A unique Christmas shopping experience
Last Sunday, Nov. 14, my sister Penny asked my mom and I to accompany her to Unique Novelties and Toys Corporation at No. 15 Zorra St. in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City. Penny wanted to buy Christmas décor for her home and for her village’s club house, and I excitedly said yes!
I had been to Unique years ago with some high school classmates, and we bought lots of Christmas decorations then. This year, since I changed my tree and color motif, I wanted to buy more décor.
When you pass through the tall gate of Unique, there’s no indication as to what’s in store inside the building. As a precautionary method to prevent shoplifting, you are asked to leave your bags in a locker free-of-charge and keep the key to the locker while you’re in the building. (If you’re worried about leaving your valuables in a locker, leave your bags in the car. Cellphones are allowed inside).
The ground floor is where the cashier is. Except for a Christmas lights display, some jewelry boxes and watch boxes, it looks like a regular office. When you go up to the second floor, however, you are transported to a magical land, where rows and rows of gift items lie in wait, tempting you and calling you to buy them.
At the entrance to the Unique showroom, I felt like a little girl again when we were “greeted” by an assortment of lovely Christmas dolls. The Christmas spirit was palpable in the showroom.
The first room is dedicated to gift items. Here, you will find assorted gift boxes, novelty items, picture frames, houseware and lots of curios. The prices at Unique vary depending on the quantity of your purchase. They have a price for just one item, another price for three pieces of the same item, another price for six pieces or more, and so on. In short, you save more, if you buy wholesale rather than retail.
The next room is for anything and everything Halloween: Wigs, masks, a wall full of fairy wings and creepy, crawly creatures. There’s also a glass cabinet stocked with assorted ribbons for your wrapping needs. There are also baskets of different sizes for you to put your picks in.
The last room is where the Christmas decor is and where you are likely to spend a fortune if you don’t restrain yourself. The décor is arranged by color, with rows upon rows of Christmas balls and decor in red, gold, silver, white, blue, green, and pink.
You will also see stacks of silk flowers in all colors and sizes, and paper lanterns of varying colors, shapes and sizes hanging from the ceiling. Especially eye-catching are the wooden nutcracker toy soldiers, the Christmas village displays, Christmas plates, stockings, and globes. Indeed, anything and everything you need to make your Christmas fabulously festive is here.
Towards the back of the room, you’ll find an opening that will lead you to Unique’s Christmas tree “farm.” Of course, the Christmas trees come in varying sizes as well, ranging from four feet to over 10 feet. There are also wreaths of various sizes and colors. According to the store manager, their trees cost at least 20-percent less than the trees sold in department stores.
When you’re done shopping, bring your items to the sales ladies who will itemize your purchases. As they do this, you are asked to wait on the ground floor, where everything is double-checked and then finally paid for.
After our wallets were emptied, my mom shared something that a prosperous businessman told her: “Money is not yours until you spend it.” The quotation that came to my mind was something that actress Bo Derek said: “Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”
As we start the countdown to Christmas, I wish you merry shopping adventures and happy spending! Let’s help spur the economy once again.
(Unique has an ongoing promo where every P5,000 spent gets the buyer a P200 gift certificate redeemable on their next visit. Unique is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including Sundays.)
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