A staff of YITU Tech shows its first cloud-vision AI chip “QuestcoreTM” at 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. CHINA DAILY

Up until last week, a small family-owned company called Q Eco-Organics had been selling its merchandise online and nowhere else. Still, the five-year-old company has been thriving. Sales of its home-made products such as soap and make-up removers, have been brisk.

Ayala the 30th doesn’t consider itself a competitor to the much larger malls in nearby Ortigas Center

But last week, Q-Eco-Organics widened its reach and captured a market that consists of discerning mall shoppers. For the first time, the company’s intriguing products, made from organic raw materials, was showcased in a mall.

And it wasn’t just any mall. It was an upscale one – the Ayala Mall the 30th in Pasig City.

Mall management hosted a weeklong bazaar that showcased the products of the micro-small medium enterprises (MSME) based in Pasig City. Dubbed “Love Thy NeighborGoods at Ayala Malls the 30th,” the bazaar was held at the mall’s activity center and was inaugurated by no less than Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto.

Aside from Q Eco-Organics, nearly 30 other MSME sold their wares at NeighborGoods. Handicraft products and homegrown food concoctions were the dominant merchandise.

Ayala Land Malls director of marketing Eunice G. Velasco said the event was organized with the help of the Pasig Livelihood Center, which selected the MSME that took part in NeighborGoods.

According to her, most of the merchandise that was on sale is for export. The other vendors sell online or at seasonal flea markets. They’ve never had access to mall shoppers, who in turn get to buy items that have seldom been available in local stores.

The sellers got to penetrate a market comprised primarily of Pasig residents. Ayala the 30th caters to those who inhabit the nearby residential areas such as Valle Verde, and the employees of outsourcing companies headquartered in a building adjacent to the mall.

A Pasig-based MSME displays its merchandise during the weeklong bazaar dubbed Love Thy NeighborGoods at Ayala Malls the 30th.

Velasco explained that Ayala the 30th is one of Ayala’s neighborhood malls. This type of mall isn’t large but it imparts a character that is stylish, cosmopolitan, and generally more sedate.

“Each of our neighborhood malls has an advocacy. For instance, the UP-Town Center in Diliman, Quezon City is located near the universities. So, it supports the students engaged in handicraft.

On the other hand, Ayala the 30th focuses on the MSME,” she said.

NeighborGoods, she added is going to be a quarterly event and it will continue to showcase several more MSME based in Pasig.

Most of the participants rely on digital technology to make a sale. Others depend on word-of-mouth. But with NeighborGoods, they got to meet new customers face-to-face. So perhaps they might be enticed to set up something more permanent in the mall.

On the contrary, one of the sellers said she’s not keen on the idea. She’s happy enough to be a part of NeighborGoods but to be get permanent space would entail a tremendous investment. She said her business does well in the tiangges.

It turns out even businessmen with the resources to expand find it a hurdle to get mall space. In a previous interview, a small-scale entrepreneur who engages in clothing apparel said most malls prioritize established brands.

“My wife and I started selling apparel in tiangges too. Later on, we decided to set up a clothing brand and import affordable clothes from Thailand and China. We wanted to rent space in a mall for the brand,” he recalled.

“We had the capital to pay the rent but still it’s hard when you’re an unknown entity. If they do allot you the space, they put you in a spot that doesn’t see much traffic, like on the mall’s fourth floor.”

Eventually, business picked up and the mall finally moved his store to a better location. His MSME is now an established brand called Jewel, which has stores in several malls

Velasco clarified, however. that Ayala the 30th doesn’t compete with the much larger malls in nearby Ortigas Center.

“It’s why we have NeighborGoods – to encourage income generation. It goes in line with Ayala Malls’ social responsibility through the provision of help and support towards the growth of the community,” she explained.

“Participants aren’ t charged joining fees or rent because we want to help them gain more exposure. And eventually, if some of them might want to put a permanent stall, we would be open to that,” said Velasco.

She assured that any MSME that had been a NeighborGoods seller would be given a fair rate if they’d later wish to rent a spot.

That’s fair enough since shoppers who checked out the merchandise liked the fact that what the MSME have is usually unique. Clearly, this has given this neighborhood mall a certain edge over other malls.