Sugbo Mercado, one year old

CEBU, Philippines - It's almost a year since a cozy food area came around at the busy Garden Bloc of Cebu IT Park. Sugbo Mercado has now become a popular weekend destination in the city.

Michael Karlo Lim, one of the organizers and also the head of marketing communications of Sugbo Mercado, said that their goal was for the place to be the best and biggest food market in town. In its first few weekends, Sugbo Mercado had only been an eating place for call center agents and others who work within the area. But in the succeeding weeks, and just by word of mouth, the crowd began to grow bigger on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

There were only about 25 food stalls at the start, which number has since doubled. And the Sugbo Mercado regulars are no longer limited to locals. For example, tourists - including a group of Japanese - have been frequenting the place, as there are stalls there offering various international cuisines.

"This [place] gives a chance to food entrepreneurs… who can't make it to the malls due to high rentals. We bring them all together here from Thursday to Saturday nights," Lim said.

Sugbo Mercado appeals to a wide spectrum of clientele, including students and families, who are attracted to the variety of food choices and the outdoor ambiance.  The find it to be a nice place where to share only food but stories as well, below the weekend night sky.

The fact that Sugbo Mercado is not there the whole week and for whole days of the weekend seems to help keep the feeling of anticipation among customers, according to Lim. People tend to look forward to Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. 

On its first anniversary today, September 29, Sugbo Mercado is organizing different fun activities including an eating contest, 'groufie' and 'selfie' contests, special promotions by the different stalls, and a raffle draw. The mechanics of the contests, promotions and prizes are posted at Sugbo Mercado's official Facebook page.

For Christmas, Sugbo Mercado plans to expand its area by 500 square meters more, beginning in November. The expansion is necessary to make space for a Christmas bazaar that would have 50 additional booths.

With Sugbo Mercado really catching on and growing at the IT Park and Cebu Business Park, it is branching is soon branching out at SRP and at Gatewalk Mandaue. (FREEMAN)