Wilcon Depot sets standard for home improvement shopping in Lipa
What’s your favorite part in Wilcon Depot? It could be the Designer Hub where you can ask for the resident interior designer’s assistance with the computer-aided designing software or, on your own, drag and drop the furniture pieces in your preferred themes and colors. It could be the Living, Kitchen and Bath setups where newlyweds get inspirations for their young home. Or it could be the store’s unique service, including its liberal approach in accepting returns simply because you changed your mind.
For Wilcon Depot SEVP and COO Rosemarie Ong, what she’s happy about is the range of choices that Wilcon offers under one roof. “We try to fit into whatever preferences, requirements, budget, taste and design style you have. We cater to every market segment. Of course, our products won’t be enough if we don’t give good customer service to our clients.”
Despite the high standard and gorgeous design of Wilcon Depot, each store offers complete segmentations in the products it carries. The company tries to fit into every market segment, catering quality but practical items for the budget-conscious; medium-priced items for affordable-premium pieces, and of course, high-end brands such as exclusive Italian and Spanish tiles.
To make more Filipino architects, interior designers and home improvement aficionados experience the best products and service at Wilcon Depot, the company is aggressive in opening new branches outside Metro Manila. Today, it opens its second and larger store branch in Batangas — the 46th Wilcon Depot store — in Lipa City.
With more than 10,000 square meters of space, the fresh addition will bring the same Wilcon Depot retail experience in terms of service, solutions and selections.
Ong adds, “In terms of presentation, it will be the same because we want to achieve uniformity and the same retail experience. But what sets Lipa apart is its being a very unique, progressive city. It has been dubbed as the ‘Little Rome of the Philippines’ because of so many churches, including the place of the miraculous rose petal shower, the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. But we also know that the city is very diverse in terms of economic development. It’s fully developed that has a high demand for housing and a lot of mixed-use projects, even the big developers are going into these new cities — and Lipa is one of those.”
More monikers have been attached to the charming city, including “City of All Seasons” thanks to actress and Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, and more recently, a “Next Wave City” for the BPO industry. The city is also an emerging educational hub in the Southern Tagalog province.
“We find the city really promising for Wilcon Depot especially because we’re trying to be more accessible to the market. We’re trying to set a standard. When we go to a new city or location, our main objective is to help them build their homes and, at the same time, set a good standard in terms of quality, in terms of providing solutions,” she furthers.
For the opening today, Wilcon Depot Lipa will have the traditional lion dance, ribboncutting ceremony and the blessing of facilities.
“It will be a very simple program that we do every time we open a store. We will eat together and thank the Lipeños for welcoming us in Lipa City. We have been welcomed well, from the time we were building the structure up to the time that we open. We felt the warmth of the Lipeños and we want to give back,” says Ong.
By opening a store in Lipa, Wilcon Depot also aims to help its local economy by providing employment to Lipeños. “That’s been our commitment to the city government of every locality we go to. We need more people for sales, administration and support, and we employ almost 200 people. In a way, we’re creating jobs.”