Category: BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Successful Cebuano Brands

They said that ‘if it sells in Cebu, it will sell anywhere’. There must be some truth to it as many things Cebuano are now trending all over the country, if not the world!

Take the case of Cebu lechon or Carcar chicharon, Liloan Rosquillos or even the Siomai at Tisa. Add to that list the world-famous dried mangoes.

Cebu made products that are now considered essential in every Filipino home include Efficascent Oil, Omega pain killer, Casino alcohol, Bambi cooking oil, Lion Tiger katol and Virginia hotdog.

Among the Cebu homegrown companies that made it big are Penshoppe, Island Souvenirs, Bo’s Coffee, Orange Brutus, Thirsty and Dewfoam.

Of course, the different Gaisano department stores and supermarkets all originated from Cebu.

The Robinsons department store and Universal Robina also traces its roots to Cebu, in fact, it is the company that made Cebu fly with its airline, Cebu Pacific.

The highly successful Rose Pharmacy is also from Cebu.

The number one drinking water brand in the country, Nature’s Spring, is also proudly Cebuano.

But perhaps nothing beats the popularity of the following brands that you can easily spot them in every major town and city in the country.

1. M Lhuillier – In 1935, Henry Lhuillier, an Honorary French Consul in the 1970s, together with his wife, Angelita Escano Jones, started a series of pawnshops all over the country called ‘agencias’. His son, Michel Jones Lhuillier, together with his wife, Amparito Llamas Lhuillier, then founded the M Lhuillier Group of Companies and opened the first M Lhuillier pawn and jewelry shop in the 1980s in what is considered the country’s oldest thoroughfare, Colon Street in Cebu City.

With this, Michel Lhuillier envisioned expanding further the company within the next 30 years by establishing over 1,000 M Lhuillier branches all over the Philippines.

Since then, M Lhuillier has earned its reputation as the largest non-bank financial services network in the Philippines, with over 3,000 branches nationwide.

It is worth mentioning that M Lhuillier is also the company behind the world-class Cebu Safari and Adventure Park.

2. Cebuana Lhuillier- In 1969,

Henry Lhuillier’s second son, Philippe Jones Lhuillier, opened his first branch at Libertad Street, Pasay and in 1987, the original Agencia Cebuana adopted the name Cebuana Lhuillier as its trade name.

By 1994, it opened its 200th branch and in 2000, Cebuana Lhuillier opened its 700th branch and was recognized as the largest chain of pawnshops in the world by Guinness World Records.

Today, it has more than 2500 branches all over the country and has diversified into banking, insurance, hospitality and other

industries.

3. Julie’s Bakeshop- Known as the Philippine’s favourite neighbourhood bakery, the first Julie’s bakeshop was established in January of 1981 in Wireless, Mandaue City. 40 years later, there are now more than 450 stores and 100 franchisees all over the country. There is even a Julie’s bakeshop in Calgary, Canada.

What other Cebu brands did we miss? Add your thoughts in the comment section so we can add them in the next list.

Uswag pa Sugbo!

#infocebufeatures

#cebudevelopmentmedia

The Lhuilliers, Cebu’s True Gems

🔶Henry Lhuillier, a French national, came to the Philippines in the 1930s as a jewelry sales executive for Levy and Bloom Oceanic Commercial Department Stores. He eventually started his own by opening Agencia Cebuana in the busy downtown Cebu.

🔶 In 1969, Philippe Jones, the second son of Henry, opened his own pawnshop in Pasay City, and in 1987, Agencia Cebuana rebranded to become Cebuana Lhuillier.

Philippe Jones Lhuillier, the second son of Henry

🔶 Michel Lhuillier, the eldest son of Henry, went on to establish M Lhuillier in the early 80’s together with wife Amparito.

Michel, the eldest son of Henry Lhuillier

🔶Both Cebuana Lhuillier and M. Lhuillier seem to be present in every street corner in the country. In 2000, Cebuana Lhuillier opened its 700th branch and was recognized as the largest chain of pawnshops in the world by Guinness World Records.

🔶Today, Cebuana has more than 2500 branches while M. Lhuillier has more than 2000 and still growing.

🔶 They both have diversified into the money remittance business as well. M.L has Kwarta Padala while Cebuana has Pera Padala.

