I stroll into Astoria on Lincoln Road rolling my suitcase with a bag on top. Either I was a tourist catching a flight or just landed or I was a salesperson. Not sure here but usually from Toronto solicitors are frown upon, this is understandable because of all the crap these solicitors try to push off on the store owner.

Lincoln Road is the most prestigious luxury shopping street on Miami beach. The road is a long pedestrian street fill with lively music, tall palm trees, clothing boutiques, and restaurants.

I went into the store and came up to the sales assoicate there, “can I see Danny or Michael” I said reading those names off of the sheet made by my sales rep Sarvi. She contacted the stores here in Miami to get me names.

“Do you have an appointment with him?” she asked.

Trying to say anything other than no I said “I’m here to see Danny, I spoke to him on the phone.”

“So he’s expecting you? What’s your name?”

“Jing from JUZD…”

“Let me go see.” then she walks off to the back.

She has been gone for almost a minute, while I eagerly await the response. I thought to myself, so he have never heard of my name or even spoken to Sarvi. I’m not sure how she got his name, either way if she did speak to him there was no way he would remember JUZD.

Danny is a big deal, he has 5 stores including one on the Las Vegas strip. I was nervous but also kind of excited to hear Danny’s bewilder response. I can imagine him saying “I have an appointment with who?”

She comes back and to MY bewilderment says “Come on in, just go to the back and up the stairs.”

I went up and sitting there was Daniel Amuial the owner of Astoria.

“I know you from someone.” says Daniel with a big welcoming smile.

You can expect his surprise when I said “Nope, we never met before.”

The rest of the conversation is history, he ended up loving the line because it’s unique and he said he’s going to buy and didn’t want me to show it to anyone else.