Her business is a large-scale version of sari-sari stores. Quite a much bigger version.

      But she, too, started out small.

      And her success story serves as a living inspiration for retail shop owners.

      Belen Fernandez, president and chief executive officer of the City Supermarket Inc. (CSI) Group of Companies and incumbent vice mayor of Dagupan City, started out with their family’s small grocery business which was started by her father, Jimmy Fernandez, who unfortunately passed away when Belen was much younger.

FERNANDEZ

      Belen was driven by her desire to give her siblings a better life.

      The store, then called City Grocery, eventually expanded into several branches and the Fernandez business seemed on its way to even bigger ventures when the 1990 earthquake shook and brought Dagupan to rubble.

But Fernandez’s spirit was not shaken nor broken down.

She courageously set up a new store along the devastated A.B. Fernandez Avenue.

A neighboring mall soon followed and the rest, as they say, is history.

“You are an icon of all sari-sari store owners and now you are sharing with them the secrets of your success,” said Gina de Venecia, wife of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., during the recently-concluded first Sari-sari Store exhibit sponsored by the CSI group.

The CSI group of companies currently operates malls not just around Pangasinan but in neighboring provinces as well.

The main store is the CSI The City Mall at the Lucao District, the area that is proving to be the extension for the downtown business center.

The Jimmy Fernandez Stadia, amulti-million peso fully air-conditioned multi-purpose venue located beside The City Mall, was recently opened. It can serve as a venue for concerts, basketball games, seminars, and special occasions such as weddings.

Fernandez said her success comes from dedication, sincerity to customers, giving them affordable prices and perseverance.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

But Fernandez has not been merely all about business.

Just as she was busy building up her stores, she also started sponsoring day care centers in Dagupan City.

Today, she is the benefactor of more than 30 day care centers in the city.

“Her success comes with social responsibility,” said Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., her running mate during the May election where she handily won 85% of the city’s vote.

“We admire her commitment. It gives meaning and purpose to the vision inspired by their late father Jimmy Fernandez,” the mayor added.

Next year, another branch of their grocery/mall will be opened in Bayambang town. #

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