MANILA, Philippines - (Thumbs up) Are Filipinos really in for a tough time? The retail scene is getting mixed signals. Some brands may be suffering, but the tough ones seem to be getting tougher.

Take the toy sector. With the Philippines? runaway population growth, toys will always be in demand. Celina Chua, general manager of Toys R? Us, says that in the first half of 2008, sales were buoyant. Kids love branded toys, especially TV/movie-driven ones such as the Transformers, Barbie, Batman, etc.

?The Filipino consumer may have a very limited budget, but is still very brand-conscious,? she says.

However, Johnson T. Go, general manager for Robinsons Department Store, and Hope Tang, VP for merchandising, say consumers are more price-sensitive than ever. They will spend more on practical items such as plastic ware (food keepers and storage boxes) than on decorative objects such as candles and picture frames.

Ultimately, brands that promote heavily and are perceived by consumers to be of good quality will flourish.

In personal care, L?Oreal Philippines reports that despite slowdown, it has posted positive growth this year compared to 2007. The mass-market brand Garnier and its Skin Naturals Light got off the ground after a successful launch. The pricing strategy was the biggest come-on.

Luxury brand Lancôme?s Absolue franchise and the midrange L?Oréal Paris Revitalift line posted triple-digit growth. This shows that baby boomers and Gen Xers are still flexing their financial muscle. L?Oréal Paris haircare brand Elseve also helped build the treatment category on the market.

According to L?Oreal, Filipino women are spending more time taking care of themselves and setting aside some ?me time? since they feel they deserve it after shouldering part of the household income.

?For skincare and haircare brands, Filipino consumers are a mix of loyal consumers (mainly driven by the hiyang factor) and switchers (mainly driven by advertising and trends); price continues to be a key factor among the majority,? says L?Oreal.

Anthony Huang, executive vice president of Store Specialists Inc., agrees skincare products have shown a surprising upsurge in sales.

?Along with the increase in sophistication of our customers is a growing awareness of the importance of proper skincare as a preventive measure against aging and the damaging effects of the environment on skin. Due to media and the focus of many women?s magazines on beauty, women are more particular about skin treatment before the application of color.?

In the salon business, Bench Fix posted a 24-percent growth by midyear compared to just 20 percent last year. Suyen Corporation?s vice president for business development, Bryan Lim, says the salon remains the top choice of the youth market.

?We have clients who used to frequent expensive salons but are now with us because we have become the more practical choice,? he says.

Filipinos still shop, although those who used to patronize luxury brands have shifted to midrange imported brands such as Suyen Corporation?s Aldo, Celio, The Face Shop and Charles & Keith.

Lim says it?s too early to tell if the economic crisis will affect the market adversely, because the outlook has been positive so far.

In fashion, SSI?s flourishing brands are also in the midrange category?Marks & Spencer, Gap, Zara, Lacoste. Surprisingly, rich customers lap up Burberry?s polo shirts, which are twice the price of a classic Lacoste shirt.

Predictably, SSI?s high-end labels are recession-proof. Ramon San Agustin, VIP services manager, points out that in the past few months the resurgence of formal affairs has driven brisk sales in evening shoes, bags and gowns. The tourist market, particularly Koreans, is also buoying up sales.

SSI?s brands have been scoring points on other factors. When the principal from Marc Jacobs entered the Greenbelt 4 boutique, he pronounced it the most beautiful franchise store in the world. He was awed by the glass wall that framed the view of the well-manicured tropical garden.

Foreigners are also surprised that stores here carry unique high-end products. Once, a regular client, on a trip to Europe, had a Bottega Veneta bag dangling on her arm, its snakeskin handle and trim with complicated handwoven leather patches in red, green and purple simply eye-catching?all worth the price of an economy car. When people stopped her on the street to ask where she got the bag, they were surprised to learn she got it in a Third World country.

L?Oreal concludes: ?Shopping has become not just a functional task, but a social, therapeutic or family activity.?

Or, as San Agustin puts it, ?It doesn?t mean money is disappearing. It?s just in different hands.?

(Thumbs up)The harder the times, the more interesting fashion

Eliot Young, head of international sales of the cutting-edge Paul Smith brand, has an interesting take on the possible effect of looming recession. ?The harder the times, the more interesting fashion will be,? he said in a private dinner last week on a fleeting visit to Manila.

