Upbeat market prompts Tomato to open in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Brisk market following from Cebuanos despite the fact that its shops are based in Manila has buoyed fashionable timepiece brand Tomato Time to finally explore opportunities here in the Queen City of the South.

With high hopes, officials opened their 10th kiosk franchise in the country and its first outside Luzon last week at the SM City Cebu which will serve as Tomato Time's test market in the Visayas and Mindanao area.

Tomato Time is under Tomato, a homegrown apparel brand that has established its strong presence in the clothing industry.

Eric Galos, marketing manager of Tomato brand, said that the clothing company has been aggressive with its new venture on producing branded timepieces in the market, adding that Tomato Time majorly contributes to the sales and growing market of the Tomato brand.

Though Cebuanos are known to have discriminating taste, Galos said they are still very confident that this outlet will pick up as propelled by the locals' desire to own less costly yet fashionable timepiece items.

Tomato Time was initially launched in 2011 with its first stand-alone kiosks in Alabang Town Center and SM South Mall.

Galos further revealed that they intend to open six more company-owned kiosks in Luzon within this year, apart from its already gaining ground outlets in the Middle East, Italy and the United States.

The Cebu branch has been franchised by Trina Molina and Candace Tan.

Molina said that the unique concept of Tomato Time that is inspired to provide sophisticated-looking watches at affordable prices prompted them to franchise the business since they believe this will appeal to the taste of the Cebu market.

She added that young professionals want to stay in trend and be fashionable without having to spend much.

“To keep up with the evolving fashion industry, accessories should remain affordable. We believe Tomato Time answers that need,” she stated.

Tan, on the other hand, cited that Tomato Time watches go beyond functionality with the versatility and quality of designs that cater to various markets including teens, professionals, fashionistas and businessmen.

She said that they are confident to start at SM City Cebu taking into account its high foot traffic and shoppers’ profile that are mostly comprised of the middle-income market.

She further noted that this was evident with the positive market reception of Cebuanos with the Manila watch brand. She cited that as of 3 PM on the opening day last July 19, they have generated double the targeted sales of the company for the opening day.

Tan also said that they plan to develop the Cebu market further before going offshore in other provinces.

For now, they plan to have pop-up kiosks set up in call center areas and economic zones in Mactan area all within this year.

She added that they are optimistic to open another kiosk in Ayala Center Cebu hopefully anytime this year.

Tomato Time carries the widely popular line of young and fashionable watches called the Swap collection. The water-resistant time piece features a stainless steel case back and hypoallergenic silicone strap. Swap silicone straps are available in 30 different colors and 22 watchface designs.

Swap watchface are priced at P500 and Swap silicone straps at P350.  There is also a Swap starter kit priced at P1000 that come with two silicone straps and one  watchface.

It also has the Struktur collection that is designed for affordable stainless steel watches for both men and women with prices that range from P500 to P1000.

All Tomato Time watches boast of a one-year warranty to its Japan-made mechanism.

Every month, a new theme of graphic watchface designs will be introduced in the market while a new batch of colors for Swap straps will be available every quarter. /JMD (FREEMAN)