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As in our and maybe your purok and following generations old Sari-sari guidelines are still adhered to, there is an unwritten rule that there must be a Sari-sari store no further than 50 meters from the next one, they can be nearer if need be but a person should never be required to walk more than one minute to get to one.
I once lived on a dead end street in Olongapo that had twelve houses and seven had a Sari-sari store attached. (I believe the remaining five were bankrupted) Knowing that they all sell exactly the same thing at exactly the same price the competition must be fierce.
But as I popped open my adult beverage and pondered over that burning question, I thought; “With me it is the temperature of the bottled consumable plus did they keep more than three in stock? The answer was sometimes NIS and warm beer. One of the main reasons I soon purchased a separate beer Ref for myself. And out of respect I kept it in the closed Sari-sari store on the lot I was renting, as it seemed like the correct thing to do.
- That Light bulb moment
- Collecting stray basura on our wall
- Mayang’s daily chore
With more beverages I gave more thought as to why the phenomenon existed Then I had that “Light-bulb Moment” (I seem to have them all the time) as I remembered that if you needed a vulcanizer they were all on one street lined up one after the other in every town The same rule apprises to all trades, the Fan Repair, auto upholstery and so many others and least we forget bars! All in a row (Except in Tagaytay where all is neat and orderly) If you want a quick lunch at the Pinoy fast food stall pick anyone of the dozens of kiosks lined up on that side street.
I think I’ve laid a good background of established tried and true business practices here in our neck of the woods, (Except that one guy in Tagaytay who lives in that perfect place) But the rest of us could agree that I’m fairly accurate.
Now for how it is on my (Ilang-Ilang) street in my section of the world. Did you ever notice the redundancy in naming thing? The Bahak-bahak Market or my friend lives in Balik-balik, Sari sari store and so on. I’m still working that out.
We, as do you also have the prerequisite Sari-sari every 50 meters, plus I’ve added more beer and no wisdom to my ponderings and have concluded that it is a cult of personality, that is the determination between success or failure of the stores. (Well the Indian guy on the 90cc motorbike with the turban collecting the interest on the 5-6 loans also has something to do with it)
I’ll use my street and the 150 meter section of which I’m in the middle of as an example. To my left is Bobby’s Store, it is well built and professionally run. Carrying fresh products and regular prices, the down side is thick screens which prevent you from viewing the stock and they open at 1200 and close at 2200, but hell you should know what the stock is anyway, and they have only been in business about 6 months.
- The Sari-sari to my left
- The Lady Boy’s Sari-sari to my right
The store on my right and across the street is a small wide open place that carries most of the required items again at regular prices. Now to my theory of “The Cult of Personality” this store is ran by a tall slim very well dressed “Lady-boy” who every woman in the purok is now friends with, the store in the evening it has become the hang around spot with the ladies (Plus more single guys than should be there!) If I need my wife around sunset I know where to find her. On Friday night there is a party with the consumption of “Emparaflu Lite” which goes on until late.
Now I do not attend those functions, but only because that is Mayang’s social time and not mine (That is my decision, because I get my time when I want it) Also please do not assume that I’m a homophobic as I’m of the school of live and let live. Albeit Bruce Jenner seems a bit odd to me waking up in his sixties and deciding he was wrong for six decades. But he is now the spokesperson for Half &Half coffee creamer. That worked out well.
The Great Divide in the United States AKA the continental divide separates rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean from rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico On my street it is the front of my house that collects all trash from both Sari-sari stores as those wrappers will stay in a person’s hand as long as it takes to consume it. Then due to the spacing and direction travelled, it collects at my gate. Maybe I’m the one who should be the one to place the litter can in front of my house? .But remember no one litters in Tagaytay its still perfect there.
Did you notice how I wandered around the subject to get to my point about the litter? I amaze myself sometimes while having a beer and overlooking the Great Divide but as always it was an interesting trip.
Special note: Palawan is the cleanest place I’ve seen in the Philippines! (“Hey, I know yours is cleaner, but I’ve not been there yet!”
I love Philippines,presko ang hangin,presko mga pagkaon,mga buotan ug maayo ang mga Pilipino Bob Martin.?
Lagi, Jericho Gillette
Im not sure if your keyword is beer or ladyboy , good read either way
Ben;
Thank you sir! It must be beer as our Ladyboy never got an award from the media for courage. (lol)
Sir…….. yes your in the Phils lol
Perhaps if you drank more Redhorse , The ladyboy would have won
Ben;
The Sir goes back to a Dorchester (Section of Boston) upbringing and 35 years at sea both Navy and Merchant Seaman.