He was here with Paul Smith CEO John Morley, one of Britain?s most prominent businessmen.

A veteran of Armani and Calvin Klein before he joined Paul Smith about eight years ago, Young must know where he was coming from; Paul Smith, the brand, is not new to world disaster or bad news. From what he?s seen, every ill fate has an upside. Right after 9/11 in New York, as retail sales almost came to a standstill, Paul Smith in Manhattan registered its biggest sales in years. How does one explain that?
?Perhaps it?s the nature of the brand?it?s very individual, it?s very personal,? Young said, ?so that the consumer felt a certain closeness or affinity to it, some solace at a time of uncertainty or fear. That?s just how I saw that post-9/11 windfall.?

Indeed, compared to other fashion brands, Paul Smith is not dependent on seasonal ad campaigns. It doesn?t go for one image?one season spread on all glossies. ?It?s many things to many people. How I want my Paul Smith blazer to be may be different from him,? Young said, pointing at a dinner guest seated across the room, so dapper in his Paul Smith light-blue stripe blazer and pastel shirt. ?Paul Smith wearers have highly individual style; they?re not carried away by one look in an ad campaign or models on the runway.?

Young walks the talk, or rather wears the talk. That dinner, he stood out in a dark-blue close-to-the-body jacket with a very subtle stitch trimming on the lapel and on the cuffs, and an even more interesting detail in the lining of the jacket. That individual and personal.
Young and Morley went around Greenbelt and saw the new store where Paul Smith would be.

(Thumbs up)No price tags, please

Doña Bea Zobel de Ayala has always been admired for her practicality and down-to-earth attitude. When she was shopping with her grandchildren in a swanky boutique, she whispered to the staffers to remove the price tags before they fit the clothes. Without saying a word, she was subtly teaching the younger generation not to be pulled in by materialism.

(Thumbs up)Iñigo?s fine taste

Iñigo Zobel is a man of style and decorum. A visit to the Enzo Inc. office, recently renovated by architect Conrad Onglao, showed his fine taste and upkeep. He dedicated a wall to his father, the late tycoon Enrique Zobel and arguably the country?s best polo player (with the highest handicap). Onglao designed a sleek glass cabinet that artfully displays the late Zobel?s innumerable glistening trophies and old photographs.

The interiors are in Onglao?s trademark neutral colors. To denote power and understated luxury, the younger Zobel?s door is done in very chic leather, ditto his table.

Iñigo even allocates a budget for fresh phalaenopsis orchids that soften the masculine but sexy decor.

Yet, despite the room?s elegant interiors and sleek finish, its inhabitant remains a regular down-to-earth guy. Once a visitor set an appointment with him. Normally, visitors are led to the boss? office. In this case, the head honcho himself went out to greet the visitor in the reception area.

As the tree bears more fruit, the branches go lower. Iñigo Zobel is an example of that kind of humility.

(Thumbs down)Even Vogue feels the pinch

Condé Nast Publications Inc. this week announced Men?s Vogue will come out twice a year instead of 10 times, and will be absorbed by parent magazine Vogue, retaining only its editor in chief to edit a biannual supplement.

The luxury-oriented title joins other traditional and digital media that are feeling the pinch of the economic crisis, proving that even an industry catering to affluent consumers isn?t immune to the downturn.

Another Condé Nast title, the business magazine Portfolio, let nearly all of its Web staff go, including several magazine editors and writers, and reduced the magazine?s frequency to 10 times a year. The company closed three other titles this week?02138, Radar and Culture & Travel?all aimed at the wealthy reader.

As publishers have difficulty getting long-term commitments from their advertisers and retail sales on a slump, media companies have responded with swift decisions resulting in extensive job cuts and budget reductions.

This week, Time Inc. revealed it would cut down 600 jobs as part of a major restructuring. The publishers of Business Week, McGraw-Hill Cos., also reduced its workforce by 270 jobs during the third quarter.

American Express Publishing, publisher of Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure and Departures, said it would cut five percent of its workforce, while Hearst began cutting costs at the upscale Harper?s Bazaar and Town & Country. Digital companies, it seems, aren?t recession-proof either. Yahoo! also divulged plans to cut jobs.