FOR decades, the sprawling Greenhills Shopping Center served as a familiar landmark in the San Juan-Mandaluyong area and a bargain mecca, catering to people from all walks of life.
Although over the years various shopping malls and bargain centers have started to sprout, Greenhills is always the first option. Filipinos and even foreigners would always return here to do their shopping. Compared to the flea markets of Baclaran, Divisoria, Tutuban and Quiapo, Greenhills offers almost the same variety of affordable goods but boasts of the convenience, accessibility and safety not found in these low-end bargain centers.
One of the oldest shopping malls in the country, Greenhills was constructed in the early 1960s as an upscale shopping arcade. Located in a wealthy neighborhood, most of its shoppers then were residents from the nearby villages. Because of this, it somehow gave the impression that it was built only for the rich and famous.
During its heyday in the 1970s, Greenhills was known as the haven of top-of-the-line imported merchandise from leather goods to ready-to-wear clothes and food items.
Other facilities include cinema houses, bowling alley and a children’s playground right in the middle of Virramall and Shoppesville, two of the most frequented shopping attractions here.
Its vast parking area also used to be the hangout of youngsters who often engaged in car-racing
competitions.
Through the years, more and more attractions were added to make the place a complete destination for locals, as well as foreigners. One of these is the tiangge that later on earned for Greenhills the reputation as “the country’s top flea-market destination.”
The man responsible for this is businessman Henry Babiera. He was the one who introduced the tiangge concept in the malls, thus, earing the moniker “King of Philippine Tiangge.” A former seaman, Babiera saw the good business in flea markets in the countries he visited abroad, so he decided to replicate it in the Philippines, where he said Filipinos are more creative and enterprising.
After a falling out with his partners in Harrison Plaza, where he first put up a tiangge, Babiera went his way to pursue his “dream” elsewhere. Unfortunately, the road to success was long and hard. People were not ready to accept his idea and business proposition.
“It was really an uphill climb for me. Those days when I was presenting the idea of tiangge-mall concept to other mall operators, they were reluctant and discriminating. They said: ‘Bakit tiangge ang cheap naman. Baka mag-compete sa mga tenants namin. Ayoko ng ganun kasi ang baduy,’” he recalled.
Until one man gave him the break, it was billionaire Don Rafael Ortigas Jr., president of the Ortigas and Co. Ltd. Partnership, owner of Greenhills. The full-blooded Spanish also owns many properties in the country.
Babiera explained that before they mounted the first tiangge in Greenhills, they went abroad to observe this industry in places like Hong Kong, Thailand, China, South Korea, Japan and Australia, etc. “We adopted the concept but adjusted it to the Philippine context to make it more applicable to the Filipinos. I am proud to say that we are trendsetters, making sure that we answer to the call of the changing times.”
Over the years, the tiangge business has done wonders to Greenhills’s image, as its concept was gradually accepted by the people. Today almost all malls have flea markets within its premises.
“Tiangge have mushroomed around the country, particularly in malls. I’m very happy in the sense that, finally, a part of my dream and vision was accepted by society and the businessmen. They learned that there is so much life in tiangge, so much economic activity. Now they have recognized that flea markets can also be an engine for economic growth and recovery, mainly because of the millions of jobs that [they] generate,” Babiera pointed out.
The tiangge, according to Babiera, developed in Filipinos an entrepreneurial spirit, as well as their ingenuity.
“The tianggeros [term he coined, referring to people engaged in the tiangge business] learned to develop their own line of business, even if there is scarcity of capital, because this business does not require high financing. So, after all these years of dreaming, my long struggle paid off,” Babiera declared.
According to Babiera, part of the reason for Greenhills’s success is its fair treatment of all kinds of tianggeros—be it a Catholic or Muslim. Because of this open unjudgmental atmosphere, many Muslims have put up their own stalls in place, mostly selling pieces of jewelry, and other accessories made of precious or semi-precious stones and pearls.
Babiera said the physical presence of these Muslims has also helped boost the tiangge business in Greenhills, as shoppers really flock to their stalls because of their very cheap prices of goods.
All these years, as an entrepreneur, Babiera is living up to his motto: “Business with conscience.” He wants to leave a legacy of good corporate citizenship. He is a silent benefactor of church-renovation projects, scholarships, electrification projects in his hometown in Guimaras. In many ways, he wants to guide and support Guimaranians. He has set his sights on his fellows, giving back to the world some of the blessings of which he is abundantly blessed. He also want to help the government in public-private joint initiatives.
