Spill The Beans: A Dialogue about Retail

From strip malls to online shops, retail is evolving fast. One minute your business is on top, the next it’s gone. Trends have sparked changes in Filipino shopping; enterprises are now forced to adjust to the rapidly shifting markets and discover fresh hacks in order to thrive. 

Luckily for the 40+ people who gathered for the 2nd Spill the Beans last July 22 at Dulo, the state, impact, and how-tos of retail were revealed in a two-hour dialogue over free-flowing coffee. Spill the Beans is a quarterly get-together where ideas are shared, exchanged, and challenged. It is an initiative of PURVEYR and Yardstick that seeks to combine lecture, panel interview, and open forum to provide a maximum learning experience. 

But enough of the teasing. For those who missed it, Spill The Beans set things straight—the overall retail continues to grow, and despite the challenges, there still exists individuals who do a good job in the industry. Here are four faces of Philippine retail and their respective businesses that are continuously upping the retail game.

Edie Lim & Kevin Yapjoco

Co-owner and Manager, Signet

Signet is a specialty store that offers a range of menswear clothing—from handmade shoes, tailored suits, jackets, trousers, to shirts. Edie and Kevin disclosed that Signet ultimately serves a small number of gentlemen. This goes without saying that they do not target one-time purchases; they aim for long-term support. Loyalty is what they want to breed and what keeps their company intact to date. 

Mikko Barranda 

Associate Director, Leechiu Property Consultants

Leechiu Property Consultants is a local company that strives to redefine real estate services through promoting mutually beneficial bonds with its clients. To ace the game, Mikko and his team invest in predicting business trends and technological advances that in turn help them help their clients in finding real estate solutions, first and fast. This is one of the friendly tips he extended to the audience: If anything, timing and adaptability to new technology can go a long way.

Leon Foo

Founder & Owner, Papa Palheta

Papa Palheta is an independent coffee boutique that takes pride in producing specialty coffee through meticulous brewing and roasting techniques. Interacting face-to-face with his customers on a daily basis, Leon values the experience that his company offers to its market. It is part of their vision to begin with, to sell not only what you create, but also how you create.

– – –

As these experts shared their stories and pieces of advice, one thing was proven clear: Just when everyone thinks that the retail world is threatened, it only becomes more dynamic than ever, having so much more in store beyond its face value.

Check out more photos from the second Spill the Beans below, and catch the third installment of Spill the Beans soon. You could stay updated through the Spill the Beans Instagram. Plus, you could also watch the quick talks about "Handmade" by our panels in the first Spill the Beans on Youtube.