Benny and Corit Alejandro during their later years: She made stuff toys from scrap cloth and displayed them in the window.
papemelroti in order: from left, Patsy, Peggy, Meldy, Robert, and Tina
Our business started in 1967 (October 13), 55 years ago. I was 11 years old. The gift shop was named Korben after my parents, Corit and Benny. It was a small shop with a big window. We lived on the second floor.
My father (Benny Alejandro) was working at Procter and Gamble and my mom (Corit) was left at home with us, but she never was one to enjoy being idle. She didn’t have money, a grand ambition, a brilliant marketing strategy, or a business degree, and she was shy and timid. What she did have was common sense, a good intuition, and she enjoyed making things with her hands. She was very thrifty, industrious, and she had faith in herself and most importantly, faith in God.
She prayed for a business. Yun yung puhunan niya. And so in spite of all that she didn’t have and the little that she did, our family was able to build a business with an identifiable brand.
She started by making stuffed toys from scrap cloth, dolls in fancy dresses which she would display in the window. There wasn’t anything else in the store—all her merchandise was in the display window, and the customers needed to ring the doorbell to get in. She did not have a salesgirl, and she was the one entertaining the customers. She did not have capital, that was why her merchandise was few enough to fit in the small window display. But God provided her with capital.
One day a woman came and asked her to come with her to sell her furniture. Back then, one wouldn’t be scared to go with a stranger, and my mom went along to Crispa Floro. She talked to the owner, Mr. Floro, saying, “Would you like to order furniture?” After showing the catalog, Mr. Floro ordered a lot. A few weeks later, the woman came back with three nice tall shelves, nicely carved and finished. My mom did not expect anything in return for her help, but she was able to sell the furniture for a nice sum and had money to buy stuff to sell.
For us, God and family were first priority, before business, all the time.
The family at Ali Mall store in the early years
Second floor store at Ali Mall in Cubao
In 1976, we put up the first papemelroti in Ali Mall, Cubao. Papemelroti comes from our names, Patsy, Peggy, Meldy, Robert, and Tina. It started as a joke—we said that Mommy and Daddy have Korben, so we wanted our own. So although no one could pronounce it, and people couldn’t remember the spelling, we’ve survived. A lady came and interviewed us, and we got three pages in a women’s magazine. People would come up to the second floor and say, “I know what this means—Patsy, Peggy…”
The women’s magazine feature in 1976 that drew people’s interest in the quaint small store
Although no one could pronounce our name, and people couldn’t remember the spelling, we’ve survived
I always knew I would work in the family business. My parents did not force us. My sister Meldy wanted to work in Makati after graduating with a business degree. But when she applied, no one called her to follow up on her applications, so she decided, while waiting, to work in the business.
The young Alejandro family at Ali Mall store
One day, she was in the store, and a lady was talking to her daughter. She held up one of the figurines Peggy made. It said on the base, “Work for the Lord. The pay is not much, but the retirement plan is out of this world.” The lady told her daughter that after she gave that figurine to her dad, he changed. From being a workaholic, from working late in the office all the time, he started being present for his family. Meldy thought to herself, “That’s just one figurine! We have so many figurines and posters and other products that can change peoples’ lives!”
From then on, she decided to work in our business. When she started to receive calls from the companies she submitted applications to, she said, “Sorry, I already have a job!”
One time I was being interviewed by a prominent TV journalist who told me that if ever we wrote a book about the business, to please ask her to contribute her story. When she was young, she shared her tale, her parents were separating, and it was a very painful time for her. She said she would find consolation in visiting our shop and reading our many messages of hope and Bible verses, and would get encouraged.
Allow me to share some key lessons we learned in putting up Papemelroti:
First, one of the principles of growth is sowing and reaping. What you sow, you will reap. We have to recognize that we all were given many gifts; these are the seeds that we can sow in our business, and we will reap a good harvest.
