Live in the Philippines

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Things That Make Me Wonder

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Before the advent of the overpriced convenience stores like the Jiffy Mart, 7-11, Quick Stop appeared in my area of Dorchester. (Part of Boston)

Back in the 1950 & 60’s we only had the corner store, ran by mom & pop “Whoever” that provided the everyday items between trips to the Stop & Shop or Elm Farm or other big grocery stores. A point for you to ponder, in your life have you ever seen a convenience store under construction, or one morning as you drove by it was just there?

This was the very reason why the Sari-sari stores made perfect sense to me when I first sailed into Subic Bay in the late 1960’s. The idea was the same as the corner stores I grew up with, except in Boston they were at the end of the street, instead of being every 50 feet on the street as they are here. I rented a house in Gordon Heights in Olongapo on Dianan Street, and was the only house without a open Sari-sari Store. There were nine houses on this dead-end street and we had eight stores, I always thought I should open the one in my front yard, but I found out that store was not included within the lease. It was P 1,500 extra. When we built our house in Bataan I saw on the blue prints a Sari-sari planed for the front of our house. Not the blueprints I had approved!

I must find away to put the kibosh on that without ruffling the feathers of my darling wife.

The Navy and now the Military Sealift Command paid me to solve problems. So I asked her if I didn’t make enough money to support our family. My wife told me of course I do, so honey when I retire will my wonderful wife spend her day in the store and not going out to lunch with me?

During retirement will I have to sit and hear “Knock-Knock” all-day while my wife must run out to the store and sell a 50 centavo piece of candy to those cute kids in the neighborhood? Problem solved! She cancelled the proposed Sari-sari in front of our house.

And one more problem disappeared six months later as I tore out the guts of our doorbell that those cute kids loved to run by and push the button on. 17 years later I smile when a visitor tries ringing the bell, and then knocks on the gate. But the new group of kids still thinks it works and they get great pleasure out of pushing the button.

Also I’ve noted that the lifespan of a Sari-sari is short, mainly because of the utang (Loans), there are two types, the Indian guy (From Asia not the Americas that the Europeans misnamed in 1492)  the one on the motorcycle with a turban as a helmet lending to the store owner on the 5-6 program. (Every 5 peso you borrow you pay back six peso) But the Turbaned guy never wants the principle only the interest. In Boston they worked for the Irish mob and were called loan sharks. In the Philippines they don’t break legs to collect. Much more civilized! It is called “Pautang Five-Six”, Google it if you would like to learn more.

Then there is the utang given to customers, who seldom pay the store back, and when the store cuts them off for non-payment they move up 50 feet to the next store and start borrowing anew.

The last thing on the inevitable road to bankruptcy is the store owner’s family, who will use the story as their own pantry and just take what they want without paying and it closes the store very fast for that family.

A few weeks later the store will open once more under new management and the cycle will begin once again.

Addendum:

When I owned my bars in Puerto Rico, if I bought a customer a drink, every employee saw me reach into my pocket and pay for it.

My drinks, I never drank in my own bar! If a customer wanted to buy me a drink, I would take them a couple of doors down to a kiosk open style bar and explain I didn’t drink in my bar.

As for a customer  wanting a TAB, I’d smile and tell the customer that I didn’t want to lose their friendship, in case their tab got so high they were ashamed that that they couldn’t pay it and stopped coming around!

The truth: As I’d be thinking to myself,

You got all dressed up to come to my Night Club with that beautiful girl and didn’t bring any money??? (He’ll be home sleeping with his wife in a few hours!)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Your ding-dong problem made me laugh when I considered that you could mount a 120dB klaxon on top of the post housing your ding-dong, pointing straight down at whatever small fingers might care to repeatedly annoy the entire baranguay.

  2. Hahaha… Your adventures with the door bell reminded me of my own in Tagaytay, but I fixed it the naughty way… I did set up a little circuit breaker of my own with a 9 volts battery, and when the kiddos got jolted a few times (very slightly though, I am not a kid murderer ^^), they stopped harassing my poor bell 😉

    Probably some left wing upper class milf from Geneva would scream in outrage that I am a monster, but hey ! a little “slap” on the fingers is better than hours of useless rantings !!!

    • Tripack
      No doubt that would ruffle the feathers of a few snowflakes and send them looking for a safe space so they will feel protected! (LOL)

  3. Love it, Paul,
    I was a little kid when I saw my first 7 – 11. That was down in Florida, where my grandparents lived. I suppose Florida was more “civilized” than rural Southwest Virginia, where I lived. The 7 – 11s actually opened at 7:00 AM, and closed t 11:00 PM back then.
    By the time I was a teenager, there were various types of convenience stores all over. We still did most of our “convenience” shopping at the little general store across the highway from our house. We could get groceries, gas, tools, or horse feed from them.
    I do like the sari-saris. If one doesn’t have what you like, the next one over might. They are also more versatile than a convenience store could ever be. Back when we were just starting up and camping on our ranch, we could place an order for real groceries, Fresh eggs, meat, vegetables etc. at the little sar- sari at the bottom of the mountain. Next day we could pick it up and have Panday, the carabao guy haul it up the mountain for us.
    We have a button on our gate, and a bell mounted on the wall at our boarding house. I’ve never heard it ring. I suspect the housekeeper disabled it the first week we were open for business.

    • Pete;
      7-11 was started to launder money, but it made money and was sols to the Southland Corp. Your general stores sound similar to my “Corner Stores” I laugh because here in Olongapo, the new 7-11 is open 24 hours, but only once in a while. I’ve seen them closed many times. (LOL)

  5. Haha, I feel you when it comes to sari-sari stores. My in-laws have an inactive one at the front of their side of the compound, attached to the first house. One of my sisters-in-law uses it as a pantry for the last house on that side. It’s hilarious to watch one of them go back and forth getting what they need to cook with.

