The ‘Tale of Three Tables’ in Glecy Tantoco’s life

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Yesterday was a celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, but also of the ties that bind that we secure even more tightly at Christmastime. Because in the Philippines most especially, it is really during Christmastime that everybody gets together, sharing meals (feasts, actually), joys and even sorrows (which are lightened by sympathetic ears), gifts, even the news, national or otherwise (mga Maritess!). Christmas celebrates family, that cocoon that, despite its imperfections, is a place of nurturing.

Last week, I was privileged to be invited to the Mass celebrated by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown commemorating the 100th birth anniversary of Rustan’s founder, the late Glecy Rustia Tantoco (“GRT”), at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati, a church close to GRT’s heart. GRT and her husband, the late Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr., founded Rustan’s in their home in San Marcelino in Manila in 1952.

What struck me most during the Mass was that the church was filled to the rafters with family — the Tantoco children Rico, Menchu, Marilou, Marilen and Maritess, and their families, and by the employees of the Rustan’s Group of Companies. Some of them worked personally with GRT, who passed away in 1994 at the age of 70.  I saw in that tightly-packed church that Rustan’s is really all about family, thus it was not difficult for the store’s employees to treat shoppers like family, too.  (Nedy, now Rustan’s chairman, was indisposed that day.)

Among those who concelebrated the Mass was Father Tito Caluag, a long-time family friend who met GRT during the debut of her daughter Marilen. Later on, and this was before the era of mobile phones and the Internet, she tracked him down while he was studying at Fordham University in New York. The Tantocos had a home in nearby Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. He blessed their home and would spend weekends there. He was also present when GRT breathed her last in June 1994, giving her the final sacraments.

Father Tito shared that time spent with GRT was time spent on three tables. He then proceeded to share the “Tale of the Three Tables” in Glecy Tantoco’s life.

“Every Sunday, we begin at the table of the Eucharist, to celebrate Mass, after which we would have the table of the meal. And, at the end of the meal, she would shoot an impish smile and say goodbye to everybody and go over to the third table, the table of the mahjong. Those are the three tables.”

For Fr. Tito, that “table hopping” defined three devotions: Devotion to God, devotion to family, and devotion to a life of dedication and joy.

He said GRT’s dedication, citing the same description of St. Ignatius of Loyola, bestowed on her “that great courage and energy in undertaking extraordinary and difficult tasks; great constancy in pursuing the task. And great prudence in seeing the task to completion.”

“Of course, we’re aware of her visionary spirit, her pioneering state,” he added.

For many of us, yesterday was also the telling of the “Tale of the Three Tables:” 1) We went to Mass or attended a service. 2) We partook of several meals with loved ones on festive tables and 3) We opened gifts on a third table, or retreated to something that gives us joy, usually around another table.

There is nothing to feel apologetic about being dedicated to joy, especially if it is joy we spread.

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Bienvenido Tantoco III or “Donnie,” the eldest Tantoco grandchild and now Rustan’s president, also paid tribute to his lola.

“Her work ethic was supernatural and superhuman. Perhaps that’s why she produced more greatness in one relatively short lifetime than others who lived much longer than her. She worked hard not only because she had discipline. She worked hard because she had purpose. She had a clear North Star and a higher purpose beyond making money, even beyond giving her family the most comfortable life and the best education,” Donnie said.

That is why Rustan’s now has over 1,000 stores and brands and 4,000 employees.

Donnie also shared his lola’s foresight, her ability to discern both what the market needed and wanted.

“I remember I was with Lola Glecy on a trip to Europe, and she saw a bag. She asked me to get her a postcard. On that postcard, she wrote a customer and said, ‘I am in Florence, and I saw this bag. I thought of you, and I ordered it with you in mind.’ That bag was sold even before it arrived in Manila.”

GRT, according to Donnie, was also curious about other worlds that have nothing to do with retail, such as art and music.

“Her curiosity made art, music, part of her aesthetic development and her retail craft.  She and Lolo were the first to put an art gallery and workshop inside a department store, I believe ahead of any department store in the world.”

“She looked at Saint Honore (Rue St. Honoré is the chic street in Paris that features stunning architecture and stylish shops) and decided to do the unthinkable. The crazy idea of putting Saint Honore experience in her store. She put fashion boutiques, which she called Designer’s Boulevard…To enhance the French experience, she asked the kids to develop Le Bon Appetit, and she also created an apothecary called Le Drug. And when you put it all together, she realized that what she was offering was an experience, and products and brands are just characters in the experience that she would create and curate. Only now do we say, retail is experience. For Lola, it was always an experience. That’s why in the Sixties, she said, ‘Rustan’s is where shopping is a pleasure.’ It is an experience of wholesome pleasure and joy.”

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GRT was born in San Marcelino in 1923, attended St. Scholastica’s college and married her beloved Benny in 1944 in Quiapo Church. They were married for 50 years before she passed away in 1994. Her legacy lives on. Thank you, GRT, for sparking joy among hundreds of thousands of shoppers who have experienced your legacy.

You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.