Mall closure hurts ISI sales during Sinulog

CEBU, Philippines — The Islands Souvenirs Inc., expects sales to drop this Sinulog season as three of its outlets have remained closed after a fire hit Metro Gaisano in Ayala Center Cebu early this year.

"We expect to lose millions of pesos in sales, as we were advised that Ayala Center Cebu still cannot open during the Sinulog week," said Camille Aldeguer, Islands Group executive vice president.

Aldeguer said the company's Island Souvenirs' outlets are consistently top tier performers during the Sinulog Festival. Sales usually shoot up three-fold during the entire week.

It’s outlet in Metro Gaisano department store in Ayala Center Cebu is its top performer in all of its department store outlets nationwide. Sales during the Sinulog usually climb three times compared to normal days.

She said all stores in Ayala Center Cebu are suffering from losses in business since the fire hit Metro Gaisano department store two weeks ago.

Brands like Island Souvenirs, which considers Sinulog week as its heyday season every year, is badly hurt by the closure of the mall.

Sources said that although the fire only affected the Metro Gaisano part of the shopping mall, wirings, pipings, and other structural foundations of the entire mall are also being checked to assure consumers' safety once it reopens.

Island Souvenirs in particular has three outlets inside the Ayala Center, its boutique store, another outlet inside Metro Gaisano, and one pop-up store.

On the other hand, Aldeguer hopes that the increased foot traffic noted in its other stores located in other shopping malls like SM City Cebu will offset the losses they incurred due to the closure.

"It’s a painful Sinulog, not just for us but for all tenants of Ayala Center. Brands like ours reap bigger sales [during Sinulog] than during Christmas season," she said.

"We would have been on track with the expected upward trend in the first two weeks of January, and the fire happened," she added.

On the average, Islands Souvenirs registers 20 percent sales growth every Sinulog. The Metro Gaisano store in particular disposes at least 12,500 t-shirts or other products a day during the month of January.

Nevertheless, ISI continued to celebrate Sinulog Festival by holding its 6th "Cut & Style", where buyers can make their own t-shirt styling in the store during the span of the festival week.

There are a total of 35 Island Souvenir stores in Cebu. This year, Aldeguer added the company was able to get spaces along the parade routes, which are also expected to boost its sales and offset the losses from the Ayala Center outlets.

ISI pioneered the campaign six years ago, promoting fashion and wearing the right costume during festivities like Sinulog.