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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2001)
» ,« U J September 26,2001 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ® b » eru er ■LUM MINORITY BUSINESS 7 ’ . í 6 í C / a Z Pa8eC S , , / / / , / , ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Customer Service is a Hallmark of The House of Louie by S ean P. N elsqn T he P ortland O bserver , Portland restauranteur Stephen “ H oy S ing” L ouie has turned C hinatow n ’ s H ouse o f Louie from an ordinary C hinese restaurant w hen it opened in 1987 to a popu lar venue for out-of-tow n visitors and dignitaries because o f his excellent service. Louie com es from a long line o f restauranteurs. H is late father H enry L ouie ow ned the G olden W heel in Corvallis in 1955. He also o w n ed P o rtlan d ’s L otus C afé, F our Seas Restaurant, N ew Café, Golden Star, Si lk H at and Teahouse Kitchen. A s a boy, Louie w as sent back to C h in a before W orld W ar II. He returned afterw ard with his m other an d spent his high school years w orking in his father’s restaurants as a cashier. H e now ow ns and m anages Hi H at restaurant in Tigard and Portland’s Fong Chong and H ouse o f Louie. W ith g reat fanfare, then-G ov- e rn o r V ic A tiy eh , h elp ed L ouie c u t th e rib b o n fo r th e G rand O p en in g o f the H ouse o f L ouie o n th e site o f the fo rm e r R ick sh aw C h a rlie ’s in N o rth w e st P o rtlan d in 1988 after ex ten siv e rem odeling. “ It w asn ’t that popular w hen it first opened up. W e had a hard tim e because I d id n ’t have Dim S u m ,” L o u ie re c a lle d . W hen nearby Fong C hong w as doing b elter business because custom ers rushed over there to get Dim Sum , L ouie decided to serve it at both places. Since its beginnings, Louie has transform ed H ouse o f Louie from an ordinary C hinese restaurant to Cutting the ribbon during the grand opening o f House o f Louie in 1987' are Stephen “Hoy Sing" Louie (from left), former Oregon Gov. Vic Atiyeh and a costumed member o f the Chinese community. a popular venue for the public, politicians and the C hinese co m munity. L ouie is a past president o f the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent A ssociation, C C B A , w hich has represented the C hinese co m m u nity in Portland since the late 18 0 0 ’s. He has traveled to C hina w ith th e n -C o n g re s s m a n L es A uC oin and represented the C h i n e se c o m m u n ity to P o rtla n d M ayor V era Katz. A ccording to “ T he P ortland C hinese T im es,” L ouie recently hosted T aiw an ’s C h ie f C om m is sioner C hung Foo M ay at the H ouse o f Louie last m onth. Louie is one o f tw o O regon C om m is sioners to Taiw an. The visit is one indication o f how im portant the business and its ow ner has b e com e. C hinatow n itself has also becom e m ore im portant after the construction o f P o rtlan d ’s C las sical C hinese Garden. A h allm ark o f w hy H ouse o f L ouie has becom e successful is service. “ I f a custom er com plains be cause I talk to m y em ployee and they say the food is spoiled, I have to help them ,” Louie said. T his also applies if they d o n ’t like the taste o f som ething. Louie will often provide them w ith som e thing else o f equal value. H e insists that his em ployees take care o f the needs o f his cus tom ers in a pleasant manner. “ I f a w aitress is rude to the custom er, it’s hard fo rm e to solve the problem unless I know who the person is,” Louie said. In these cases, he em ploys a three strikes and y o u ’re out policy. The first tw o tim es a custom er com plains, he talks to that em ployee. The third time it happens, the employee is fired. H e advises ow ners starting a new restaurant to give custom ers good service and good food. “ I f you d o n ’t satisfy the cus tom ers, they com plain,” Louie said. Ifa c u sto m e rd o e sn 'tlik e th e fried rice because it is too dry, L ouie w ill m ail them a gift certifi cate. This kind ofbending over back w ards to p lease his custom ers is one reason H ouse o f Louie is so popular. W hat advice does he give to m inority entrepreneurs about sur vival through hard economic times like today? “Y ou ju st have to w ork a little harder to survive, to accom plish your goals. C ooperate w ith each other and w ork together.” Quality Matters for Rasheed’s ¿World of Fragrances The Oregon Lottery Supports Minority Enterprise Development Week b is company, Rasheed's World o f Fragrances. ’s a member o f O regon’s dynamic photo by M ichael L eighton /T he P oriland O bserver , y M ichael L eighton ,T he P ortland O bserver " M oveo v erP aris,th ere’saP ort- Jand entrepreneur th a t’s stealing Jo m e o f your m arket share. R asheed S h areef is the ow ner jind d is trib u to r o f R a s h e e d ’s W orld o f Fragrances. H e has found a niche selling Jom e o f the best perfum es and fragrances in the w orld today. ; M ost noticeable is his w ide selection o f R ash eed 's W orld o f F ragrance incense sticks, found in neatly sealed packets w ith the continent o f A frica blazoned over the product label. T he incense sticks are top sell ers in several local stores, includ ing J P ’s Fram e Shop, Reflections, C lassy N ails, C h u ck 's Food M art, R ecords G alore and Renaissance Market. W ith his expertise and use o f scented oils from around the world, S hareefalso m akes colognes, per fum es, soaps, bath oils and other products for direct to custom er sales. S h areef says w hen it com es to perfum es, colognes and lotions, his cu sto m e rs eq u ate looking g&od to sm elling good. - S h areef says Paris earned the reputation as the perfum e capital o f the world by importing oils from the w o rld ’s historic sites for ex- otic fragrances, nam ely Egypt, T anzania and Asia. L ike F rance an d m any o f th is c o u n try ’s leadin g d ep a rtm en t sto res, S h a re e f u ses th ese sam e o ils to p ro d u ce su p e rio r p ro d u cts. He keeps his custom ers satis fied w ith quality first, refusing to cut dow n pricey oils to increase profits like some othercom m ercial vendors. In R asheed’s W orld o f Fra grances you can count on natural and safe oils, w ith no harsh dies or other contam inants. A n A frican A m erican and long tim e Portland resident, S h areef started his business out o f his hom e 18 years ago. His business expanded shortly thereafter when he took up a site at P ortland’s Saturday Market. Currently, he sells his p ro d ucts directly to stores and by w ord o f m outh But he hopes to open his ow n shop soon after refur bishing a building he purchased in northeast Portland. S hareef has his sights set on expanding the business to include natural and exotic herbs. H e e n v isio n s a R a s h e e d ’s W orld o f Fragrances show room that includes a juice bar with herbal ingredients to treat both the p al ate and health. Ì marketplace, the Oregon Lottery is committed to contributing to the success of our communities by providing opportunities for Oregon merchants selling a wide variety of goods and services. If you offer high-quality products or services at competitive prices, we are interested in meeting you. We invite you to contact us and find out more. For more information, please call our Supplier Diversity Program Manager at (503) 540-1338. 1
