To Hub and To Hold

Hub you or hubn’t you visited the Hub? We hub – two hubs, in fact: one at Glorietta, Ayala Center, Makati and the other at Rockwell Center, Power Plant Mall, Makati. Opening only last September, the Hub at Rockwell had 45,000 visitors in October alone. The Glorietta Hub (Stall 242-245, Level 2, Glorietta IV) opened in January this year. On day one, the Glorietta Hub made a whopping P80,000 in sales – and the cash registers have since been merrily ringing.

So what makes the Hub so hot?

Globe Telecom’s state-of-the-art shop is a showcase of the latest communications gizmos on the market – as well as those not yet on the market.

"Yes, we do have the latest models of cell phones at the Hub," Lizanne Uychaco, vice president and group head, retail operations and centers management, tells us as she shows us around the new Hub at Rockwell, which has become a hub of activity in this part of the globe.

Aside from cell phones and the usual accessories the cell set just can’t do without, both techies and non-techies will marvel at the high-tech communications-related products. Wow! And you thought you’ve seen – and heard – everything!

You won’t miss the Hub at the third floor of Rockwell Center. The interiors are very space age, exuding a sense of airy spaciousness even in this no-space age. The set could have leaped out of a scifi movie – metallic walls, granite floors, glass-encased teasers, and more glass all over. A glass act, indeed!

The illuminated standees draw people like moths to a flame. The cashier counters remind you of a DJ’s bar. Metallic handyphone-designed display frames give viewers an up-close, 3D glimpse of the product samples. Catch some zany commercials from the wall glass murals. Go ahead, stop, look and listen! Or call. Yes, you can use the demo phones all over the place. Take your pick, text or call for free.

It’s what interactive shopping is all about. There are online links that allow you to have a hands-on info exchange on Globe updates. And there’s more. Wireless laptops take center stage, making online Globe applications (read: fast and paperless processing) possible.

Now you know why everybody’s cell-shocked. An unofficial survey tells us that a Filipino household would have one cell phone per member. Everybody has one, except the pets. These days, those who hub are at once drawn to Nokia’s latest offering: 8310.

"It’s got a radio, voice memo, and is GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) capable," says Al Adlawan of Globe.

There’s also Nokia’s 9210, that’s really more like a mobile office with its mobile multimedia and high-speed Internet access.

We were likewise drawn to the Trium mobile phones from Mitsubishi Electric Telecom – the fun phone with the funky flip. This 120g beauty’s WAP-able, and comes with a handsfree headset, and currency converter, among others. It can store up to 256 numbers on the SIM card and 100 numbers in the phone memory. You can have fun customizing it, what with its range of changeable flips and battery packs. All this for less than P3,000. Accessories include handsfree headset, travel charger, desktop charger, car charger and holder, easy car kit, belt clip, range of click-on packs, desktop holder, FM headset and carry case.

The latest message we received is that another Hub will be put up at SM Megamall. To date, there are two Globe hubs and 18 business centers all over Metro Manila. "What Globe is putting up at SM Megamall is a different concept store, geared towards the SM crowd," Al is happy to announce. "To differentiate a hub from a business center, a hub is really a showcase store."

Now you know the difference between the hubs and the hub-nots.