You know it’s Christmas when the air suddenly turns nippy and your heart gets giddy. You know Christmas is around the proverbial bend when you hear good old Christmas carols playing on the radio in September. You know it’s Christmas when you walk into Rustan’s Supermarket and your eyes sparkle at the sight of the most luscious holiday goodies amid the most festive decorations. You know it’s Christmas when the days are shorter and the nights are longer — and so are the store hours at Rustan’s Supermarkets Fresh.
Yes, Virginia, through the years, Rustan’s has been so much a part of our Christmas. Our cherished memories of Christmases past remain fresh and vivid as ever: the last-minute heart-stopping shopping for food to serve our loved ones at the family noche buena as well as goods and goodies to give to assorted friends and unexpected guests whom we expect to find at our doorstep — and dining table — Christmas after Christmas. But of course, no Christmas celebration is ever complete without Rustan’s Supermarkets, which is celebrating its first Christmas since it joined the Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc. umbrella.
“When we took over mid-November last year, we didn’t have time to prepare for Christmas,” says Crickette Tantoco, Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc. vice president of marketing and merchandising. “This Christmas, we’re calling it ‘Fresh and Fabulous’ because it marks the beginning of a new era for Rustan’s Supermarkets.”
To give its shoppers the merriest Christmas ever, everything’s coming up fresh and fabulous at Rustan’s Supermarkets Fresh. Yes, go ahead and get fresh — and fabulous — this Christmas and the whole year through.
“Aside from fresh products coming in from abroad, there will be fresh promotions, renovations, cooking demonstrations, fresh new concepts coming up such as new wine shops in select stores and, later on, a wine bar at Rustan’s Makati,” Frances Yu, Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc. assistant vice president of marketing, shares some fresh tidings.
Soon after Halloween, the Christmas decor is up and the Christmas hampers are out at Rustan’s Supermarkets. “We’re the only ones that decorate all our stores with holiday splendor,” Crickette is happy to note. “You’re in the supermarket more often than the stores so it shouldn’t be less festive. Also, nobody does a Traditions catalog for a supermarket the way we do — everybody sells Christmas baskets, but we put in extra effort to come out with a catalog (that surely makes Christmas shopping a breeze). We reach out to shoppers via mailers, radio/TV/print ads, and in-store communications. We save our best promotions for the holiday season. We bring in special products just for the holidays.”
Rustan’s Fresh recently kicked off the merriest — and “buyingest” — season of all with a One Night Only Sale, where prices were slashed by as much as 50 percent. Faster than you could say sale, goods were going, going, gone!
“We want to entice people to revisit Rustan’s Supermarkets and see a lot of positive changes that have transpired since last year,” Crickette points out.
For one, the goods are now more thoughtfully grouped together by category — or according to the order shoppers shop for their grocery needs. For another, the aisles are wider and brighter, you can linger longer while deciding on what to buy — and you don’t run the risk of running somebody over with your grocery cart.
For the legion of Rustan’s balik-shoppers, it’s a whole new shopping experience, made even more exciting by the endless enticing promos. Coming right up is the “Fabulous Cash” promo. Shoppers who purchase P3,000 worth of items automatically get a P100 gift certificate. “You just keep collecting these gift certificates so that by the time Christmas rolls around, you already have your Christmas shopping money,” notes the centavo-wise Crickette, herself a housewife and mom to three smart kids.
“Fabulous Cash” started last Nov. 5 and runs until Dec. 5. Shoppers can use the GCs they’ve accumulated in any Rustan’s store. Now, isn’t that simply fab?
And yes, Santa Claus has come to town. But holy smoke! Santa Claus looks different — he’s leaner, having dropped his paunch while still packing a punch in his colorful Victorian costume. Yes, jolly old St. Nick has traded his big fat red suit for a chic and sleek Victorian garb. And he sure knows who’s been naughty and who’s been nice so you’d better watch out.
Definitely, Santa will never catch the very competent and hardworking people of Rustan’s Fresh sleeping on the job and going back on their promises. “Transition was rough when we first took over because people don’t like change,” Crickette relates as she looks back. “It’s not about cheaper, it’s about delivering quality — from the experience to the goods. The guiding principle has remained constant and consistent through the years.”
“Rustan’s has always had a niche in the retail industry, it has always served discriminating, quality-conscious customers that cut across socio-economic incomes and ages,” asserts Frances. “Rustan’s has always kept that niche. On the other hand, Shopwise, which is a relatively new company (only eight years old) has found its niche, too. It serves a broader market segment different from Rustan’s and its guiding principle is quality for all. Shopwise focuses more on the working classes. However, Rustan’s tradition of quality lives on at Shopwise.”
