Richie the Flower Guy

Another shout-out for one of our Issha neighborhood stores. This time it's our local flower shop, Le Soleil. It's a modest shop with a bubbly store owner named Richie (of course that's just the name he gives to foreigners). Richie goes out of his way to accompany English-speaking foreigners with an English-based website, and pleasant conversation. The amazing thing is that he picked up the language on his own over the years through Western music (especially the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac) and movies. He spent 3 months in New York city over 20 years ago and fell in love with the culture. Now, it seems his eyes light up whenever he gets the chance to speak a little English and tell stories about New York.

I try to go in as much as the budget or special occasions allow for (Although I'm sure not nearly as much as my wife deserves), and every time I'm amazed at the customer service. In a way, you could say that Richie's service is a microcosm of the Japanese culture's consideration of others. The Japanese don't work for tips, it's considered an insult in the service industry to leave a tip. Instead, they work for the customer. It seems everyone in every service job no matter how small, performs it with the same meticulous detail and routine to respect not only the customer, but the job itself.

Richie does a lot to make the flower buying experience fun. With, 'You Can Go Your Own Way,' blaring in the background, Richie let's you pick and choose what flowers look good depending on what he has in the store for the season. Based on your budget, he fills in the rest, paying close attention to each flower, how it's cut, and how they are wrapped. Finally, he goes through each flower and writes what each one is on the back of his card, so you can sound like a connoisseur when presenting the finished product to your loved one. Thanks Richie!