ALL five floors of Rustan’s Makati transformed into a giant party on April 17 at the launch of their summer campaign. The store’s windows had been dressed for summer, and guests walked around the store with drinks in their hands, and played games at different departments. All in all, a pretty great evening.
While there were several discounts only available during the evening, as well as a travel fair that ended last Sunday, the treats keep coming as the travel fair hops over to Rustan’s Shangri-La on April 27 to 28.
The fifth floor itself was transformed into a garden party, with “grass” everywhere, a DJ, and a wall with a bell you could ring for wine (a hand would pop up from behind the wall to hand you a glass).
Anton Huang, SSI Group, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer talked about the store’s transformation, as well as the campaign, in an interview. “I want something to generate warmth within the shopping environment. I don’t want anything stiff; I want greenery, lushness, and the like, and that is the guiding peg for the whole campaign.”
Mr. Huang succeeded his mother Zenaida “Nedy” Tantoco after her death earlier this year (he shares leadership with his cousin, Bienvenido “Donnie” Tantoco III). “We definitely miss her presence,” Mr. Huang said. “She was always a driving force behind our companies. We’ve been set up with a very professional structure for many years now. The business goes on; the operations go on. We have a strong management foundation, and things have been in place for quite a while,” he said.
Last week, BusinessWorld reported that SSI Group, Inc. saw an increase of 34% in its net income to “an all-time high of P2.58 billion” last year.
“I think at this point, we remain focused on making sure that the customer experience in our stores is top-notch and exactly as our customers expect them to be,” he told BusinessWorld. “It’s an ongoing effort to keep on making sure that we have the products that our customers want, and the time that they want them.” — Joseph L. Garcia
