On this second day of the twin pictorials capturing the journey of this Filipino family that changed the landscape of luxury retail in the country, the love surrounding Lolo Benny (as he is now fondly called) is so much like that which surrounded Glecy in this same place, a couple of decades ago. When the patriarch emerges from his room to the spacious patio to take his lunch, everybody pauses from whatever they were doing to greet him. They’d come and go to keep him company, making sure this man with an easy smile would not be alone even for a second. As he digs into a cone of artisanal ube (yam) ice cream, Lolo Benny says he already misses Prince, his miniature pinscher. Then he proudly says that he is reaching 100 in three years and that Chris, one of his grandchildren, is eyeing the Php100,000 that all centenarians receive from the government. He genuinely enjoys the traffic of people around him, as he waits for his chance before the camera.

IT'S IN THE BLOOD

If Lolo Benny is the physical presence that keeps the family together, the resilience and commitment to excellence that took Rustan to its 65th anniversary has been ingrained in them since childhood by the couple’s exceptional parenting style, particularly Glecy’s disciplinary method. In all six children (and some of the grandchildren who were lucky enough to learn early on from them), Benny and Glecy inculcated all the values that define the Rustan culture today.

As far back as she can remember, Zenaida, or Nedy, has been exposed to every aspect of her parents’ retail business. “It was impossible not to be involved,” she says. “Rustan’s started on the ground floor of our house in San Marcelino. There would always be a lot of people, especially on sale days. My sisters and I would be curious and so we’d go down and join our parents. My mum would see us and tell us to make ourselves useful by giving us small tasks like helping attend to the customers, who were mostly their friends anyway.” At such a young age, Nedy was already exposed to her parents’ passion and love for work, which she absorbed and adapted as her way of life. “‘Experience is the best teacher,’ Mum would tell us,” says Nedy

“Mum had a way about her that made us like working at the store,” Carmencita, or Menchu, says. “We were really just in grade school, very young, and yet already helping out in the different aspects of the business like in selling, or in gift wrapping.”

Glecy was particular about how her children treated the Rustan’s staff. “She would always tell us to be concerned about the welfare of our people and their families,” remembers Marilou. Today, she appreciates her early experiences in the store. “My mum would tell us that we cannot learn anything overnight, especially a family business. She believed we have to live it,” she explains. “Mum was everything in Rustan’s,” says Marilen. “We learnt everything from her.”

“I was five years old when I started going to the store,” says the youngest, Maritess. By this time, Rustan’s had opened a second store in Makati, upon the invitation of the Ayalas who were developing what would evolve into the country’s financial centre. Maritess remembers entertaining the customers and getting a reward from her maternal grandmother, Filomena Dimaano Rustia, who had a small candy booth inside Rustan’s. As she grew up, she tried other tasks—gift wrapping, putting things in order on the shelves, filing papers in the office, being a telephone operator, making announcements on the public-address system, and manning the customer service counter. If she wanted anything from her parents, Maritess says she had to earn it. Once she asked her dad (“He is less strict than my mum,” she says with a wink) for a coloured television and she had to win a gold in a school competition to be able to get her wish. “None of us grew up with that feeling of entitlement,” she states.

The only son, Bienvenido Jnr or Rico, received more training from his dad than from his mum. Still, he was not spared from the odd jobs in the store that his sisters did. “I also entertained the customers and did gift wrapping,” he says. During his high school summers, he was sent to the family’s shipping office in New York to help in the packing of merchandise, among other things. “My parents never made me feel privileged,” echoes the Jesuit-trained Rico, and like Nedy, cites “hard work” as a Tantoco way of life. Rico says that he learnt a sense of urgency from his dad. “In our business, it’s all about timing,” he explains. And from his mum, he learnt how to focus on a problem, get to its root, and not be distracted.

When they were old enough, Glecy and Benny brought their children, one pair at a time, on her buying trips all over the world. Nedy believes that this was also her parents’ way of being near to their children, as buying trips took them away from home too often.

Though the Tantoco couple always travelled together, foreign buying was, however, Glecy’s turf. Her amazing skill in purchasing and merchandising was incomparable, and something she shared with her children by exposing them to her ways. “She would tell us to just be quiet, watch carefully, and learn,” Nedy says. Menchu recalls, “She did not want us to just stay in the hotel so she would bring us along when she did her buying.” Marilou looks back to those days with fondness as well: “Mum believed that everything starts with the merchandise.” In fact, she relates, her mother not only knew what would sell but had the skill to create a demand, like when she mounted the first China Festival, bringing to Rustan’s shelves the finest chinoiserie and Chinese fashion at a time when China was not yet a major player in the global marketplace.

The two younger sisters, Marilen and Maritess, underwent similar training. “My mum would always tell us to listen and to learn,” Marilen echoes Nedy. Maritess remembers how her mum so much liked looking at jewellery and textile. “Mum knew every type of fabric!” The thought continues to amaze her. Until today, she still heeds her mum’s advice when buying jewellery. “Keep your hands under the table when the pieces are laid out in front of you. If anything gets lost, you will not likely be accused of stealing it,” shares Maritess, who ended up studying gemology.

