Happy Birthday Lou!

I have told anyone who will listen, the reason I am the President of Kitayama Brothers 

is because of Lou Kawamura from Flowers by Jr, Lou and T in Honolulu, HI.  

After about 3 years of constantly visiting her in Honolulu from 2004-2006, 

Lou started buying flowers from me. 

Once she decided to give me a chance, 

she increased my little Greenleaf-GrowFloral sales by 50%.  

As a result GrowFloral became profitable, 

and when the position for President of KB came up, 

I had enough credibility to be given a chance.   

That was 6 years ago and I am no longer Lou’s salesperson, 

but I will not forget who helped me get here. 

Happy Birthday Lou!  Thank you for your friendship and support.  

Here's a picture with Millie, it is amazing how she picks up ALL the boxes!

When you are in Honolulu, go up South King Street to the Moiliili district 

near the University and visit Lou.  Buy a lei or flower basket and tell her I think she is wonderful.

RHK

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Norman Kawauchi: Hawaiian Gardenia Grower

A Life of Farming

I was in Honolulu last week to visit customers and deliver Christmas greens.  While I was there I visited Norman Kawauchi an 89 year old gardenia and tropical flower grower from Waimanalo.  My favorite people in the flower business are growers.  I can sell flowers and read financial statements, but I don’t grow.  My father and uncles were growers, and that was the strength of Kitayama Brothers.  I am dependent on good growers and I try to understand what makes a successful grower.  Therefore I visit top flower farms and try to learn as much as possible.  I especially love to visit the growers who are innovative and passionate about what they do.

Norman shared with me his love for growing gardenias, but the bigger lesson was hearing about his life as a farmer.  It wasn’t an easy life, but I don’t think he would trade it for any other.  

Please take a look at this 2 minute video of Norman.  I wish I had more of his life on video, but I do plan to go back and “talk story” a little more.  

RHK

Kitayama Brothers

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Lei Ladies of Honolulu

Aloha!

One of the reasons I love my job, it allows me to travel to Honolulu a few times a year to visit our customers.  A few weeks ago, Linda Nguyen and I were in Honolulu to deliver Christmas greens and visit our friends.  

  

A group that we adore and I want to see thrive and survive are the lei ladies of Chinatown and the airport.  Leis are one of the nicest ways to utilize flowers.  On the mainland, we never see the array of exotic leis which are so beautiful.  And when you realize the amount of flowers and work involved - they are an incredible value.   

Chinatown Lei Shops 

In Chinatown Honolulu there are about 13 lei shops.   We stopped to talk to our customers Bronson at Lei of the Island, Mimi and Sam at MP Lei Shop, then Ronny and Cindy at Cindy’s Lei Shoppe.  A few blocks from Chinatown, we stopped at Sunrise Leis to check in on Edith who recently broken her wrist.  Edith is an “Auntie” and has been a great supporter of KB for years and years. We were relieved to see she is up and selling leis again.   We heard the number of lei shops in Chinatown is growing which is surprising but wonderful to hear.

Airport Lei Shops

I had never been to the airport lei shops, but Linda’s customer and friend Milan of Martha’s Leis Stand has her shop there.  The lei shops at the airport started when the tradition of giving leis to arriving passengers.  

Today there are about 10 lei shops at the airport with easy and convenient parking.  

Imagine just $3.00 for a single dendro lei, why wouldn’t you give your arriving friends a lei? 

Lei Future

Another prediction, wearable flowers are a future trend, the lei is where it will have originated from.  We just need Miley Cyrus to start wearing them…

RHK

The Stemmed Gardenia

Who came up with the stemmed gardenia idea?

Kitayama Brothers would love to claim that we created the stemmed gardenia, but we have to give credit where credit is due, to our customer and friend Michael Miyashiro of Rainforest Florist in Honolulu, HI.  

Four years ago while I was attending a trade show in Honolulu, Michael advised Kitayama Brothers to “burn” all our roses and grow gardenias.  He also said to keep a stem on the gardenias and ship them in a bud stage.  To be honest, at that time I thought he was “just being Michael.”  Michael always asks for the most bizarre and extreme forms of flora.  Half the time I don’t even know what type of flower or green he is talking about.  However, he has a booming business in Honolulu and his work is in high demand because of his fun and exotic look. 

Today, Kitayama Brothers has pulled out every rose plant and I believe we must be the biggest gardenia grower in the USA.  And with the introduction of the stemmed gardenia, our customers can get a new use for an old flower.  The stem allows the gardenia to be used in arrangements.  Also, because of the bud stage, the flowers can be ship in greater quantity and are much better priced than traditional select gardenias (3 in a box).  

Hopefully we are creating a new generation of gardenia lovers.  I will be back in Honolulu this Fall, (it's my duty to visit once a year), and I will visit Michael again, there just might be a new idea..

RHK