Stop and Smell the Orchids

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  Wai'anae, Hawai'i
  July 24, 2014 - Kapa'a, HI
  
  On the boardwalk of downtown Kapa’a, you will find many souvenir shops, a few eateries, and one storefront so small it’s easy to miss. One door and a sign is all that makes up the Orchid Alley storefront, however, this alley opens up into a very impressive sanctuary.
  
  Home of sculptures made of driftwood found on the beaches of kapa’a, an impressive butterfly garden, and of course, orchids.
  
  “We do our own hybridizing, we have hundreds of different types of orchids, some of our hybrids are nationally award winning such as Fely’s Sunshine named after my wife, we have a lot going on,” says Neill Sams, owner of Orchid Alley.
  
  The Sams have been in business for the past 18 years, finding new and exciting ways to cultivate their passion for orchids.
  
  “We reinvent our business every few years to keep the customers interested, the latest was the butterfly garden but there’s always something new,” says Neill’s wife Fely Sams. However, this couples reign of success has bloomed from tragedy.
  
  Twenty-three years ago the Sams moved from the golden state to the garden isle in pursuit of a dream. A dream that just so happened to leave them facing down Kaua’i’s worst storm in decades.
  
  “Here it is, Hurricane Iniki, it was devastating, we had just moved here and I didn’t have any friends or family, that was the lowest moment,” says Fely.
  
  The 1.8 billion dollars in damage caused by Hurricane Iniki provided a new opportunity for the Sams.
  
  “The property here was demolished, the building was knocked down, the ground was torn up, but it happened to be at an affordable enough price for us to buy it,” explains Neill.
  
  The Sams slowly rebuilt the property into the successful business it is, one plant at a time.
  
  “We started out with one umbrella out front and eventually it evolved into this,” Fely remembers, a smile on her face.
  
  Although the Sams possess National Hybridizing awards and a blooming business, Fely measures their success a different way, “A lot of my customers have become great friends, it feels like they’re a family.”
  
  The Sams attribute each other to their growing success, “I have to work a little harder, when we met I had a brown thumb but over the years his green thumb wore off on me,” says Fely.
  
  “She really takes care of the customers and makes it possible for me to pursue my passion with the orchids,” compliments Neill.
  
  Running a successful business does keep the couple apart, but with family and a little bit of TLC, the Sams are exactly where they need to be to blossom.
  
  

"Everybody loves orchids, thats a guaranteed winner."

Neil Sams said.

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LOOKING BACK

WRITE TOOLS

"This couple had such an amazing flower shop, It was a pleasure to tell their story."

Raeanna Labrador-Pollick,
Producer/Photographer/Editor

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"This story made me relate back to my mom, who also had a passion for orchids."

Marcela Bator ,
Producer/Writer/Reporter

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