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September 26,2001
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MINORITY BUSINESS
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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.
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