A lion’s share in the Bicol’s retail business

The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2017 has concluded its search for the country's most inspiring entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines is a program of the SGV Foundation, Inc. with the participation of co-presenters Department of Trad

FOR ANTONIO TAN, 64, the fire that destroyed his family’s businesses when he was younger was the catalyst for his determination.

Seeing how the loss devastated his father, Mr. Tan made it his mission to grow his family’s shop once it was rebuilt. This determination and his innate knack for finding solutions helped transform the dry goods store into a retail conglomerate in Bicol.

Mr. Tan graduated magna cum laude from Aquinas University-Legazpi with a degree in Business Administration major in Accounting. He is a certified

public accountant. He also pursued graduate studies at the Asian Institute of Management and has attended other local and international executive development programs.

In 1945, Mr. Tan’s parents established a small store called Liberty Bazaar, followed by a second store close to it. They sold dry goods, ready-to-wear items and other basic necessities. While he was still studying, Mr. Tan helped in running the stores and would accompany his father in dealing with purchasing and personnel matters. However, in 1977, disaster struck when both stores — which were the family’s main source of income — burned to the ground.

He recalls seeing his father sink into depression which, in turn, led him to increase his investment in the business.

After rebuilding the store, Mr. Tan initiated the expansion of product lines and transformed the customer’s experience. Despite his family’s initial apprehension, he spearheaded the construction of a second floor to include food items. He even implemented the basket system to improve customer shopping experience, establishing the first supermarket set-up in Tabaco, Albay.

Mr. Tan continued to explore other formats like combo stores ( supermarket and department store) and community malls. He replicated these models across the Bicol region and expanded to include various sections like bakeries and other food products. In time, Liberty Bazaar became a retail giant known as the Liberty Commercial Corp. (LCC) with 74 outlets of different formats.

Lion Commercial Corp. was incorporated in 2006 to support LCC’s expansion plans. It was conceived to address demand of the growing retail market as well as to develop technology that caters to the evolving customer preferences. Lion Commercial was envisioned to sustain its mother company’s market leadership by increasing LCC Express Mart and Supermarket outlets in the region.

With Bicol’s steady urbanization, many big players are slowly moving into the area — potentially affecting his market share. This is Mr. Tan’s greatest challenge at the moment. He also said that finding the right location for expansion has been difficult.

Despite these hurdles, Mr. Tan remains upbeat. He is confident that the group will maintain market leadership if it continues to upgrade its service.

“We cannot disregard the growing trends today,” Mr. Tan said on the topic of technology and online shopping.

He and his team are keeping up by developing their Web site and making some items available for online purchase.

But he believes that brick-and-mortar stores cannot be completely replaced by the online medium, which merely enhances customers’ shopping experience.

Innovation is an integral part of Lion Commercial’s dayto-day operations. It capitalizes on technology to reduce manual processes, using accounting and merchandising systems customized to suit the company’s and customers’ needs. Mr. Tan is looking to maximize the benefits of information technology by outsourcing system development while improving the capabilities of the in-house team for maintenance.

Lion Commercial has taken advantage of the entry of big retail players in the region. Its mother company has a joint venture with one of the biggest mall chains in the country. Mr. Tan believes that alliance is the name of the game, saying: “No one can be a specialist at everything.”

The company is active in corporate social responsibility programs. It maintains a fire truck and team that locals can call during emergencies. Mr. Tan also shares that, through LCC’s Foundation, the group has spearheaded community initiatives like back-to-school projects, Christmas donations and outreach missions to remote areas in the region.

In preparation for future expansion, Mr. Tan is considering some properties in strategic locations in Naga and Iriga cities. He is also looking to do business beyond the region.

Mr. Tan thinks that the group may go public in the next five to eight years, depending on the company’s development and the state of the economy.

Mr. Tan has been recognized for his contributions to business development in the Bicol region. The Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry awarded Mr. Tan the “Bicolano Business Person of the Year” during the 2012 Halyao Awards. He has also received awards from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-Region V and the Rotary Club of Tabaco Mayon.

Believing that “We should not be adverse to change,” Mr. Tan said change is constant and that it is possible to co-exist with it as long as people keep an open mind. He advises young entrepreneurs to have the courage and determination to embrace change. His many years in business has taught him this most important lesson.

The official airline of the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines 2017 is Philippine Airlines. Media sponsors are BusinessWorld and the ABS-CBN News Channel. Banquet Sponsors are Bench, Bounty Fresh Food, Inc.; CDO Foodsphere; Fiori Di Marghi; Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc.; Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc.; Intermed Marketing Phils., Inc.; Jollibee Foods Corp.; LBC; SteelAsia and Universal Harvester, Inc.

The winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2017 will be announced in an Oct. 18 awards banquet at the Makati Shangri-La hotel. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines will represent the country in the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2018. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program is produced globally by Ernst & Young.

ERRATUM

The Sept. 25 EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Philippines article on Liberito Espiritu, president of DATEM, Inc., read: “They were contracted to build the Eugenio Lopez Jr. (ELJ) building in Quezon City in only 30 days.” The sentence should read: “They were contracted to build the ELJ Communications Center Building studios in Quezon City in only 30 days.”