Rustan’s: All heart, all soul, all winners

A Christmas display window coming from the heart and soul recently won two awards for the Philippines.

Rustan’s, our very own top department store and lifestyle retail chain in the Philippines, won two international awards, proving that the best of our Filipino retailers is indeed world-class.

Rustan Commercial Corporation is this year’s Global Innovator Awards Pan Asia winner, an award based on retail excellence in home ware. Retail Asia Magazine, responsible for nominating from the Pan Asia region, chose Rustan’s over department stores in Bangkok and Indonesia. Rustan’s joined winners from other regions in Chicago for the conferment of the awards.

The Martin Pegler Award is the second honor garnered by Rustan’s. This award is given for excellent visual display of windows. Nominees come from the entire retail industry worldwide and only one winner is chosen annually. Rustan Commercial Commercial Corporation is the first to receive the award under the Martin Pegler title. A professor of visual display at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Pegler, acknowledged as the guru of visual display, has written 14 books on the subject matter.

Bienvenido “Rico” Tantoco Jr., president of the Rustan Commercial Corporation, says: “This is the first time for a Filipino store to win these awards. That’s why we feel so proud. It is an honor for the country.” The 56-year-old Rustan’s was founded by the late Glecy Tantoco, acknowledged as the doyenne of Philippine retailers, together with Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr.

What led to these awards were the display windows of Rustan’s last Christmas 2007 which carried the theme “Awaken the Child in You.” It was the teamwork of the whole Rustan’s family led by Nena Tantoco, special assistant to the president. “It was something from our heart and soul. Something so pure, so innocent, and so spontaneous for our windows to help us feel the child in us.” Images on the windows included a candy store and scenes from the Christmas fantasies of our childhood.

“It is something we attempted on our own, our team interior-designed everything, considering input from our merchandising and store planning teams,” explains Nena. Certainly not a newcomer in the field of design,Nena was handpicked by Glecy to manage Rustan’s Flower Shop for 20 years, even blooming with a Hong Kong branch in the 1980s. “I really love flowers, and I really enjoy doing things for the home, but then for these two awards, the whole Rustan’s family must take a bow,” Nena humbly says.

In these times when there is so much envy and hatred all around us, we need something from the heart and soul to cleanse us.