Thriving ‘tiangge’ business
THERE are countless success stories among these tianggeros. On an average day, a tianggero makes a killing (about P70,000 per day,) just for selling his colored slippers. A banker, on the other hand, who maintains a booth in the area, is now thinking of resigning because he earns more from his tiangge business than from his regular job.
“Tianggeros don’t go for big profits, they go for volume sales. The biggest contributors to their success are wholesalers from the provinces,” Babiera said.
According to Babiera, a 48-year-old art and animal lover, part of the reason for Greenhills’s success is its fair treatment of all kinds of tianggeros—be they Catholic or Muslim. Because of this open unjudgmental atmosphere, many Muslims have put up their own stalls in place, mostly selling pieces of jewelry, and other accessories made of precious or semiprecious stones and pearls.
Babiera said the physical presence of these Muslims has also helped boost the tiangge business in Greenhills, as shoppers really flock to their stalls because of their very cheap prices of goods.
He added that the ordinary shoppers are not only the patrons of Greenhills but the rich and famous, including royalties like Queen Sofia of Spain. Others like her shop in Greenhills incognito.
Year-round ‘tiangge’ and the 1st Folk Arts Festival
IN a year, Greenhills hosts 11 big tiangges, five are mounted by the mall management, while the rest are being organized by Babiera’s company, the Prime Asia Trade Planner and Convention Organizer (Patepco), where he is the president and CEO.
At present, Patepco is holding the first Philippine Folk Arts Festival, back to back with the 13th Philippine Fiesta Fair.
What makes the 24-day Folk Arts Festival extra special is that, for the first time, the local market will have the rare opportunity to buy native furniture and handicrafts, available only to the foreign market abroad.
It took Babiera a long time to convince these Manila farmers (big-time exporters who only participate in Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem)—hosted exhibits here and in trade fairs abroad) to join the event in Greenhills.
Babiera said the reason is that they are hesitant that their products, most of which now possess a Western look but made of indigenous materials, might not be accepted by the Filipino market.
Of the 80 exporters that are members of the Philippine Chamber of Handicrafts, Exports and Producers, he was able to convince a few.
One of them is Olga Monti, president of OLM Treasures and an exhibitor in the Folk Arts Festival, misgiving such as these should be set aside by her colleagues in the business.
An exporter for 20 years now, Monti said she was very happy she joined the tiangge for she had been making money from it since its opening on March 11.
“I did not expect that the tiangge here in Greenhills can generate good business, even for us exporters. I am so overwhelmed with happiness. It is so pleasurable for me to talk and establish rapport with my customers. It feels like I chanced upon a gold mine,” Monti exclaimed.
Monti was delightfully surprised to find that Filipinos have the money to buy their stuff. She admitted that she did not even lower the prices of her products (ethnic furniture, home décor and handicrafts) but maintained the actual export retail price.
A clay jar she is selling for P2,200 costs over $200 abroad, while a lampshade made of pili-nut shell found in a famous spa in Switzerland is priced at P18,000. But if you buy it abroad, it will cost you a whopping $500. She exports her products in the United States, Japan, France and Dubai.
“The tiangge gives out an electrifying effect of enterprise. There is really cash flow. I’m so happy that Patepco convinced me. These companies, [which] are devoted in helping traders like us, should not only be idolized but supported.”
The Folk Arts Festival offers the best of export-quality native handicrafts and furniture. The show is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until April 3. It will only be closed on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Modern Greenhills
TODAY Greenhills is basking in modernity. For the past few years, it has undergone major renovations aimed at giving it a more modern or 21st-century book.
It now features a department store containing the latest local and imported brands; beauty shops; a newly revived Music Museum; a vibrant food strip that offers endless choices of restaurants; a badminton court; multilevel parking spaces; and more business establishments. Soon, more customers can look forward to more tiangges at Virramall, which is currently undergoing renovation. All these changes, according to Babiera, are being accomplished to make Greenhills attain its vision of being the best shopping and entertainment center in the country.
Rachel Balawid
1 comment
masasabi ko booming tlaga yung greenhills dahil sa shopping center nila na may tiangge at prang pangsosyal ang atmosphere lahat ay welcome walang pinipiling customer..