Cheng-san Chen may be turning over Louie’s Superette to new ownership, but he says that once he completes the sale of his store, Harvard students are more than welcome to visit his house—on Suffolk Road in Wellesley, Mass., he says. Just make sure to give a day’s notice.
Liquor law violations, armed robberies, and declining sales have made this a tough year for the 61-year-old Chen, but he says he is still fond of Harvard students and hopes to continue a relationship with them in the future.
“Larry Summers might send me an invoice one day,” Chen says about the education he has received from his younger Cantabrigian customers. “I want the new owner to provide good service to Harvard students.”
Chen says that once he turns over the store he will stay around for about a month to ensure a smooth transition, but after that he hopes to explore other interests. “I’d like to write a book titled A Little Store Around The Charles,” Chen says. “I have a lot of interesting stories.”
One thing Chen will not be doing in his retirement is consuming alcohol. Chen says he doesn’t drink because he “gets drunk too fast,” though his ex-wife often chided him for his Spartan lifestyle.
“My ex-wife told me my life is very boring because I don’t drink, smoke, or fool around with the women,” Chen laughs.
In addition to plotting future books, Chen says he enjoys gardening and traveling. He also hopes to spend part of his retirement with his 88-year-old mother in Taiwan and his twin brother, who he says is currently an ambassador to the Czech Republic for Taiwan.
Chen, who says he once shoveled snow for a half hour in a blizzard to bring a box of Immodium to his sick son while he was a student at Harvard Law School, admits that it has taken a little bit extra to operate a store like the Superette for so many years.
“I’m crazy,” he says. “You know that—that’s why I stayed for 18 years.”
