Holiday program seeks to regain the ‘reason for the season’
“If you feel that Christmas has become nothing more than a source of emotional and financial stress... If somewhere along the line you lost ‘the reason for the season’...”

THUS READS THE INTRODUCTION ON THE flap of Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose of Christmas,” which Rustan’s president Zenaida “Nedy” Tantoco gave as an early Christmas gift. The book, with its happy orange red cover, cuts into your daily grind—reminding you that, indeed, Christmas is coming.

For Tantoco, the book captures Rustan’s mission this Christmas, in her words: “Many children lost their homes [from the calamities brought by successive storms]. Will they also lose Christmas?”

To kids the world over, and even grownups, Christmas joy comes from opening the Christmas gift, no matter how simple and small. It is this holiday feeling that Rustan’s decided it should bring to Filipino children affected or even displaced by recent calamities—as its corporate mission this Christmas.

“We want to make as many children as possible feel again the happiness from opening a Christmas gift,” said Tantoco.

Link-ups

The country’s biggest high-end retail chain, Rustan’s has linked up with its foreign principals and suppliers to raise funds and gather goods that will be packaged in Manila for distribution to thousands of children, using the leading nongovernment organization, The Children’s Hour, as conduit.

“As soon as the calamity was flashed on CNN, we got inquiries from our principals abroad who wanted to know how they could help,” said Rustan’s executive vice president Anton Huang. “Lush owner Rowena Bird even announced that ‘We adore Christmas and we want to help kids’ as she made her parachute jump to raise funds.”

Rustan’s started receiving clothes, shoes and funds from its business partners. Even its supplier Dashing Diva began to send manicure gift sets for kids—a sure perk-up present for little girls feeling down.

Rustan’s will also donate funds to augment funds raised from its business partners.

“As soon as we began to see the enormity of the calamity that weekend [when ‘Ondoy’ struck],” Huang recalled, “we did a good check of our employees, some of whom were tragically affected. We brainstormed what we could do first and foremost for our employees.”

The Rustan’s Group has 5,000 employees.

“First, as employers, and as citizens, we knew the focus would be on rebuilding,” added Huang. “How can we help save Christmas, which is a most important season for us retailers.”

Tantoco took the efforts a step further by focusing on children—“so that kids will have gifts this Christmas,” she said.

Thus was born Rustan’s corporate social responsibility program of One World, One Christmas. Suppliers from various countries—the UK, US, Italy, France, Spain, Singapore, HK, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada—sent help.

These covered leading brands—Nine West, Jones New York, Steve Madden, Anne Klein, Aerosoles, Brown, Estèe Lauder, Murad, OPI, Mario Badescu, OXO, Monet, Palmer’s, Baby Phat, Jack Nicklaus, Ecco, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Cartier, Ferragamo, Charriol, Roberto Coin, Magni, Lush, Tamara Comolli, Hermar, Kose, Monaco Misaki, Massimo Dutti, Lladro, Nao, Christian Dior, Agatha, Le Sportsac, Jacques Farel, Magnani, Princess, Gama, Raoul, OKAk.

Gift packs will be distributed through The Children’s Hour, Operation Smile, St. Anthony’s Boys Village and Cribs.

Consciousness

This program ties in with Tantoco’s thrust to stress nature and the environment this Christmas. “We want to reawaken the people’s consciousness about nature,” she said. Thus, a focal point in its holiday decor is the green stuff, from Christmas balls made of natural materials such as moss and weeds, and the use of LED light.

For the first time, Rustan’s will also use paper shopping bags.

While the store chain enjoyed double-digit sales growth in the first two quarters this year, the spate of storms caused an obvious “delay” in the Christmas shopping boom.

“But we’re optimistic that November and December will be good months still,” said Huang. “Even in the aftermath of the Glorietta bombing years ago, things picked up at Christmas.”

Rustan’s will unveil its Christmas window display in a week or so. For the first time in a long while, its theme will be fashion. “We believe that fashion always lifts the spirit,” said Tantoco.

After 20 years, Tantoco took over the helm again of the store chain a little more than a year ago. She looks back on this span—“I felt it was an automatic transition, but very challenging.”

For one who grew up in retail as the protege of Rustan’s founder Glecy Tantoco and her husband, Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco, Nedy just focused on the retail basics—“making the store look well, and the merchandise organized, enticing.”

It was interesting to note that in announcing Rustan’s Christmas thrust, gathered in the board room was the third generation of Tantocos, at least those working in the store—apart from Huang, his brother Michael, in-law Dina who is in communication, Hindy and Katrina in fashion, Paolo Lobregat and Paolo Tantoco.

Creative team

How does Nedy make such a cluster of relatives gel into a creative team?

“Just by observing how Mom and Dad did it,” she said. ‘It makes a lot of difference that their [the young Tantocos’] interest lies in retail. This is one business where many members [of the family] really want to be involved in.”

So far, she’s happy to note, she hasn’t had to handle conflicts or friction among them. “At the end of day, it’s what’s good for business. You only have to use corporate governance,” she said. “They’re very creative bunch, but they’re also conscious of procedures and efficiency.”

Tantoco finds herself going to the tried-and-tested retail formula of her parents— “emphasis on customer service and being on top of trends, being competitive in terms of product offerings, pricing and assortment,” she said.

It’s going back to the purpose of retail. But this Christmas, Tantoco and her clan find themselves going back to, as Rick Warren puts it, ” the purpose of Christmas.”