Prince Warehouse Club gears up for 2013 Sari-Sari Store Festival

WANT to open a small business? A sari-sari store for starters, perhaps? Or are you having problems managing your small retail enterprise?

Come and join the Prince Warehouse Club’s (PWC) 2013 Sari-Sari Store Festival on July 20 at the Cebu International Convention Center, where everyone will learn the fundamentals of putting up a small business while sari-sari store owners will discover solutions to whatever problems they are currently facing.

Robert Go, PWC president and CEO, said a free financial literacy seminar for small retail store owners will be among the programs in the 8^th Sari-Sari Store Festival to help them overcome their problems, such as improper financial management, lack of basic accounting knowledge, and inventory merchandising.

“They do not have the discipline to manage their finances and they do not have rolling capital,” Go said. “Most of them do not know how to run a business. That’s why we are here to help them.”

Prince Warehouse Club will also hold helpful discussions on entrepreneurship, micro finance, and sari-sari store best practices and success stories designed to help SMEs and would-be store owners grow their business and boost the economy as well.

According to Go, the festival is indirectly geared towards the improvement of the Philippine economy as the country’s retail industry, which comprised mostly of SMEs including sari-sari stores, generate approximately 57 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. So, if sari-sari stores grow, the Philippine economy will continue to grow.

Sari-sari store owners from all over Cebu Province are set to converge for this year’s PWC Sari-Sari Store Festival which promises to be bigger, grander, and more fun-filled than the previous events.

Now on its eighth year and with the theme: “Pakiglambigit: Sari-Sari Store Festival W8W Na!” the celebration remains to be the landmark event of Prince Warehouse Club whose Sari-Sari Society has grown to about 70,000 members coming from its branches in the North Reclamation Area, Old MCWD building, Danao City, Minglanilla, Argao, Baybay and Maasin in Leyte, Naval in Biliran, and Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte.

“The Festival is our way of expressing our gratitude to our loyal customers and acknowledging their continued support to the resonating growth of the company,” Go said.

Prince Warehouse Club is likewise celebrating the third anniversary of its micro-financing program, which has been providing financial assistance to PWC members and customers.

Launched in 2010, the “Pangpuno Puhunan Program” (PPP) was initially aimed at helping small sari-sari store owners get additional stocks from PWC through loan via the company’s micro-financing arm – R&J7 Credit Corporation.

“The PPP was initially designed for established store owners, but we later decided to extend it to those who are interested to start a sari-sari store business as well,” said Rhea Go, PWC chief operations officer. “We now also provide capital for would-be store owners aside from helping struggling small retail shops.”

Approximately 2,000 PWC Sari-Sari Society members, suppliers, distributors, sponsors, and exhibitors are expected to crowd the 1,500-square-meter Exhibition Hall of the Cebu International Convention come July 20.

Rina Go, PWC supply chain manager, said sponsor exhibitors will be provided strategically-located stalls to showcase their goods and where the public can buy retail at wholesale prices.

Just like in the previous festivals, sessions with relevant topics will be highlighted, while the whole-day affair will be capped by a variety show and the awarding for the Best in Booth Display, Most Outstanding Principals, Most Outstanding Distributors, Most Improved Distributors, and the Topsellers of the year.

The Prince Warehouse Club Sari-Sari Store Festival 2013 is co-presented by Nestle Phils.

Platinum sponsor of the event is International Pharmaceuticals Inc. Gold sponsors are Unilever, Century Pacific Group, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola Bottlers Phils. Inc, Philippine Spring Water Resources, and Virginia Foods Inc.

Signing up as Silver sponsors are Universal Robina Corp., Procter & Gamble, Monde Nissin, and Zest-O Corp., while Bronze sponsors are Wellmade Manufacturing, LCG Group of Companies/Johnson & Johnson, Mead Johnson/Lactum, Sunpride, Eleven 22/Green Cross, and Kopiko.

Supporting the event are Aquadoble/Energizer Phils., Aries Distributors, Philusa, Marides, UBS, Rebisco, and Champion Detergent. Alcordo Advertising, Sun.Star Super Balita, and Cebu Daily News are the media partners of the Festival.

The Prince Warehouse Club Sari-Sari Store Festival 2013 is under the able event management of PRWorks Vis-Min.