🔶 Cebuana Lhuillier owns Le Soliel Boracay Resort while M. Lhuillier owns Cebu Safari and Adventure Park and other beach resorts in northern Cebu.

Cebu Safari at Carmen, Cebu

🔶Monique Lhuillier, the world famous fashion designer based in the U.S. is the daughter of Michel.

Monique Lhuillier

References:

About Us

https://remit.com.au/m-lhuillier-a-family-business-serving-generations-of-filipinos/

AN EMPIRE BUILT ON DRIED MANGOES

✅Justin Uy, the Cebuano who conquered the world with sweet dried mangoes, and the business conglomerate he built around it.

✅Profood International (flagship company) products, is now being exported to more than 50 countries worldwide.

✅From mangoes, it ventured to retail development by opening JCentre Mall in 2011.                  J Centre Mall (CTTO)

✅An opportunity in tourism was too lucrative to resist when Imperial Palace Resort in Mactan was offered for sale. Renamed as JPark Island Resort and Waterpark, it is now one of the popular tourist destinations in Cebu.                 Jpark Resort Mactan

✅The company also owns Toyoko Inn, Mandaue, the first Philippine branch of the famous Japanese hotel chain (in partnership with Toyoko Inn Co. Ltd)


✅ Recently it opened the P8 billion JPark Island Resort Panglao, dubbed as the biggest waterpark resort in the country, a bold and ambitious move anchored in Bohol’s tourism potentials.

Jpark Panglao Resort

✅In 2019, its real estate company, Everjust Realty, launched the 40-storey J Tower Residences, beckoning the company’s entry into the condominium industry.                J Tower Residences

This is a great Cebuano success story in the making. So what’s out for more of Justin Uy and his future business endeavors.



Suggested readings:

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1773833

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-business/2019/06/07/1924367/top-100-cebuano-personalitiesjustin-sy-uy/amp/

Metro Cebu is running low on space for new houses

Only 8% of Cebu is flat land and it is depleting very fast. Scarcity drive prices up and with no other option, Cebu’s expansion will be skyward.

Cebu IT Park, then and now

Cebu has a limited buildable space. Only eight percent (8%) of its total land area is flat and this is stretched along the coastline of an elongated island. There are only two growth directions. Go north or move south.

Early days

In the 60’s, southward development began in San Nicolas Mambaling area. Subdivisions like Ma. Gochan with its fruity streets Avocado, Bayabas, Caimito, etc were established for new families.

Today, this area is very near to the city center but in those times, it was considered far. It was the distance of the ‘Parada‘ (Calesa).

Then Labangon, Punta Princesa and Tisa were developed next. Residential structures took over the corn and peanut fields, as demand for new housing steadily increase

The city government of Cebu realized the scarce land resource and the need to address the requirement of a rapidly growing city.

North Reclamation in the 90’s

Plans were initiated for the north reclamation project which eventually became the home of SM City Cebu, the first mall outside Metro Manila.

The 70’s saw expansion crawling towards the barangays of Pardo in the South and Mabolo in the north. Even with the Martial Law, economy in Cebu remained vibrant.

The 1st Mactan bridge

Marcos built the first Mactan bridge which opened up the island for economic and tourism activities.

The 80’s saw major expansion in Cebu, filling the hills of Guadalupe all the way to Pardo.

In the north, Lito Osmena (EMRO Holdings) moved farther north the haven of the ultra-rich, Maria Luisa Subdivision.

Banilad at that time was considered a distant suburb. I remember buying Japanese corn in a sparsely populated stretch in today’s BanTal road, which became Gaisano Country Mall not long after.

Gaisano Country Mall

The 90’s saw an unprecedented growth in Cebu. Dubbed “Ceboom”, the tandem of governor Lito Osmena and Mayor Tom Osmena opened Cebu to opportunities never seen before.

Cebu Business Park, then and now

Manila developers went on crazy shopping for land. Ayala cornered the provincial lot used as a golf course and the Lahug airport property, both of which are now bustling business districts. SM also secured the greatest chunk in the new reclamation.

Residential expansion now extends to Talisay city and Mandaue city. The northward expansion also shifted eastward to Mactan island because of the transfer of the new airport and the creation of Mactan Export Processing zone.

Low cost housing became a hit, selling in the thousands as Pag-Ibig loan facility became available.