    • RT
      Quick question, who the heck restocks it? I have a Sari-Sari next door owned by a couple who seem to be doing well, and no 5-6 guy named Balbo with a turban ever stops there, so I assume they don’t have a loan, and they damn sure don’t give credit.

      • They do. Their house has no fridge or cupboards. I guess it’s easier to use the abandoned store than to upgrade the house.

        Some sari-sari stores do well. One at the bottom of the hill on my street seems to do very well. They don’t offer credit and they don’t borrow either. The secret is that they’re very good at separating business from friends and family.

          • Bradley;
            So true but there are exceptions: I owned two bars in Puerto Rico in which I retailed both food and booze and I never had those problems. The trick I found is never try to live off the profits during the first year.

        • RT
          True I’ve seen some do well; we had one on my street that in 18 years is under the same ownership. The only credit they give is credit for trying to get it!

  6. Hi Paul,

    You nailed this article on Sari Sari stores! They can be “successful”, but when they are the owner has to be attending to customers all day for a very small profit on each sell. If the owner tries to make a bigger profit then there is no business as the competition is only a very short walk away. The problems you cover very well and even when the store works it interrupts the tranquility of the home with the constant interruption of customers.

    Peace

    Jay

    • Jay;
      That was what I was conveying to my wife, 17 years later we still haven’t ran out of money so now she knows that this one time. I was right. (LOL)

      • Hi Paul,

        My wife’s eldest sister knows how to run a Sari Sari store. She had one in Manila when I visited. She might have made 500 pesos a day which is actually not bad by Filipino standards on it, but was constantly working. It can be done, but it would not be worth it to me either.

        Peace

        Jay

        • Jay;
          Taking in P 500.00 per day, is that profit or total sales? If profit she is doing quite well, and has money to restock. In my bar in Puerto Rico, if I took in $ 2,000.00 on Friday night, after I subtract operating costs (a 12 Ton AC Unit) salaries, restocking beer and booze the following day. the profit margin was not what my friends thought. I made good money, but by no means was it pouring in.

          • In the mid-eighties, I was recruited to be a marketing and finance advisors to the Philippines Ministry of Agriculture Bureau of Cooperatives in an agreement between USA and The Philippines. Your question “..is that profit or total sales?”hits the nail on the head. I mentored 100’s of farmers and coop administrators over a two year period with that being the premise. Only 2 -5 % could (or would) grasp that concept. Too many issues in their lives drives them to see short term and use any money in the cash register (handkerchief) to pay their debts, pay hospital bills, or try to live a life far beyond their means. Those that do grasp it, learn to reinvest and follow like wise business practices can be very successful. Sari-Sari stores would not be high on my list of recommended businesses to begin.

            • angkoldoy;
              I saw the same thing in Puerto Rico, as people would open different types of enterprises and never learn that profit only occurs after all cost of business obligations are met. In other words while growing your business there should be no “Cash Profit” as any profit should be folded back into your business after you pay yourself back the money invested. By doing this I was able to open a second bar using the same amount I invested in the first bar. But I did have a retirement check and savings to live on, as I knew my businesses could never support me the first couple of years.

  7. Its not just limited to sari sari stores. My asawa and I bought her mother and stepfather a motorcycle/trike so they can live without a monthly income from us. This last visit my asawa asked why they had no income. Long story short, they don’t save any of the profits to maintain the motorcycle. so. they live on entirely on the profit…until something breaks. Then they have to borrow (5/6) to fix it. They are now in business to pay loans I guess.

    • Michael;
      My neighbor’s stateside family bought him a Jeepney, he rented it out and it kept breaking down. The fact was his driver was driving it and not paying the P1, 000.00 per day. He ended up selling it and would you believe the driver bought it! (I do) (LOL)

  9. I gave my future step-daughters enough to start a small sari-sari during their school break and told them I was going to quit sending pocket money for a while. When they realized their relatives were mooching and they had lost all their inventory, the eldest at 13 wanted me to knee cap ’em (something she learned about on the internet). The 2 girls learned a valuable business lesson and pocket money has since been restored. We will try it again next year and see if they remember their lessons.

    • Bradley;
      A great lesson indeed, I’ll wager there will be no Sari-Sari next year unless the relatives move.(LOL)

      • My 13 year old is actually thinking bigger and wants to open a ukay-ukay. Of course she also wants me to smuggle in her stock

        • Bradley;
          Your little girl is a genius, even I like a ukay-ukay store, but I just wait until the stuff donated for a natural disaster is diverted to retail by customs.(LOL)

          • i did notice that most of what she wants me bring were her size, so there might have been ulterior motives. Then again a 5′ tall Filipina isn’t exactly uncommon.

            • Bradley;
              When our girls were teens I was still working on ships, When my time was up I’d pack up everything in my stateroom and send it to the office in Oakland. My two hard sided luggage were used to bring presents to my three ladies. I would go to a large dept. stores find a floor manager and explain I need to borrow a young Piney employee to help me shop. I would tell the young lady I needed rubber shoes, perfume the latest brand of watches and more. No two items could be the same but I needed two of each. My wife I took care of at the gold suke in the UAE. When I got home I set the bags down and told them to have at it.

  10. Marjorie;
    Sounds like the mom & pop corner store that I grew up with. The big money drove them all out of business. In your town (Village) did you have a group of little stores that thrived until the local powers to be put in parking meters and drove all the customers to the big box stores with free parking?