of a curated stationery and gift shop, with Japanese stationery becoming an especially important part of what I'm sourcing.

That wasn't exactly the original plan.

But I think that's okay.

Sometimes the direction becomes clearer by actually building the thing instead of trying to decide everything before you start.

Original kahli Products Aren't Going Anywhere

This doesn't mean I'm giving up on original products.

Not even close.

I still want kahli to have its own artwork, characters, stickers, stationery, collectibles, and collaborations.

It may just happen more gradually than I originally expected.

I'd rather release original work when the right idea and artist come together than force collaborations simply because I think the shop needs more original products.

As kahli grows, I hope I'll have more opportunities to work with independent artists whose work genuinely fits what we're building.

The original side of kahli might grow slower.

But I think it will be stronger because of that.

Moriko and Rara Finally Have Names

One of the more fun updates this month is that I think I've finally settled on names for two of kahli's original characters.

Our black tiger is Moriko.

And the girl character is Rara.

They're both still very early in development, so I'm not trying to define every part of their personalities or stories immediately.

I'd rather let them develop naturally over time.

Moriko in particular is already starting to feel like an important part of kahli's identity, and I'm excited to see what he eventually becomes.

Maybe stickers. Maybe stationery. Maybe collectibles. Maybe things I haven't thought of yet.

For now, I'm just happy the tiger finally has a name.

Waiting for Japan

Right now, one of the biggest things I'm waiting on is my first major shipment of products from Japan.

Once everything arrives, the next phase begins.

I'll need to inspect the products, organize inventory, photograph everything, finish the remaining website work, and start turning all of these listings and spreadsheets into an actual shop people can buy from.

I'm especially excited about the photography.

Seeing supplier images on a product page is one thing. Having the actual products in front of me and being able to photograph and present them the way I want should make kahli feel much more real.

It also means there will probably be boxes everywhere.

I'll deal with that when it happens.

Getting Closer to Opening

There are still plenty of things left on my list.

And somehow, every time I finish something, I discover three more things I should probably do.

But the difference now is that I can actually see the finish line.

A few months ago, kahli mostly existed as ideas.

Now there are products. Inventory systems. Suppliers. Original characters. Packaging plans. Convention ideas. Artwork. A functioning website.

Individual pieces are starting to connect.

I'm still figuring out exactly what kahli will become, and I suspect that answer will continue changing as the business grows.

For now, that's part of the fun.

One Step at a Time

I don't think kahli is going to become what I originally imagined.

I think it might become something better because I'm allowing the business to show me what actually works.

Right now, that means leaning more into discovering and curating great stationery and gifts, continuing to develop original products at a pace that makes sense, and slowly building a world around characters like Moriko and Rara.

Next comes the shipment.

Then photography.

Then the final website work.

And eventually, finally, opening the shop.

One step at a time.

Huy Đăng Nguyễn
Founder of kahli