On completing his apprenticeship in 1864, Wessel was employed as a travelling salesman by M. E. Grøn &amp; Søn in Copenhagen. In 1867, he went on a journey to England and France, where he visited the "Exposition Universelle" in Paris. The impressions from this journey made him decide to start his own business. When he shortly thereafter met Emil Vett on a random visit to Aarhus, the two businessmen decided to join forces, on 14 April 1868 starting a small linnen and drapery business under the name Emil Vett &amp; Co.. Vett was in the beginning responsible for the daily operations while Wessel for the first few years was employed as a travelling purchaser for I. H. Ruben in Copenhagen, but with a right also to act on behalf of his own venture on his journeys abroad.