Combing for success

The Chinese wooden combs at AmeriComb House range from simple semicircles to intricately carved wedding sets

SUCCESS STORIES usually start with one great idea that in hindsight always looks like a no-brainer. Time will tell whether Yanliang Chen has found his million-dollar idea, selling nothing but wooden combs at his Liliha Street shop AmeriComb House.

The wood combs may be just the thing to add an Old World aesthetic to your dressing table or purse, no matter how tiny.

Chen, who's kept his tourist-industry day job, got the idea after traveling to China, where he noted hotels offered the combs as a room amenity.

When it comes to marketing something unique, though, there is a learning curve.

"Some people come in, even if they're Chinese, they say 'What's this?' " Chen said. "Some young people remember, 'Oh, my grandma used to use this.' I'm glad some people remember them."

The more decorative combs are definitely eye-catching, painted in bright colors to represent Chinese princesses, opera performers, pandas, dogs and tropical birds. Chen only reluctantly sells these for about $3 each because he feels they're more collectible than practical. Some, at about 3 inches wide, are only big enough for a child to use.

More practical combs are sturdier, hand-carved from peach wood, cotton wood and nanmu at small family-run factories in An-hui provice, he said. Get them for $3 to $4 while the cost of labor in China is still cheap. Some of these practical models are in a semi-circular shape to fit the palm and almost resemble hair ornaments, or they can come with a handle bearing handpainted floral details.

The most intricate designs have figures of dragons and phoenixes carved into them. A set of two for $88.99 is a popular wedding gift in China, Chen said.

Also available are wood-bristle brushes for about $5.99. Individual bristles can be replaced if they fall out.

THE COMBS HAVE arrived at a time of Japan's chopstick crisis, attributed to a shortage of wood in China, where the disposable dining utensils are made.

Like the environmental debate between dining off Styrofoam or dishes -- one leading to massive landfills and one leading to water waste -- an argument could be made against using trees for combs, but what if the alternative is oil-based plastic?

Chan said, "The difference with chopsticks is that we use so many and throw away. The comb you can use 100 years. It lasts longer than plastic, which you might throw away after two years."

Beyond aesthetics and longevity, Chen says, a wood comb is also good for your head, stimulating pressure points, giving scalp circulation a boost while distributing natural oils and delivering static-free strokes, which should be a relief to all those prone to frizzies.

It's a long way to $1 million at $3 to $4 a pop, but just as Americans have aimed marketing strategies toward 1 billion people in China over the past decade, there's nothing wrong with redirecting the flow of commerce and trying to reach 1 million people in Hawaii.

---

--