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WITH the
addition of more than 100,000 new vehicles into the
country last year and the continued operation of
millions of others on the street, the rise of the
after-market car-accessories industry comes as no
surprise.
People
from all walks of life (even those who don’t own cars)
are dropping by car-accessories stores not only to buy
but also to ogle at the colorful items on display.
Inevitably, with the boom came innovations that saw
stores cater to wider and more various needs of their
ever-increasing customers.
One
example is Blade, an after-market car-accessories store
that has invaded almost all major malls in Metro Manila.
As of today, Blade has 16 stores in Market! Market!,
Park Square, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM San
Lazaro, SM Santa Rosa, SM North Edsa, SM City Lipa,
Greenbelt 1, Festival Supermall, Greenhills, Robinsons
Galleria, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Metro East,
TriNoma and Robinsons Midtown that are serving millions
of customers who desire to add glitz and spunk to both
their new and secondhand vehicles.
The
BusinessMirror was recently fortunate to pin down the
very busy Fanny Dychiao, chief operating officer of
Blade Asia Inc., at one of their new stores in the Mall
of Asia in
Pasay City.
Fanny has been at the helm of the company since the
company started in 2004.
Why the
name “Blade”? “At first, we were searching for something
catchy and short, but not that high-tech. We thought of
a plain, sharp and innovative word that would be easy to
remember. And we thought of Blade, which also means
cutting-edge,” the ever-smiling Fanny said as she
obliged for an interview in front of her store, which is
near the Imax Theater.
Before
Blade was born, Fanny, her sister Frances and brother in
law Robert—co-owners—had their first taste of the retail
business in 2003 when they franchised Designer Blooms in
Rockwell
Center.
“That was our first taste of retailing, and we got
hooked into it!” she recalled.
After
seeing the lively activity inside the mall, “the concept
of buying a car-accessories store in a boutique-like
environment came about and we envisioned it to look like
a Marks & Spencer store—something European in design
that would make one feel like he or she is not inside an
ordinary hardware store, and give a pleasing experience
while looking for the car accessories one needs,” Fanny
explained.
The
first Blade store materialized in 2004 when they rented
a space inside the newly opened Market! Market! in
Taguig City. It was a successful endeavor that was
followed by others. Three months after the first store
was put up, they opened one in
Park Square
in Makati to further reach out to their growing
clientele.
Making
the name “Blade” cut through the senses and awareness of
the public paid off handsomely. “We really participated
in almost every major car events when we were just
starting. Wala yatang car event
noon na hindi namin sinalihan,” Fanny recounted.
Perhaps
one of the most noticeable items in any Blade store is
the life-size photo of the smiling Francine Prieto.
“Francine is a friend from long before. She posed for
our first advertisement when we opened our very first
store, and she is still promoting our stores to this
day,” said Fanny.
As fate
would have it, Blade was arguably the first
car-accessories shop to open in a mall—an idea that
became a fad. “Although there are few who have done this
before, we believe that we reinvented the idea,” Fanny
related.
Blade
acquires its products from local suppliers. Although the
margin of profit is less, Fanny said that they rely on
buying by volume. “As of now, we have also included
industry-accepted brands in our display, such as
Mother’s, Meguiar’s, 3M, Sun Gard, Sony, Pioneer,
Blaupunkt, JVC, NextBase and many others,” she added.
Fanny
claims that Blade has an excellent and competent staff.
“Customers can trust them to answer any questions they
have. They can also give advice on what is good for
their cars. They can install any audiovideo system in
cars for free as long as they are within the vicinity of
the mall and while the clients go around the mall.”
Among
the products that are selling like hotcakes are audio
systems that go from P20,000 and up. These include DVD,
USB players and several others. “Meron din naman
kaming mga ‘entry-level’ models na nagsisimula
P5,000 pero okay na rin naman. They can upgrade
them if they want at a later time,” Fanny added.
Others
are the lighting systems that are popular among
youngsters. “Those HIDs, or high-intensity discharge
lighting systems, start from P9,999 and go up to
P17,000. Very competitive ang prices namin
and we charge no installation fees,” she said.
“We have
a web site—www.BladeAsia.com—where
anybody can see the variety of products in the various
categories we offer even before they drop by Blade,”
said Fanny. |
