| Alice Guerrero |
Tesoro’s: Selling treasures of heritageIf we try to clump all the treasures we can unearth from the 7,107 islands of the Philippines in a chest, it would be inevitable to label it with a name to live up to such cultural feat: Tesoro’s. For 62 years, the brainchild of the late Salud Santos Tesoro, niece of Manuel Pineda, who established the then-prominent Pineda’s Hat Shop on Calle Real in Intramuros, has been, as in its brand tag line, “bringing Filipino culture to your home.” “The business basically started with selling hats and some embroideries then later on flourished to accommodating unique products coming from all parts of the country, from up north to down south,” said Alice Guerrero, daughter of Tesoro who was involved in the family business when she was still 8 and is now acting as the Chairperson of the company. Tesoro's Marketing Corp pioneered showcasing all-Filipino-made items: handicrafts, silver crafts, textile (the barong Tagalog as the most popular), trinkets, and other whatnots akin to the country’s rich heritage. Because of Tesoro’s, such items, which according to Guerrero were tagged “pamperya” before the war, were elevated to the department-store category and were consequently standardized. “For instance, the table cloth,” Guerrero said, “we made it a point for it to conform to international standards. If it’s a set for six, it must be 54” x 72” and so on.” She continued, “We also packaged our products to have better options for our patrons. We were the first to do that.” As the company has been known for its quality, many, up to now, patronize Tesoro’s. Some are even luminaries in our history: past presidents Elpidio Quirino and Ramon Magsaysay used to fashion a barong courtesy of Tesoro’s as they walked the halls of the Malacañang Palace. Also, Magsaysay, the third president of the Republic, was in a Tesoro’s barong when he was sworn into office, a first for a Philippine president. Moreover, the company now contributes to the growth of the Philippine society, particularly through the preservation and revival of our traditional arts and crafts, by housing in their main store the artistic outputs of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan awardees. At present, Tesoro’s has nine outlets—it’s main store in Ermita, main branch in Makati, and other branches in The Landmark, Alabang Town Center, Duty Free Fiesta Mall, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila Hotel, Mactan-Cebu International Airport and SM Cebu. Not bad for an expansion exploit for a business who survived two raze-down incidents, one in 1947 and the other in 1995. For Guerrero’s relentless efforts of continuing the legacy of her mother, who was once conferred by President Marcos the Presidential Award of Merit for having a successful and pioneering business, the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship also recognized her as one of Manila's Inspiring Entrepreneurs at the Go Negosyo sa Manila last September 7, 2007 at the Philam Center for the Arts, UN Avenue, Manila. Spearheaded by Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III, this event is part of the ongoing Go Negosyo Caravan. Go Negosyo sa Manila is presented by Globe, PAGCOR, Hyundai, PLDT, Smart, Chinese Filipino Business Club, Philamlife and RFM Corporation. Other partners of the event include The Philippine Star, GMA Network Inc., RPN9, NBN4, Aspac-Law, Creativoices Production, Ideal Minds Corporation, and Full Circle Communications. |
