Cindy's Lei Shoppe

Cindy's Lei Shoppe has sold fresh flower lei from 1034 Maunakea Street in Honolulu's Chinatown since 1959. The building began as Fook Shing Lau's barbershop. Cindy Lau, born in Guangdong Province, arrived in 1951 to marry one of the owner's sons. Her mother-in-law Kam Yee Lee Lau had begun selling corsages to sailors from the shop. Lei replaced haircuts by the late 1950s, and Cindy took ownership of the business in 1961 after nursing her mother-in-law through her final years. The shop calls itself one of the oldest lei stands in Hawaii and now counts a fourth generation of the family. Daughter Karen Lee manages daily operations. She returned in 1983 and expanded the shop with her brothers Raymond and Ronnie Lau to four times its original size. Her son Nicholas Lee and cousin Alex Lau represent the next generation. Orchid and pikake lei are strung in the back room beside maile and pakalana. Plumeria and tuberose follow the season, and the counter also carries ti leaf lei and haku head lei alongside corsages. Fresh lei ship to all 50 states, and a FedEx truck collects orders daily. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser marked the shop's 60th year in 2019, when Cindy at 87 was still working ten-hour shifts. Hawaii News Now profiled the family and its fourth generation at the same counter in 2023.