The SRP when it was newly completed

Mayor Tom Osmena then floated the idea of a south reclamation project even before the one in the north was completely sold-out.

The early nineties was also called the age of malling as three giant malls opened in Cebu City within an 18-month period. Gaisano Country Mall, opened in 1992 followed by SM City Cebu then Ayala Center Cebu (ACC) in 1993.

How these malls almost killed the businesses in Colon street will be a good separate story.

Vertical Homes

Condominiums started out in Cebu as mere status symbol for the rich. But it was short-lived with the onset of the Asian Crisis in 1997-98.

The slowdown in real estate activities continued into the new millennium although low and mid-high properties continue to sell.

Then there was the second wave of Ceboom in 2006. It just exploded out of nowhere and real estate growth went exponential since then.

Two things happened, residential properties are now pushed farther north to Compostela and down south to Naga city, but traffic also started to deteriorate and became a daily occurence.

Traffic woes and scarcity of space made condominiums a necessity in Cebu rather than an item of luxury as it was before.

Reaching the limit

Areas after Compostela in the north and Naga City in the south are no longer viable as residence for low and mid-income families who commutes daily for school and work in Cebu City. It is a total waste of time, productivity and money.

Metro Cebu

Nowhere to go

This is a clear indicator that Cebu has nowhere to go but up. The future is in the skies.

There are ambitious plans to build highways slicing through the mountain or a viaduct above the sea. Even a mass transport system, probably the rail type is in the works.

But these infrastructures take time to build, and while they help in moving people fast, the scarcity of land remains. It is irreversible.

Developers know its a dire situation. They now scamper hard even for small parcels of land just to be able to churn out projects like pocket developments.

Colliers International shared this sentiment in a report: Condo demand high as developers faced with land scarcity.

Now is the only time

Cebu’s topography is telling us its not just the best time to buy a house now but its the only time left before prices will become exceedingly expensive. Scarcity drive prices up.

If you have money to invest, do not wait and see, for waiting is a costly exercise in real estate. Buy now then sit back and watch the value of your property grow.

When all the land is utilized, Cebu’s future development will be skyward. A true skyscraper city in the making.

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Credit goes to the owners of images used. Special mention Slerz, whose passion for Cebu is unwavering, a fellow Skyscrspercity forumer and a good friend.

Consolacion, Liloan and Minglanilla, on the verge of Cityhood

Minglanilla, Consolacion and Liloan are municipalities in Metro Cebu that are now on the verge of cityhood based on the qualifications set forth by R.A. 9009, the governing law on cityhood or conversion of a municipality to a city.

Republic Act. 9009

  • locally generated income of at least ₱100 million (based on constant prices in the year 2000) for the last two consecutive years, as certified by the Department of Finance, AND
  • a population of at least 150,000, as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); OR a contiguous territory of 100 square kilometers, as certified by the Land Management Bureau, with contiguity not being a requisite for areas that are on two or more islands

Size

For the territorial requirement of 100 square kilometers, not one among the three Metro Cebu towns can qualify since they all have a smaller land area, with Consolacion having only 37sq.km, the smallest of the three.

So the only way to go is to comply with the two other requirements. Income and Population.

100M Annual Income

Money seems not a problem these days for Consolacion, Liloan and Minglanilla as they all have annual earnings exceeding the minimum parameter of 100M.

150,000 Population

On the question of population however, not one of the three can make the cut. That is if we refer to the latest census of 2015:

Liloan: 118,753

Minglanilla: 132,135

Consolacion: 131,528

But that is four years ago. These are fast growing urban areas that are averaging 4% to 10% year-on-year growth on its population.

Looking at the demographics, both Consolacion and Minglanilla should have breached the mark already as early as last year (2018), while Liloan will also make it in 2020 or 2021 at the latest.

Cities enjoy greater autonomy from the national government and a much bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

But the biggest change of all for new cities aside from the label, is the prestige and distinction it gives to all its residents.

A moment of pride and collective excitement for the milestone in history, when their once sleepy town finally ‘arrived‘ to join the big league.

Of course it is the people through a plebiscite who will eventually decide the fate of any cityhood proposal, but almost always, the excitement and human instinct for self -advancement prevails.

To the people of Minglanilla City, the City of Consolacion and Liloan City, congratulations in advance and please keep your city clean.