Spirit of Aloha | Features | May/June 2002

The Lei Ladies of Maunakea Street
By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

The narrow, bustling street in Honolulu's Chinatown is lined with lei sellers graced with names like Cindy's, Lin's and Shirley's and offering a gorgeous selection of the fragrant garlands

They spend more hours on their feet than a waitress in a coffee shop. They labor all day and well into the evening in a space that's barely bigger than a bedroom. They jump between phone orders and deliveries with the ease of an acrobat. And through their merchandise-strands of lovely, fragrant lei, each painstakingly strung, woven or braided by hand-they help customers communicate just the right message, whether it be "I love you," "Congratulations," "Good luck," "Bon voyage" or "Welcome home." The lei sellers of Maunakea Street are an Island tradition.

Before World War II, most of Honolulu's lei makers gathered near the Moana, Halekulani and Royal Hawaiian hotels in Waikiki, where business from tourists was brisk. In the 1950s, new laws prohibited the selling of lei on the streets of Waikiki, so the industrious entrepreneurs moved to Maunakea Street in Chinatown.

They sat along the sidewalks, dozens of them in a row, stringing pretty garlands and wearing them around their necks, heads and hatbands in hopes of attracting customers. They displayed more lei on boards, the walls of buildings and the branches of trees.

Today, Maunakea Street is synonymous with lei. It's the workplace and showcase for some of Hawai'i's most skilled lei makers, in shops sandwiched between acupuncture clinics, Chinese bakeries and restaurants, and stores selling herbs, cloisonne bracelets and embroidered cheongsams. While you can find a few lei shops around the corner on North Beretania Street and in scattered pockets around O'ahu, Maunakea Street is where Hawai'i's lei industry has blossomed.

Sporting names like Cindy's, Lin's, Lina's, Shirley's and Violet's, these tiny shops have provided generations of Islanders with lei for every occasion, from birthday parties and weddings to graduations and baptisms, not to mention the annual May Day/Lei Day celebration. "Pikake today?" the lei seller asks as you peruse the rainbow of gorgeous garlands hanging in the refrigerated glass case. "Puakenikeni? Maybe ginger?"

The lei is a gift that can heal a wound, lighten a heart, touch a soul. They are truly miracle workers, these lei ladies of Maunakea Street, and their stories are as unique and colorful as their creations. Here are three of the ladies.

Shirley Magaoay
Shirley's Flowers
1176C Maunakea St.
536-2218

Shirley Magaoay weaves her dreams in a 265-square-foot shop on the mauka (mountain) end of Maunakea Street. Sitting on a plastic stool facing the sidewalk, she picks flowers from a fragrant pile and slips them, one by one, through a long needle as she watches the world pass by.

The ever-changing tableau is composed primarily of shoppers carrying bags filled with fresh fish, roast pork and produce purchased from Chinatown markets. Some of them stop to chat and admire Shirley's vivid strands of carnation, orchid, 'ilima and tuberose. They usually walk away with a lei or two.

"It's not too much of a money-making thing," Shirley admits, but she likes the leisurely pace.

A newcomer on Maunakea Street, Shirley's Flowers opened two years ago-the realization of a dream Shirley and her husband, Rizal, had to start a business of their own. "We love working with flowers," she says, "and it's something our whole family can do together."

The Magaoays' three daughters-Sherilyn, 26, Rachel and Stacy, both 13-all help out at the shop. Sherilyn's husband, Chad Maxilom, also pitches in whenever he can.

The Magaoays appreciate the flexibility of being their own boss. Ideally, Shirley would like to keep the shop open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, but if that's not possible, she and Rizal don't fret about it. "We work as much as we can, whenever we can," Shirley says. "If we cannot make it, we just close the shop."

Born in the Philippines, Shirley immigrated to Hawai'i with her family in 1971, when she was 13. She learned to make lei from friends, by volunteering at other shops and by attending classes at Bishop Museum and the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Rizal picked up tips from her, and has become an accomplished lei maker in his own right.

They have discovered serendipity is part of the fun of lei-making. Sometimes customers will come to the shop and select three or four different lei that Shirley will intertwine. "By doing this, they wind up with their own unique lei," she points out. "The best part about this business is meeting people, conversing with them, and finding out what flowers, colors and scents they like. And, of course, making the lei is a joy."

