Papa, mama, SM
I don’t remember uttering these words as a child, but I am sure generations and generations of children did.
Henry Sy’s empire after all spanned generations and generations of Filipinos and has become, one way or another, a part of our culture, retail identity and way of life.
It is now the biggest conglomerate in the country and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia.
There’s no doubt we all have memories of Shoemart or SM. My mother used to take my brothers and me to department stores every year whenever school was about to start. She would usually buy us new shoes. And if we didn’t go to COD in Cubao, we went shopping at SM stores.
When I was a sixth grader at JASMS School in Quezon City, my friends and I would cut class and take the bus to SM North EDSA to hang out, unknown to our fetchers, teachers and our parents. It was a two-minute bus ride or even less but wow, it was a sixth grader’s wildest adventure.
When people ask me where I live, they usually ask for the nearest SM. When I was in college, I went to SM with my college sweetheart to buy books.
My memories with an “SM” can go on and on. Nowadays, I don’t go to malls that often anymore because of the crowd and the trouble of finding a parking space but when there’s some tech stuff I badly need, I still drive to SM North EDSA.
SM indeed has become so big. But becoming the giant that it is now wasn’t easy.
Last week, SM Investments Corp. chairman Jose Sio, the accounting whiz who now chairs the conglomerate, graced a forum organized by the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. and shared with the crowd of Filipino-Chinese businessmen the empire’s secrets to success.
Sy’s success story Sy’s success story has been told and retold. But during the dinner, Sio said there’s more to tell and that it would take more than a day to talk about it.
But the little that is known to people is already inspiring enough and is sure to leave everyone in awe.
The story goes that Sy, a poor boy from Fujian, China, packed some clothes and left for the Philippines at the age of 12. He joined his father, who was already in Manila running a small sari-sari store in Echague St. in Quiapo, in the heart of Manila’s belly.
It was their way to escape from poverty. The year was 1936 and starvation was sweeping China as communists and nationalists battled for power. But upon seeing his father, Sy cried. “I saw how difficult life was for him, his struggle and hard work to earn a living with that small store, so I cried,” Sy said in an interview published in the February 2004 issue of Time.
At that moment, Sy promised himself he would strive for a better life.
While other kids his age spent their time playing, Sy helped his father in the store, day in and day out.
He devised ways to increase their income by developing small portions of products — what would be the modern day’s sachets available in the supermarkets.
At night, after a day’s work, they would clear the table and sleep there.
Life was, indeed, hard at the beginning for the man who would later become the country’s richest.
Core competence Sharing the secrets to SM’s success, Sio said Sy had a vision for the SM Group and that he was very focused on what he knows and his core competencies – retail, banking and real estate. Sy was also not afraid to hire people outside the family.
Hard work Sy also believed there is no substitute for hardwork. “There is no substitute for hard work. There is no such thing as an overnight success, or easy money,” Sy has been quoted as saying. And it all starts with a dream, he said. “You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan well, focus, work hard, and be very determined to achieve your goals.”
He eventually realized that a sari-sari store can only grow so much.
After the Second World war ended in 1945, he started selling American shoes, brought by enterprising GIs. He roamed the streets of Manila to peddle the shoes.
The shoes came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, different colors and hues, too --rubber, Converse-style, with patriotic blue and red pinstripes; full leather soled with six spikes; or the rough and tough military boots. And for the women, short slender heeled shoes or pumps or the Ruby slipper worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.
Indeed, Sio said there are many secrets to Sy’s success, but nothing that only he could do. In fact, his story has shown that it can be done.
Moving forward, he said the SM Group continuously thinks of how to survive the changing business landscape brought about by the dizzying speed of technological development.
With Sy’s vision carried on by his children led by Tessie Sy-Coson, there’s no doubt that SM will remain a part of our lives and generations and generations of children will keep on saying, “Papa, Mama, SM.”
Women mentoring women Speaking of father and daughter tandems, Philippine coffee guru and social entrepreneur Chit Juan shared with me the good news that the Women’s Business Council Philippines and HBC Inc. will hold a “Women Mentoring Women (W2W) Talk on Fathers for Daughters.”
“Research has shown how fathers’ active and authentic parental involvement boosts their children’s academic, emotional and social stability. In this talk, the organizers invited successful father and daughter teams to talk about how to build next generation business mindsets,” according to the invite sent by Chit. The event will be held on March 22 in Makati.
Iris Gonzales’ e-mail address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com