"My Experience"
I will preface this by saying I've been a fan of New High Mart since moving to LA a year ago, frequently dropping in and eyeing vintage and repurposed clothes, Japanese homewares, pricey they may be. When my parents visited Los Angeles for the Holidays this year, I thought it might be nice to bring them by the store.
We enter around 6 on a Thursday night, and the store is staffed by Richard (whose name I've deduced after the fact from various negative yelp reviews) and I approach him to ask about any traditional bedding or quilting he might have. Immediately he's taken aback by the question, probing "What even is Japanese bedding?" or something to that effect, then stating that he is either in this store or in Japan and can't advise on other avenues. A hilarious notion, oscillating between his store in Los Feliz and Japan. I abandon the bedding and ask about a matcha whisk. "We only carry things here that the Japanese ~actually~ use," with "actually" drenched in some type of toxic know-it-all-ism.
My father and I shoot glances at each other with it immediately clear that this guy is trouble (or troubled).
I move over to the clothing, and it is worth mentioning that what the store has stocked is beautiful. I'm eyeing some pants, unfolding them, looking for sizing tags, materials, etc. and Richard swishes over. I'm pressed to engage because I'm clearly being watched so I fumble out some observations "these are nice" "what's the story on these" "who makes them?" Richard leans back and releases a sigh, "We don't really discuss brands here. As you can tell there's no branding and they prefer to speak through their design." There's a pause - Richard is clearly operating as antagonist - "Besides you probably haven't heard of it."
I don't so much as have an issue with this branding philosophy, though the entire nature of a boutique like this is to curate brands unfamiliar to the US market, but dropping that last gem, "you've probably never heard of it," is such an astonishing level of narcissism and arrogance that he had in effect declared war on his potential customer.
At this point we're stifling smiles - the experience is surreal. I check out the coats and can feel him boring a hole in the back of my head. My dad asks a question about a product, he answers curtly.
We discuss amongst ourselves for a minute and decide to leave, but mom is looking at the books, I return to the pants. Richard approaches the other side of the table. "Hey, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"What are you talking about?" I ask. "You're kicking me out of your store?"
He rambles on about how they do trades here and it's just not right and I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Please just leave.
He escorts my father and me to the door, places us on the other side of the threshold, walks over to my mother, grabs the book out of her hand and says her family is waiting for her outside. We stand there shocked. My mom asks is this what LA is like, is this what Japan is like.
I've spent a few days thinking about the experience, and though I'll admit it is truly remarkable to meet an actually cartoon, sour shopkeeper in real life, it's grown more complex, more sinister. Richard is clearly a man who has adopted the Japanese way of life, learning the language and the customs, taking the acquisition process very seriously. His store is meticulously curated and researched - I'm sure he could speak for hours on tea ceremonies, cuisine, etc.
Richard, however, is not Japanese - I suspect he's a white guy from the US who like so many others, found Japanese culture the tongue to his groove. A "weeaboo," if you will.
However, his obsessions reek of a Western interloper's fundamental misunderstanding of his role in this economy. His conduct wildly distorts the Japanese way of life and, I'd argue, does more damage than good to the Japanese people. I see some reviews in here which rationalize his behavior as quintessentially Japanese - store clerks which Americans might find cloying, hovering, etc. Having visited Japan, it pains me to see such wonderfully complex, kind and loving, helpful people reduced to the way Richard operates his shop. I argue Richard uses the exoticism surrounding the Japanese way of life as a human-shield of sorts, enabling his own pathetic behavior. Has he no compunction?
I've never been kicked out of a store before. For a moment I worried that we had appeared as shoplifters, as anything, until I checked yelp. Story after story of inane, borderline psychotic behavior abound. I'd be remiss to say I wish the store the worst - it was painful to have to talk through with my Southern 60+ year old parents about why they were humiliatingly kicked out of a store with me - but I won't. I will say I wish Richard the best and that whatever void it is he's trying to fill, he finds a mechanism to do so which doesn't drag his customers through the mud and sully the beauty of the Japanese people. read more
