Invaluable business lessons from ‘Tatang’ Henry Sy Sr.

It may be hard to imagine now, but leading brands such as Ideal Vision, Great Image, Toby's Sports, Papemelroti, and Sportshouse were just starting out when they grabbed at the opportunity to be among the first tenants of SM City North Edsa, which opened in August 1985.

Back then, they were like other micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises eager for the chance to raise their operations to the next level, so when the late SM Group founder Henry Sy Sr. gave them their big break, they did not waste it. Instead, they used it as a springboard to become some of the biggest players in their field.

This they were able to do with more than a little help from Tatang, who gave them valuable advice that they say helped their companies grow into powerhouse brands with nationwide reach.

Robert Palomo of Great Image, one of the biggest names in the photo and digital imaging industry, recalls: "Tatang would tell me, You have to engage the customers, you have to feel the senses of the customers. [Retailing] is not so much about the goods. They have to have an emotional experience."

Sportshouse owner Marcelino Chua, for his part, was struck by what Tatang said when asked about why he was opening a large mall at a time of great political and economic uncertainty.

"Tatang said, 'I don't go where the market is, I create the market,'" said Chua.

For Ideal Vision's owners, their favorite piece of advice from Tatang was to "be patient, be patient."

"He would often remind us that growing the business is easy, sustaining it is another thing," said Ideal Vision PR manager Jessica Dee.

Eventually, Ideal Vision grew to 80 branches across SM malls, inspired by Tatang's example.

Dee recalled: "I would fondly ask him, 'How did you manage to do it, Uncle?' I will never forget his reply. He taught us to treat our employees like family, the way we want our employees to treat our customers. Then these happy customers will be our walking advertisement. That stuck into our hearts, and up until now, we try our best to provide care and appreciation to our employees."

For Bobby and Jojo Claudio of innovative fitness and sports lifestyle brand Toby's Sports, what Tatang gave them was the encouragement they needed to carry on their journey.

"Mr. Sy told us that SM City North Edsa was going to be different and that's why he wanted Toby's to be one of the pioneer tenants. He saw something different in us, too. That conversation really gave us the confidence to push forward," said Bobby.

Added Jojo: "Being in the first SM Mall really became a launching board for us. Mr. Sy told us that it was just the first of 11 malls that they were planning to build. At first, we could not imagine that they could really do it, much less open Toby's stores in all of them. But after the first SM, the rest is history. Now we have 65 stores, and 41 of them are in SM malls."

For his part, Enrico Dee, founder and CEO of the still-growing Foodee Global Concepts, can still vividly recall how Tatang would always tell him to "focus" on his core business, which was food, although he grew up in a family that was into construction.

"He said to stay focused on the business," said Dee, whose company today has almost 200 food outlets, of which 85 percent are in SM Malls. His brands include Tim Ho Wan, Tusta, Kam's Roast, Hawker Chan, as well as over 280 Sunnies retail stores.

"We will always be thankful to SM because they gave us the biggest break. So all our stores, our branches with new concepts, will always start at SM," Dee said.

The Alejandro family of Papemelroti chose to put up a branch inside SM City North Edsa instead of pursuing their option to move to another country. Their success there paved the way for Papemelroti to eventually put up many of its branches in SM malls, which they admire for nurturing a sense of family among the tenants and the SM management.

Papemelroti's Patricia Paterno said the SM Group could be relied on to help tenants when they need help the most, just like how they suspended rent collection to help tenants at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"I will never forget that," said Paterno.

For Ricky Reyes, one of the biggest names in the local salon business who had also known Tatang the longest among the pioneer tenants, the best piece of advice he got from Sy was to always "be different."

"Be unique, have something distinctive that is just your own," Tatang told Reyes, who considered Sy his "second father."

Tatang, who is considered by many as the Father of Philippine Retailing, led by example and brought to the market something new and different, starting with SM City North City. From there, the group now has over 80 malls and growing.

That the late Henry Sy Sr. and his SM Group became leaders came as no surprise to Araneta Group chairman Jorge L. Araneta, who describes Tatang as "a visionary."

Tatang, he said, already saw how big the contribution of remittances of overseas Filipino workers would become, and that much of that would flow into the retail industry.

Tatang invited the Pizza Hut owned by the Araneta Group along for the journey because of his high level of confidence in the mall business. "He is a tough but honest negotiator, a man of his word. That's why we trusted him when he promised good sites in the SM Malls for Pizza Hut,"  Araneta said.

Indeed, SM City North Edsa proved doubters wrong in 1985, and the SM Group grew alongside the MSMEs who put their faith in Tatang and his retailing genius.