For Nedy, one of the vital lessons of her exposure to suppliers is trust. “My mum taught me to develop the trust of our partners, foreign ones especially,” she says. The partnerships that Glecy and Benny have developed are legendary—from the Ferragamos to Tory Burch. Glecy, particularly, saw the potential of luxury foreign brands in the Philippines and trail blazed in this market by establishing the family’s duty freeshops as well as the beginnings of Store Specialists Inc (SSI). Until today, that list of brand partners has not only been preserved but is being grown by the generations following.

Each of the children of Benny and Glecy did their share in strengthening the family business. Before he focused on Sta Elena, Rico was at the helm of the family business which was fast growing and branching out. Nedy took over the duties of her mum at the department store and SSI. Menchu and her husband Jun grew the supermarket. Marilou handled the duty-free shops and Rustan’s flower shop. Marilen was given the home division of Rustan’s, a job that she enjoys doing until today. Maritess used her knowledge in gems in supervising the buying of jewellery for Rustan’s.

These six have never been idle, never been spoilt. They heeded their mum’s advice—to watch and to learn—eventually living and breathing their parents’ work ethic that has kept the family brand at the top for nearly seven decades.

THE NEW WAVE

Call it inspiration, immersion, or osmosis—but this same work ethic of the first and second generations flowed naturally down to the third generation. “I was in high school when I started working in the department store,” says Anton Huang, the eldest child of Nedy and the president of SSI. He adds, “What the elders were watching out for in us was an interest to work.”

“I started with the company after college,” says Michael, younger brother of Anton, sharing that his parents wanted him to concentrate first on his studies.

“I believe it was I who said I would like to work,” says Donnie, president of Rustan Commercial Corporation, son of Rico and the third to be given the name “Bienvenido.” The eldest grandchild explains that he grew up surrounded by constant conversations about work from his father and his siblings. “They talked of nothing else but the store and the business; but they talked about it with such infectious passion and excitement. There is such great work ethic in our family. If there was pressure to work, it was positive pressure,” he explains.

Privileged enough to have received training from both his grandparents, Donnie started working for Rustan’s in the summers of his grade school. “My lola [grandmother] assigned me to the supermarket. I did everything: worked at the package counter, became a goods receiver, wrapped gifts, stocked up the shelves, priced the products,” he tells a similar story, wincing at the thought of the wet area where he “struggled a bit watching fish being cleaned.”

“I started full-time work with the business while in college,” says Anton. This forwardlooking young man is credited for the public listing of SSI but shirks at the mention of it. “In reality, it is a family business, a family effort. We are merely stewards of what our grandparents started. We are all here to do our part to sustain it, grow it, and keep it there for the future generations,” he explains.

For Donnie, this vision is all about Rustan’s evolving into an omni channel. “Something like or even better than Selfridges maybe,” he says. “It is all about understanding our customers—their lifestyle, their fashion, their design preferences—then helping them fulfil their aspirations and solving their problems.” To achieve this, Donnie says it is imperative that the entire organisation of a thousand people carry on a constant conversation with the customers. The Rustan’s training is focusing on this. “We are all trained to be curious,” says Donnie, who is in charge of the back of store. His duties and responsibilities complement and provide strong support to his Aunt Nedy, who is chairman of both RCC and SSI. With only three years into the job, Donnie says his omni-channel journey is just at the beginning.

Making sure the family business adjusts to whatever market change comes, and keeps its position in the forefront of retail innovation are Anton’s focus. “When there was a shift in consumer behaviour back when SSI was just starting some 20 odd years ago, we managed to expand the department store to include the speciality store experience,” he says about how the family has pioneered in this field. “Today, both the department store and SSI have their own special places; and as behaviours continue to evolve, so do we continue to innovate. In terms of the kind of stores, the products, the lifestyle, we continue to be relevant and vital. That is what the future is all about for us,” he adds.

Michael takes charge of store development and expansions. In a nutshell, he recommends whether it is prudent to put up a store in what location, and how big it should be.

More of the young generation Tantocos, in-laws included, are joining the family business—as the tasks keep adding up with the growth of Rustan. The children of Menchu—Junjun, Noey, Maricar, and Quito—are in charge of the 312 (and nine more by year’s end) Starbucks coffee shops. Marilen’s MJ is in charge of Salad Stop, a subsidiary of SSI, while Chris is with the duty-free stores. Eman of Marilou has created the concept store Adora and the fashion brand Harlan + Holden. Nedy’s only daughter Catherine has helped a lot in developing SSI’s on-line site as well as working at Mark’s & Spencer. In-laws Crickette, wife of Donnie, worked with SSI to launch Payless shoe brand and Dina, wife of Paolo who heads the administration department, is the hardworking marketing communications manager of Rustan’s. Meanwhile, the younger generation is honing their skills for when it will be upon themselves to continue this vision of their grandparents into the next century.

Glecy and Benny would both be exceedingly proud of what their children and their children’s children have done, and are still doing. It is unquestionably a formidable legacy to bequeath, this sense of excellence and commitment.