Some gained, other traders sourly lost

CEBU, Philippines - Islands Souvenirs Inc. (ISI) posted a historical sales performance during the Sinulog Festival, with 30 percent increase compared to the average 10 to 20 percent the company used to generate in the recent years.

ISI president Jonathan "Jay" P. Aldeguer attributed this year's higher sales to the active market for innovative Sinulog T-shirt designs, bolstered by the fashion-conscious young generation.

Aldeguer said while the company has hit its target sales for Sinulog festivities, the revenue could have been better if more people were able to come to Cebu during the week-long festival.

"If it were not for typhoon Agaton, more people from Mindanao and other neighboring provinces in the Visayas [could have] come to Cebu. Our displays at the port area, although generated encouraging performance, did not hit what we expected," Aldeguer told The Freeman in an interview during the weekend.

Although, there were less out-of-town devotees who visited Cebu in this year's Sinulog, he said the Cebuano market alone has become more active in going out to the street and participate in the different events in the festivities. There were also balikbayans and those from Luzon who were able to make it despite the bad weather.

Likewise, Aldeguer credited the company's high revenue mark in this year's Sinulog to the massive introduction of "Cut & Style" concept that was able to immediately catch the taste of the market, across generations.

He said while young people have strongly patronized the chic Sinulog fashion concept pioneered by Islands Souvenirs since 2013, customers this year have expanded to all ages prompting what is called the "family" market.

He reiterated that market has involved differently from the traditional retail platform, thus the company has to trail-blaze in the fast changing consumer psyche. Providing personalized designs and "make-your-own" design t-shirts has hit the modern market's "weakness," Aldeguer added.

Meanwhile, while other companies have reported sustained and encouraging growth during the Sinulog Festival, small vendors have also declared "historical" Sinulog losses, due to the cold weather.

Ian Castro, a barbeque vendor, used to profit at least P30,000 for selling bottled water during the Sinulog weekend. At least in the last 10 years, he said small vendors like him look forward to this festival, as selling bottled water and finger and grilled foods in the street sell like no other seasons in the year.

However, due to the cold and rainy season, sales of water, including finger foods, as well as the traditional Sinulog Festival paraphernalia, like fans, caps, also registered tremendous decrease of sales.

Castro said instead of expecting profits, he lost money from his unsold boxes of bottled water, which he bought ahead from a supplier.

"This is the first time that I lost during Sinulog. I never anticipated the cold and rainy weather that would affect the sales of bottled water, as well as my small barbeque corner along Imus Street," Castro said. /JMD (FREEMAN)