Relaxus has its origins in 1992, when Kline visited Schwartz, who was living in Taiwan. Schwartz was looking to export products and Kline wanted to start an import business. The two immediately realized their interests meshed and that they should start a business together.

Schwartz remained in Taiwan finding innovative products to sell, until he moved to Vancouver in 1996.

Kline spent the intervening years establishing the diverse import and wholesale business in Vancouver.

The duo's guiding principle has always been to sell products that they would use themselves, especially "those that make customers feel good," said Kline. Their products range from professional equipment for massage therapists to heart-shaped boxes for chocolate manufacturers, to plush slippers.

Interested buyers visit their showroom on West 5th Avenue or visit their website, which features an extensive catalog of more than 1,000 products.

Relaxus retails through its website but most of Kline and Schwartz's 4,500 clients are wholesalers in the health food, gift and mall kiosk sectors.

One of their consistent business strategies has been to divide the business between the selling side and the buying side.

Schwartz goes to consumer trade shows, seeking products to buy and resell. He also uses his fluency in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin and Italian to find suppliers and entrepreneurs with innovative products but no distribution outlet.

Kline takes the sales side of the business and attends different trade shows. From his booth, he seeks distributors and wholesalers who might want to carry Relaxus offerings.

Their teamwork has paid off.

"We're experiencing phenomenal international growth, with sales in many countries such as the United States, England, Lebanon and the Netherlands," Kline said. "And that's not just a pair of slippers here and there. We're setting up distributors."

Both are forced to be versatile and flexible managers because they say consumer tastes are increasingly fickle.

Schwartz explained that gift industry products change much faster today than when he and Kline founded Relaxus. That ups the pressure to find new and desirable offerings.

"The Internet has shortened products' lifetimes because it enables markets to get penetrated faster. A product used to be able to be around for a few years.

Outside work, both are involved in the community.

Kline is a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Association and has mentored young entrepreneurs, though he has scaled down involvement to spend more time raising his four-year-old daughter Dina and two-year-old son Zev and his wife Ruth.

Schwartz is active with Jewish community groups, particularly with the Combined Jewish Appeal, the Vancouver Community Kollel and the Chabad Lubavitch.

Ron Kline