When looking for a place named Unique Novelties & Toys, you can’t be faulted for expecting a storefront that’s bright and colorful because that’s not what greets you at its location in Quezon City. Instead, it’s a drab metal gate fronting what looks like a warehouse or factory from the outside.
The guard behind a second gate will first verify if you’re a customer before letting you in and pointing out the entrance behind him on the right with tinted glass doors. He will then radio to say, “Customer.” This message will then be repeated by the woman at the reception desk before she points out a second door that leads to the display area on the second floor.
You’ll be asked to leave your bags in the lockers before entering, but once inside, it’s a veritable wasteland of knickknacks and home décor. It’s like a local version of Japan’s Don Quijote but without the catchy jingle on loop.
There are three main rooms as well as a separate one with a high ceiling that houses Christmas trees as tall as 20 feet. The first room has all types of tchotchkes from ceramic angels and refrigerator magnets to painted signs and picture frames. A door leads to the second room devoted to the Halloween section. There are colorful party hats made of felt, a range of wigs in all colors of the rainbow and an entire wall of fairy wings in pastel tones.
Season-specific garlands in black, white and orange are tacked to the ceiling. Choose from ghosts, skulls and slightly menacing demon heads. Off to the side are novelty glasses for fun photo ops at parties, headbands with images of sugar candy skulls, and so many costumes: wicked witch, flight attendant, Catholic nun, pirate wench—and that’s just for the girls. For boys, there’s policeman, fireman, astronaut and soldier.
Per piece and wholesale
“We sell a lot of the costumes around this time. Parents come here with their children because they know that our prices are much lower compared to if they go and buy in department stores,” long-time store supervisor Julie Tambong told Lifestyle last weekend.
Each costume at Unique Novelties is priced at around P1,000 but can be marked up as high as P3,000 when it gets to the department stores, he added. All of the items at are sold wholesale. You can buy per piece, but the price becomes lower if you buy three or six of the same item. The store is able to do this because it’s a direct importer.
Tambong said Unique Novelties has been operational since the mid-1980s but originally only to wholesalers. Its clients range from vendors in Divisoria in Manila and those on Mayon street in Dapitan to Rustan’s and National Bookstore.
The store opened to walk-ins in the ’90s and continues to maintain a steady clientele that now includes stylists for weddings and events like Gideon Hermosa and Teddy Manuel, among others.
The third room at Unique Novelties is the biggest and houses all manner of holiday decorations—fabric flowers, ivy garlands, glass Christmas balls, toys, kitchen implements, even fake bread. You can spend hours here just weaving through the rows and poring over the items arranged on shelves.
It’s a good thing Tambong is usually there at the store. Clients can approach him with their plans and motifs for Christmas, and he is able to put things together because he knows the store’s inventory and is naturally creative. “I was the one who put together Marian Rivera’s tree. I get paid to do this for the stylist and I’m fine with that,” he said.
He then took us to the Christmas tree room where some of his completed trees are on display. A towering gold one was outfitted in matching ornaments while another had red and white candy-striped lollipops and small toys. “The candy ornaments are big this year because parents want something bright and festive for their children,” he said.
Once you’re done choosing items, you hand them to one of the staff who will bring the items to the cashier on the first floor.
One woman’s bill amounted to P17,000, while a mother with four young kids in tow paid under P500 for toys they had picked out.
Don’t be fooled by the store’s nondescript façade. I was overwhelmed by the volume of items for sale and only ended up buying a vintage-looking votive holder with a stained glass angel (P86), a black-and-orange Halloween mask (P54) and five magnetic frogs (P30). I’ll definitely be back. INQ
Unique Novelties and Toys Corp. is at 15 Zorra St., Baranggay Paltok, San Francisco del Monte, QC.