“Shopwise is about accessibility, Rustan’s is about exclusivity,” Crickette defines the two brands. “They’re different from each other. And now, we have the flexibility of two formats: Rustan’s Supermarket and Shopwise.”
But then again, Rustan’s and Shopwise are so alike in the sense that they’re both constantly on the lookout for new things, new concepts. They’re always looking at opportunities for growth, looking to innovate and chart new territories. They never stop asking: What is it that consumers want to make their lives easier?
“Lifestyles have changed,” Frances observes. “The green movement and the healthy movement have become popular. I think these are the driving forces in the food industry today. Our customers are pioneers in that lifestyle. These new consumers read labels, they care about what they put in their bodies, they’re very health-conscious and very fit. They intend to live quality lives and Rustan’s is in the forefront of serving that emerging market.”
At Rustan’s Supermarkets Fresh, just how fresh is fresh?
Comes Crickette’s reassuring reply, “For example, meat is never frozen even if it comes from abroad; it’s chilled. Keeping it fresh has got to do with handling — from farm to store. It’s about food safety and product handling. We all have a part in that — from the suppliers who deliver the product to you to the store people who keep it for you — and from the consumers before they take it to their homes.”
The eggs are so fresh you can imagine a mother hen sitting on them. You can catch the aroma of freshly baked bread. And the meat is so fresh you can picture a Rustan’s Fresh store attendant trying to catch a frisky piglet. These and more fresh images can be gleaned from Rustan’s TV ad by Mark Meily, a la Night at the Museum or what happens at the supermarket when all the lights go off — and before shoppers rush in bright and early in the morning. “We launched ‘Go Ahead and Get Fresh with Rustan’s Supermarkets’ in July,” says Frances. “‘Fresh and Fabulous’ is a continuation of the relaunch of Rustan’s Supermarkets.”
Most certainly, the management of Rustan’s Supermarkets likes to get feedback fresh from their valued customers. “We keep up with changes in the retail industry via surveys, focus groups and, more intuitively, by keeping our ears on the ground, observing lifestyles, what’s happening around; going abroad and seeing what trends are happening there,” says Frances. “You have to do both; you have to listen to your customers formally and at the same time watch them informally.”
Always attuned not only to their customers’ needs but to their hearts’ desires as well, Rustan’s Supermarkets Fresh has put together a Christmas package that’s guaranteed to warm the heart — and the belly. This Christmas, Rustan’s Fresh has cooked up a series of activities, promos, cooking demos (to teach you how to make your own holiday giveaway goodies) every weekend in December. It has assembled the most delightful holiday gift baskets (priced from P199 up; baskets can be customized to suit your budget). Why, it has even come up with the most deli-cious baked treats and food-to-go platters just for this season of binging!
“Bon Appetit catering is one of the best-kept secrets of good quality food,” Crickette reveals. “You can just order and it can be delivered to you or it can be picked up.”
It’s those little things that make a big difference in our lives, that make Christmas more special. “Christmas is stressful enough so we try to make our customers’ lives easier,” says Crickette.
In the same breath, Crickette enthuses, “I love Christmas! I love Christmas carols in September, October, November, December! I love Christmas decor! I love it when the air changes and it starts to get dark. For us retailers, Christmas signals a pilgrimage back to the stores and for us, it means back-breaking labor, but I just love Christmas!”
To which, Frances is quick to add, “Even though it may be back-breaking, tiring, and a lot of hassle, do it with love, do it with joy, do it in the true spirit of Christmas. When you’re shopping and looking at the food you’ll serve your family, think of how many people you’re giving joy to. Giving, whether material or giving of yourself and your time, is generosity in the spirit of Christmas. I don’t believe people who say don’t give gifts on Christmas. It doesn’t have to be expensive. You just have to take time out, like cook a roast for the family, sweat over a hot stove, but do it with love. This Christmas, don’t forget the joy of giving; think of the people who are going to come together, think of the memories. Don’t be a Scrooge.”
The very thoughtful sisters Crickette and Frances are already thinking of how their families will be spending Christmas this year. “All the Tantocos have noche buena together; it starts with Mass at 10 p.m. We have dinner on the 24th and dinner on the 31st,” says Crickette. “But this year is doubly special because we have two cousins who are getting married; our parents are coming home from New York, and everybody’s flying in from New York, Hawaii.”
It will certainly be a very “marry” Christmas for the Yu clan.
But of course, there are no holidays for retailers like the people of Rustan’s Supermarkets. Like Santa’s persevering elves, they work deep into the night so that our Christmas morning will be bright and merry.
Meanwhile, let the countdown to a fresh and fabulous Christmas begin.