IT was Christmas in October in Dagupan, particularly at the CSI Stadia where the Second Sari-Sari Store Fair was held from Oct. 24 to 26 that attracted more than 80 producers and distributors from Manila.

Lion dancers welcomed sari-sari store owners and prospective entrepreneurs to the fair as the activities virtually transformed the event into a mini-fiesta, complete with sights and sounds.

The annual CSI Sari-Sari Store Fair is a three in-one activity because the households can buy goods at discounted prices directly from producers, they can be taught on how to start a small sari-sari store, and the sari-sari store owners can buy goods at preferred wholesale prices.

Councilor Librada Reyna (center), DOLE Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena
and Ed Poserio, chairman of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines,
Pangasinan chapter cut the ceremonial ribbon opening the CSI 2nd Sari-Sari Store Fair.

The producers erected their own ‘tiangges‘ where they displayed products suitable for merchandising in sari-sari stores in the countryside.

The significance of the affair was highlighted by the participation of government agencies led by the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Region I Wage Productivity Board, and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Pangasinan chapter, in the program.

Councilor Librada Reyna, Ed Poserio, Exequiel de Guzman,
DTI Director Florante Leal and DOLE Director Henry John Jalbuena
before the opening program.

Executives of multinational companies in the food industry led by Unilever and Nestle lent to the importance of the fair by attending the opening program in solidarity with the region’s sari-sari store owners.

This year’s Sari-Sari Store Fair saw the participation of government agencies and private trade groups as co-sponsors and brought into sharper focus the needed collaboration to enable family households to buy products at cheaper prices.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, the acting mayor of Dagupan, said she hoped the three-day fair helped prime all sari-sari stores in Region 1 not only for the coming holiday season but also help them survive the difficult economic period ahead.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez welcomes project
partners, participants and early shoppers to the
CSI 2nd Sari-Sari Store Fair.

In welcoming sari-sari store owners to the three-day fair, the vice mayor said the program was designed to teach the participants on how they can better manage their sari-sari stores even as she pointed out that “there is no substitute for efficiency and systematic way of running a business.”

Stressing the dictum “Tangkilikin ang Sariling Atin“, Fernandez said, suppliers collaborated to present new ways of cooking and serving traditional products ensuring their marketability against foreign and imported products.

CSI was started by the vice mayor’s late father, Jimmy Fernandez, who was a sari-sari store operator himself. But to city’s business groups, the CSI founder was no ordinary sari-sari store owner because he had big dreams for the store which the entire family supported.

Chinese dragon dancers provide the color to welcome
early buyers in the CSI 2nd Sari-Sari Store Fair.

DOLE Regional Director Henry John Jalbuena hailed Vice Mayor Fernandez and the CSI for making the initiative to address the non-wage benefits of the workers by providing them discounts in their purchases of consumer goods, a step considered by the Regional Wage Productivity Board as a “bold step”.

Both DOLE and DTI launched the so-called “Diskwento Caravan” to benefit the wage earners, especially the small ones.

He said the policy is in compliance with the Memorandum of Agreement that the Board signed with ECOP. Its implementation will be launched in Urdaneta City on November 7, to be followed by La Union, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

DTI Regional Director Florante Leal, Carl Cruz of Unilever
and Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez arrive at the fair site.

DTI Regional Director Florante Leal endorsed the Sari-Sari Store Fair as it gave shoppers a break to buy quality consumer goods at discounted prices.

The fair gave households opportunities to get and enjoy as much as a 70 per cent discount in their purchases, thus increasing their purchasing power as well as enhancing their access for affordable basic goods.

“The fair is appropriately held in October,” he said, “because it is the time of the year when the country observes the Consumer Welfare Month and Productivity Month.”

The annual fair drew plaudits from non-government bodies hailing it not only for the opportunities it provides households to buy goods at heavily discounted prices but more importantly, provides them opportunity to start their own small business.

Leal appreciated very much a portion of the fair wherein sari-sari store owners will have one-on-one talk with experts to coach them on how to start and operate a small business like a sari-sari store. LM

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