BUILDING FUTURE LEADERS

Creating her own narrative, XANDRA RAMOS-PADILLA adds another page to National Bookstore’s rich and successful history

For more than 75 years, National Bookstore, a stationery, book, and gift retailing business, has grown from a small corner space of a haberdashery situated at the foot of Escolta Bridge in Santa Cruz, Manila, to more than two hundred forty stores all over the Philippines. Xandra Ramos-Padilla, the granddaughter of co-founder Socorro Cáncio-Ramos, is the current Managing Director of the family business. She tells us of her beginnings, “My grandmother recruited me fresh from my college graduation. She made me go through the inner workings from the ground up. She made me go to the warehouse, work in the store in Megamall.” She even narrates her experience selling books and working behind the cashier. “I don’t think I could live with cashiering, it’s very hard,” she says with a laugh.

Graduating from the University of Ateneo de Manila and earning her MBA from Kellogg School of Management, one would wonder if the responsibility of taking on the responsibility her huge role entails was forced upon her. Xandra apparently enjoys her work, “I guess I’m lucky because books and stationery are my passion. And retail became my profession. So I was able to marry the two, and at the same time it’s my family’s business.”

Having first-hand experience working with those who pioneered the business, Xandra has made it a point to learn as much as she can. She cites a lesson from her grandmother’s wit and wisdom, “There’s no other way to success, you have to take the stairs.” Further elaborating,

“We have a lot of dreams and plans but it’s really not easy. It involves encouraging people to work together effectively.”

So far, Xandra is proud to say that the team has made the retail experience better through the years, constantly improving and innovating. “We’ve sourced products from all over the world. We are reinventing what a bookstore should be selling. We’re reinventing what the

bookstore is for the future,” she shares. For her, books and stationery are more than just pieces of paper, they represent various expressions of creativity. This mindset gives purpose to their organization.

Working in an industry that relies on print and publishing, Xandra relates how technology and digitalization play a role in their business. “I always get the question ‘Is book retailing dead?’ I think it’s still thriving. It’s just finding its own form,” she confidently says. “I think young people are very creative, they like content. And so we try to make books as experiential as possible by bringing authors, hosting literary events, and doing activities, like calligraphy. We’re making retail interactive. But I think young people have a choice. They’re still devouring and creating content—but maybe in different formats. I think some books are still going to be bought as print. Some books kasi are better off being consumed digitally,” she shares. The most important thing, she says, is that for everyone to tirelessly teach the next generation to read— regardless of form.

Even she herself uses online materials, but mostly for reference. Fiction and other literary addictions, however, are still consumed via print. Books, after all, are an entirely different sensorial experience. From the smell of a freshly opened paperback to the sound of pages flipping, reading print materials takes one’s imagination to an experience different from reading on a tablet.

With how much National Bookstore has expanded over the years, her work is definitely not as easy as one would think. “At two hundred forty-four stores, definitely supply chain is an issue because we need to be able to get a book out to all of our stores on a certain release date, and we have to bring it in from the US or from the publisher. There are other challenges, of course, such as constantly innovating our enterprise-wide systems,” she shares. And with a lot of stores to manage, Xandra ensures that she has a team that is competent and capable of delivering their best for their customers. “We get different people because I can’t do everything myself. Ordering, receiving, displaying—my lola used to do everything. With many stores, you need leaders everywhere, in all areas of the company. You want leaders with a growth mindset, who are entrepreneurial and take responsibility. Integrity is very important,” she says.

With a very busy schedule, Xandra still finds time to read every so often. Her favorite book of all time is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Currently, Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson is a well-loved read. Aside from inspirational and thought-provoking books, she also admits she’s very much into romance fiction, such as those written by Jojo Moyes and Sophie Kinsella. She also makes sure to have time to go out and catch up with friends over dinner, or travel to her favorite destinations, New York and Paris. More than her work, her achievements, and the benefits that go with it, she maintains that what’s essential for her is the journey to self-discovery. She says, “When you find your purpose, and you live your life according to it—consistent with your purpose, that, is a meaningful life.”