If I ever feel the need to put myself out of the picture quickly, I will start drinking RedHorse. Wait I never will!!!!!! (lol)
If u put that garbage can out front u better chain it
Lenny;
If it does get stolen, I promise I won’t report it. (lol)
Hi Paul, We only have one sari-sari store next to us because we are in a barangay that is a bit away from the town proper, and almost borders the next town over. I think that we are their biggest customer for coke. Problem is sometimes the soft drink truck runs out of stock before it reaches us even though we’re right on the old national road. Same with the beer truck, so we end up stocking our own stash from the city supermarkets. Unlike you we also like to get get some of that that San Miguel apple flavored… Read more »
Queenie;
I-95 entering Florida and the sign in 1967 read “Littering $500.00 fine, being Navy that was two months pay. I’ve never littered since that day, I keep a litter bag in my car, and I’ll find a trash bin to use when I’m walking.
I pay a guy once a month to clean the empty lot next to my house, but I claim the bananas because of that. (lol)
My beer and soda guys delivers, I didn’t know you could buy it in stores? (lol) Sari- sari stores should be required to have trash bins at every store.
Nice article Paul. Love it….
Greg;
Thank you Shipmate!
I need to find one of those delivery guys for the beer & soda. It is just to darn far for me to pack it up here on the mountain. Hard enough just getting me up here. Thanks for the company the other night and I guess the liquid refreshments must have caused short term memory loss as I put the lighter fluid in the front seat and set in the back seat on the return and forgot all about the fluid. I guess we will just have to get together again for the passing of the fluid.
Loren;
I found the Zippo fluid Saturday and quickly figured out what had happened. Blame it on the rum, check with a couple of your local Sari-sari stores and ask who delivers to them. I shout at you latter and we’ll do the Pancake House.
Mr. Paul T., I love the way you zinged on Tagaytay City… or was it for the dude who lives in that city where you could see Taal (which is in Batangas)? Anyway, another good article. Stars & Stripes and Military. com writers has nothing on you! Cheers and enjoy your SMB.
Jose;
Just in case he reads LiP I didn’t want to send him on another diatribe, I get enough of them from other idiots. (lol)
Paul,
LOL- Love your postings.
Our street only has 2 Sari-Sari stores and one restaurant on it. So we don’t have all the Sari-Sari stores you have. But then there are only 4 houses on our street.
One Sari-Sari store is renting some space. What a great idea to make some extra cash, right? A real capitalist at work. The capitalists only requirement (which is minor): Don’t sell anything he’s selling. Makes sense to him. Trouble is he’s selling everything from beer/food to screws. Hum!!!!!!
Rusty
Rusty,
Four houses and only two stores?
Sounds underrepresented, but the restaurant might be part of the Sari-sari rules. Open your own store and sell only to your house, make sure to mark it up so you clear a profit every month. (Damn I like that idea so much I’m gonna’ do it myself!
3 sari-saris within 50 metres of my house. Knew an American who owned one a kilometer or so from here. I used to sit and have coffee with him. He told me how many cigarettes and candies he needed to sell just to make a peso profit. Was more than a handfull that’s for sure. Maybe he was unlike Filipinos and was deducting his expenses from his earnings at the end of the month! lol Needless to say, he is not in that business anymore. Littering is a bad habit here. Putting your trash in the bin should be taught… Read more »
Adam;
The other downside to owing a store is the “Knock Knock” all day and night to sell a piece of candy at 50 centavos. While building our house my wife was going to build one (Sari-sari), I called from the UAE and said I’d knock it down if she did.
As for AIDS, regular folk can get it too. I let people do what they want as long as they don’t preach to me about it.
Paul,
LOL -Probably the only reason there aren’t more Sari-Sari stores on our street is that we own 2/3rds of the street. In 1995 when we bought the land no one wanted to live 10 miles outside of the major town. They thought I was nuts. Which is probably true.
The Lady-Boy is a thought. I could open a little shop, as something to do, and the Lady-Boy would at least bring in the women. Women do, after all, always want to eat. At least my wife does.
Rusty
Rusty;
It seems to attract single guys also, and they sell the hell out of Redhorse when the ladies go home. Buying most of the street is a good way to avoid a troublesome neighbor. (lol)
Paul,
The smoke. The smoke. Seems if one buys the whole area someone is going to burn and drive one nuts. A friend said I should be glad they are killing my bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Where do they think I live.
I even use detergent with lemon to kill the ants. Actually white vinegar and water keeps ants away better than detergent with lemon.
The ants hate the smell of vinegar. So they move on.
Rusty;
I’m so green, I let the thousands of bats roosting in my window overhangs take care of all flying bugs and the hundreds of lizards on the wall eat the ants. Vinegar I use on my fish and chip’s! (lol) With a SMB on the side.
Paul, Thank you great article.
Luke;
You are very much welcome, and thank you for reading it!
Paul,
The 50 meter rule doesn’t apply to our subdivision. We might have 5 stores in the whole subdivision. I generally don’t use them, but Anne visits them when she forgets something at the supermarket.
Ah Papa Duck;
You are missing so much, the sheer pleasure of being told “Not In Stock” 14 times in a row. (lol) They (Sari-sari) are the reason I stock up on everything so I don’t have to go there.