In God’s economy, it is those who are generous that He blesses
Second, we believe it is essential in any business to give back to God. Part of honoring God is to give back to God the best we received from Him, to be a blessing to others. In God’s economy, it is those who are generous that He blesses. And so whatever talents we have received from God, we use to help others earn a living. We are helping many with livelihood projects. We design products so they can have a livelihood.
Third, being in business is not just about making money, but an expression of yourself—what you believe in, what you want to share with others, what you are, your values and your ideas. Ideally, it should express the best of you.
Fourth, our business reflects our commitment to God, family, home, country, caring for the environment, respect for craftsmanship, and appreciation of traditions.
Finally, God is a working Partner in our business.
Psalm 127:1 says, Unless the Lord builds the house, he labors in vain who build it. When you pray, follow what God says, apply biblical principles, and do the right thing like paying taxes and giving tithes, and not giving lagay or grease money, you can also expect great things from God. I have plenty of stories about how God works in our business—from being our marketing manager to inspiration, capitalist, business mentor. God’s wisdom covers every aspect of our lives. He really guides us.
One time the management in one of the high-end malls wanted to make our space smaller. This branch is one of our best stores in terms of sales, but it wasn’t enough, because the sales of other stores selling imported brands were much higher. We sell pads for P35, notebooks for P40, etc., and other stores sell a pair of jeans for P20,000, or shoes for P10,000! Since the mall gets 3 percent of our sales, they preferred stores that sold more. We prayed for a long time about what to do, and eventually God gave instructions: ‘March like Joshua around the store, march like Joshua in the Bible and claim the land.’ So that’s what I did. I marched seven times around the store. After that, the solution came, to talk to a particular person in management. I asked for a meeting and the next thing I knew, they were not cutting our area anymore.
Many years ago, I was concerned about our family business, and how we could go on knowing that many family businesses failed because they did not plan the succession. I prayed and asked God for direction. I sensed God telling me not to worry because He had a plan! So I stopped worrying and had faith that God would take care of it.
Elyse’s Lazada Award 2022
Little did I know that my niece Elyse would join us. She graduated magna cum laude from UP Fine Arts and had set up a business with two former classmates. Growing up, she told her mom that she did not want to work at papemelroti! So we did not expect her to! But she is a girl who listens to God and had also without my knowledge, promised her Lola, my mom, that she would not let her legacy die.
Elyse realized in her discernment and prayer that in the business she formed with her classmates, they were benefiting big business clients. She would get more satisfaction helping small businesses, which she knew papemelroti endeavored to achieve. And so she left her partners and started working for papemelroti.
She has been such a blessing to us! Before the pandemic, she already instituted changes to our online presence, and during the pandemic, the Shopee and Lazada online platforms she applied for and took care of, helped us navigate the uncertain economic climate.
Today we have 21 stores, a factory in Bulacan with apartments for our employees, and a building along Roces Ave., Quezon City. Our website, papemelroti.com, online platforms on Lazada and Shopee, and our social media posts enable us to sell our things all around the world.
We don’t do any of the things that businesses are supposed to do, like forecasting
In life, my mom was the first to admit that she was utterly amazed at what her little hobby had grown into. We always say it is a miracle, considering our whole family likes to design and create, and we are not very well versed in the intricacies of how to run a business. Before the pandemic, I’d get invited to give talks to business classes at the Asian Institute of Management, Ateneo, the University of the Philippines, and I had to confess that we don’t do any of the things that businesses are supposed to do, like forecasting and stuff like that.
Despite the economy, all the bad news around the world, so many businesses shutting down, I can say that we’re doing very well.
We may dream, make plans and work hard. However ,we should be sure that what we do is in line with God’s intents and purposes for our life. For each of us, for each of our businesses, our families, God has a dream, God has a plan. Every dream that’s in our heart, every promise that has taken root, came from God. And it is really exciting to find out what that is, to work with God and make it come true.
The sayings that helped change people’s lives
papemelroti store at Ayala Manila Bay in 2018
