From the time PJ was born, he was led to believe that he could follow any career he wished. While his daddy, Pacifico Castro, was busy establishing branches of Kameraworld throughout the Philippines, PJ was shielded from the reality of having to take over the family business some day. When he was young, his daddy would often say, “PJ, you can follow whatever career you want.” So PJ had visions of being a pilot, flying Air Force planes.
Then it happened. His father died. In December, 2001, within six months of being diagnosed with leukemia, the successful businessman who opened 90 Kameraworld stores across the country, died. At the time of his death, 22-year-old PJ was in Europe studying. His mom, Teresa Rodriguez, took over the management of Kameraworld. “Until my dad passed away, she had no clue about running Kameraworld. She did not even know how to operate a camera but she learned. She got to meet the suppliers; she was able to find her way around. Yet her main interest is her Babyland stores.” The skills she developed from managing Babyland served her well but she wanted PJ to help her run the show.
“I guess I should have known that, as an only child, I would eventually run Kameraworld,” he says. Pacifico Castro, Jr. (PJ) came back from London and took over as business development manager. One of the first jobs that PJ had was to analyze the problems that the company was going through. “A major flaw was that we had branches without studying location. It was important for us to shut down some branches which were not performing well.” PJ identified that, apart from their having a location in the malls, they needed to be in other high-traffic volume areas.
The year 2001 was also when digital imaging was introduced so they had to invest in new machines and retrain their staff. “It used to be that our market was limited to Class A, but with the rise of the digital photos, more people had access to cameras and cell phones so the market opened up to include the B and C market,” PJ says.
Slowly, the heir began to understand the obstacles of his daddy’s business. With no franchisees, Kameraworld is the biggest individual dealer in the Philippines. Whereas their services had long focused on developing photos and selling film, PJ realized that keeping up with new services was what would keep them clicking.
“I just came from Singapore where I went to see this new machine which does not use chemicals and is more environmentally friendly, but again, it is an investment and expensive. Technology is expensive and changes so quickly but we have to keep up. We want to be the Macintosh of our industry,” says PJ.
Now that he is 28 years old, PJ is casual about wearing his title as president of Kameraworld. PJ says his role is more that of a mascot. “People don’t take mascots seriously. Every time there is a PR thing I have to be there like a person that someone has to talk to.”
Asked to describe his work, he offers one word without hesitation: “Challenging.” “I would say that I try to disturb the way people think. I try to challenge people a lot.” With over 400 employees, PJ is in the pilot’s seat trying to fly the company plane. “Another hurdle we are facing is that a lot of our staff is contractual. After six months, they are gone so it is difficult to get loyalty. Without loyalty, they have no heart for the job. These are people who monitor the front line. It is part of our challenge to help them to enjoy their job.”
Maybe because of his youth, PJ is sensitive to the realities that retailing is a hard job. There is not much room to grow. Few go into managerial positions. “It is a job that they do because they are out of college and need the money. We have to constantly train (new employees).”
So PJ decided that, to get Kameraworld to compete on a new level, managers would have to undergo an intensive training on personal development. “My main job is to jiggle their minds and open their eyes. I know that the biggest hindrance to learning is not ignorance but the assumption of knowledge,” says PJ. “To improve a company, you need to change the minds of the people running it. They are the soul of the company. The people at the back room need to know what our objectives are.”
PJ is convinced that, whereas years ago, the store could dictate what services they provided, today’s customers know what they want — and demand it. “Keep up with the change and be ahead of the change” is his motto and that includes his famous battle cry of “going beyond the stores.” An innovative example of this would be their service: “For instance, I am an OFW father who has not been home for months and it is my son’s graduation that I missed again. Instead of just sending money, I could send my picture. It is self-expression, where people want to connect with their relatives more and more. We download his photo and print it; if he wants the photo on a cake, then so be it. We deliver anywhere in the Philippines,” says the adventurous head of Kameraworld.
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Contact aurorawilson@gmail.com.