Cindy Lau
Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe
1034 Maunakea St.
536-6538

Walk to the rear of Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe, and you'll see just how important the business is in the lives of its owners. There's a full kitchen, with a stove, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, utensils, plates, pots and pans. There's a bathroom with a shower. All that's needed to make this living area complete is a bed. "If we wanted to, we'd find space for that, too," smiles 70-year-old Cindy Lau.

Born Sun Choy Chan in Canton, China, Cindy came to Hawai'i in 1951 as the bride of Raymond Lau, a supply clerk at Pearl Harbor. Almost immediately, she was drawn into her mother-in-law's business, a small stand on Maunakea Street that sold corsages and stem flowers. By the time Cindy took over 45 years ago, it had expanded into selling lei as well.

Today, Cindy's is one of the busiest lei shops on Maunakea Street. Although her daughter, Karen Lee, now oversees operations, Cindy declares, "I'm still the boss. I come and tell them what to do."

In addition to Karen, "them" includes Cindy's sister, Choi Lin Lui; sons Richard, Raymond and Ronnie; Ronnie's wife, Kit Mei; and Karen's husband, Ronald. Prior to his death five years ago, Cindy's husband also was a familiar figure at the shop. "We're family and we love each other," says Karen, "and we want to succeed together."

Cindy's is open from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Cindy puts in a full day every day, arriving at 8:30 a.m. and staying until 6 p.m. She's still hands-on in production-fashioning boutonnieres, designing haku, stringing lei and making ribbons.

The shop offers more than 20 different kinds of lei, the most popular being the triple ginger, rope pikake and the maile with dainty rose clusters that is always in demand for high school proms.

New trends always intrigue Cindy. "She's always excited about new things," notes Karen, "whether it be a new technique or a new kind of flower."

Loyal customers have been patronizing Cindy's for years, as have their children and now their children's children. Says Karen: "People have grown up wearing our lei. My mom has made many good friends through the business; that is her wealth. And what's neat is when they open their photo albums, our lei are there. We're so much a part of many people's stories."

Loretta Le
Lin's Lei Shop
1017A Maunakea St.
537-4112

The owner of Lin's Lei Shop is actually a petite, energetic woman named Loretta. "Lin is the name of the person who started the business a long time ago," she explains. "I'm the fifth one to own it; it's been 15 years now. My name is Loretta, but Lin is a very nice name so I kept it for the shop. Some customers call me Lin, some call me Loretta-I answer to both."

Loretta Le came to Hawai'i from Vietnam in 1980, and dove into the lei business seven years later. She had studied agriculture, flowers and plants in Vietnam, so the idea of operating a lei shop had great appeal. She learned the art from a friend who has won several lei-making contests and contributes his talents each year to Aloha Festivals.

At first, Loretta's repertoire was limited to plumeria, tuberose and carnation lei. But she continued to learn, and today, Lin's Lei Shop is known for its innovative offerings. "Customers don't want to keep buying the same styles," Loretta says, "so we're always thinking about new ideas."

You can see the creativity in the Sweet Darling lei, with its base of lavender orchids topped with the mosaic of roses, tuberoses and mock orange leaves, and the Honey lei, whose similar orchid base is embellished with brilliant crimson and gold 'ohai ali'i andfirecracker flowers.

Loretta's family is very much involved with the business. Her sister, Malina, is a mainstay in the shop. Her brother, Andy Le, and brother-in-law, Kenley Nguyen, tend home gardens that bloom with 'ola'a beauty, firecracker, 'ohai ali'i, hinahina and more. The flowers are picked fresh every morning for Lin's lei.

Lin's also works with other growers. During busy times like May Day, graduation, Valentine's Day, Secretary's Day and Mother's Day, the shop can easily run through three gallons of pikake, 10,000 tuberoses, 20,000 orchids and 50,000 carnations per day.

Lin's is open from 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and Loretta is usually there the whole time. Occasionally, she'll take a half-day or a Sunday off, but during the weekdays, when it's busy, she says, "I can't get away. If I were married and had children, I couldn't do this."

But the benefits outweigh the challenges. "Flowers make people smile and feel good," says Loretta. "Every lei I make is special; I put my heart into every lei."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is the author of "Today's Show Stoppers," which ran in the March/April 2002 issue of SPIRIT OF ALOHA.

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