LGR attaches brand to sports-loving Filipinos with wide array of apparel and a league of its own LGR HOOPS: A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN
“We’re studying it right now — to have our own outlets in the malls, probably later on. That’s my dream. When you to go Thailand, you have FBT. We don’t have to focus on the big international brands. We have to focus on being a Filipino. When you go to Thailand, they support FBT. FBT put up a building, all sports. First floor, second floor, basketball, football, volleyball. I just hope we can bring LGR to that direction,” he added.
Gradually, LGR has made its presence felt in the RTW business even though its bold plan has to wait.
“The target and I’ve discussed it with the family, that in three years time, we would like to bring the brand out to the mall. Right now, we’re thinking of Global City in Taguig. In three years time, in the malls. Because Titan is also my partner, we also do customized apparels. Our partnership has been running three years now. We’ve become attached to Class A group. Titan is high-end brand, high-end distributor. So we partnered with them,” said Cruz.
But Cruz’s dream of branching it in the malls may turn out to be a reality soon as they’ve started to partner with the SM Group.
“Aside from Titan, we cater to the other classes. We partnered with SM. Class C and D is our market for RTW. The direction is so promising given to me by Sir Harley Sy. Up to now, we’re doing good because we have our men’s wear, active brand, which we supply. We’re also supplying 60 stores in SM,” said Cruz.
Basketball is one sport that very much attached to Filipinos and Cruz is one of those who loves the game so much.
For love of the game, LGR decided to put up its own basketball league — the LGR Hoops, which is currently going on its Season 4.
“The story started, when my friend, Ariel Cerantes, encouraged me to go back and play basketball. When I started to have kids and have my own family, I stopped socializing with friends and concentrated on work and family. Your focus is how you will make a living for your family, both my immediate family and my original family. Then, we became so blessed. We were able to help a lot of people. I lost some friends because I stopped socializing with them. But my partner, Ariel, involved me in basketball. He encouraged me to play. That inspired me to put up a league,” said Cruz. “We talked in putting up LGR Hoops. This is also a good marketing vehicle for LGR.”
As fast as Cruz was able to get his market in the sporting world, he was able to do the same thing in the LGR Hoops. Participants have grown by the numbers competing in different divisions.
“Last year lang kami nag- start ng LGR Hoops. We started with 30 teams. By Season 3, we almost have 80 teams,” he added.
To make it more attractive to participants, LGR Hoops made sure they will provide a copy of live stats broken down and distributed every half.
“The types of teams are mixed. We created a corporate division to tap players within the company. Then, we have a novice for those aspiring players who want to be better. Then, we created a Novice Plus for those people who want to take their game to the next level and those aspiring players to play in the big leagues, for example those who want to join the DLeague or next level. I play in the Novice, for recreational. We’re doing good because we have a good feedback and a good commercial vehicle for LGR Hoops. We invested on it. Each time we play, we have live stats. First half, we give the live stats. We give it every half and during the end of the game. Probably, this is an innovation which is not being used by other competitor leagues. Later on, we might go live streaming probably. Who knows, we might cater to those who would request us to put up a league for them,” said Cruz. —