INQUIRER Global Nation

Louella “Loy” and husband Rodolfo “Rudy” Alix started selling angel figurines in 1995, a year after Rudy retired from work as an official of a multinational company.

Starting with an initial investment of P5,000, the couple sold the items in a 4 by 4 sq.-m. air-conditioned garage in barangay Lahug, Cebu City.

“I had always dreamed of opening a store selling things I like but I didn’t’ have a clear-cut plan. It was a great joy selling things which evoke happy feelings in my customers,” said Loy.

The store was named Presents and Such offering gift items and other things a celebrating person may need.

Loy is an English major graduate from the University of San Carlos, while Rudy is a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Southern Philippines.

Both are inclined toward art and culture.

Although the store was not yet formally registered, Loy said they already carried the name “Presents and Such” in the different fairs they participated.

Their two children, Patricia and Maia, then college students of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu, were the shop’s “first painters,” being the ones assigned to paint the angels.

From 1995 to 1998, the small store sold angels until the family got official registration in 1998 and decided to build a bigger store to accommodate more items and more customers.

Now 10 years old, Presents and Such supplies products for a variety of celebrations ranging from baptisms and debuts to weddings.

Items are carved by 10 well-trained employees.

Sculptures, like the image of a Holy Family given by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to President Gloria Arroyo, were sculpted by Rudy himself.

Presents and Such was also tapped by different schools such as UP College Cebu to make the oblation statuette trophies for the university’s centennial awards.

Cebu Doctors University and University of San Carlos ordered paper weights from the store in two separate events.

The store has also ventured in providing wedding accessories such as guestbooks and pillows for the rings.

As a hands-on owner, Loy also conceptualizes the theme and color motif of the wedding with the couples.

WEDDING GURU

The decision to venture into wedding giveaways was not planned by the couple.

“We were selling angels. Then when one customer asked me if we could produce 200 angels of the same kind, I asked, “What will you do with 200 angels?” She said she was going to use them as giveaways for her wedding. It started there.”

As someone engaged in the business of celebrations, she said one should have a positive frame of mind.

“So kung init akong ulo, I don’t go inside the store,” she said.

Loy said the business is truly a joint effort of Rudy and herself.

Being artistic, she said, much of her inspiration is derived from travels abroad, books, and discussions with her two daughters based in Singapore and Manila.

“Life is too short and dreary so let’s put something beautiful and exciting in it that will always make us smile,” she said.

For long-term plans, Loy said she hopes her daughters whom she described as “capable of running this (store) efficiently,” would take over the store.

The shop has never advertised heavily in newspapers, television or radio.

Tiny stickers at the back of their items with contact details of the store and good testimonials from previous customers were the main reasons their popularity grew, reaching places as far as Mindanao.

The shop has customers from Zamboanga, Iloilo, Leyte, Samar and Bukidnon.

Technical assistance provided by the Department of Science and Technology has been instrumental in the success of the business.

“They sit down with you and ask you problems, and assign you technical people all for free,” she said.

After a decade of operation in Cebu, the couple has learned the dynamics of the Cebu market.

“My lola used to tell me that Cebuanos will buy things that are bueno, bonito and barato (good quality, beautiful and cheap). Cebuanos are the Ilocanos of the South,” she said.

To succeed in business, Loy said an entrepreneur just needs to start something.

“Start small so if it fails, it would not hurt that much. But really, you have to start something if you want to go somewhere,” she said.

“Start, just start.”