Rustan’s: ‘We are like a village, a Christmas Village’
Thus says Rustan’s president Donnie Tantoco, visibly emotional and introspective, at the recent Christmas gathering hosted by Rustan’s for the press, whose theme was, “There is magic in being together.”
“It is not good for man to be alone. We are made for togetherness,” he said.
“I believe that after all that has happened, all of whom we have lost this past 20 months, togetherness like this — like what we have right now, as one real but also imperfect family, is something we will not take for granted for the rest of our days.”
The Tantocos are a tightly knit clan still coping with the death this year of their beloved patriarch Ambassador Benny Tantoco, at the age of 100. They are still celebrating togetherness at Christmas, nevertheless. Not just for themselves, but also for those who find them a mecca for Christmas shopping (now, who wouldn’t want to receive those Rustan’s giftwrapped presents for Christmas?), and for the employees who depend on them.
“Togetherness like what we have right now is, at the end of the day, our greatest blessing, our reason for being and our path to fulfillment,” Donnie added.
What struck me most about Donnie’s speech, aside from his referencing the North Star as the guide to one’s purpose and destination in life, was his emphasis on inclusivity when it comes to being together at Christmas.
Donnie, a young grandfather himself, said that togetherness at Christmas for Rustan’s embraces not just the customers but also their employees.
“The first group of people that we care about the most, even though we’re known for customer service, is our employees. So we really, really want to continue to, you know, earn the lifetime loyalty of our customers and we want to earn the lifetime loyalty of our employees,” says the eldest of the third-generation Tantocos.
Aside from valuing the service of their employees, Rustan’s has maintained its status through the years, pandemic and all, by adapting to omni channels — meaning, shopping online, by phone or in the store itself. Embracing the present as well as being true to Rustan’s DNA, which was articulated to Donnie by his Lolo Benny.
“If you have beautiful goods, beautiful service, a beautiful environment, then you’re going to have beautiful retail,” the Tantoco patriarch once said.
This is how Donnie distilled the essence of the success of the iconic department store started by his grandparents, the late Glecy and Benny Tantoco, over 60 years ago.
“Rustan’s is associated with trust,” he continued. “Rustan’s is associated with quality. Rustan’s is associated with being an oasis of having the standards of the First World and bringing them over here. The whole end-to-end experience will be as expected as people always have been used to, for all this time. So, I guess that’s one way to talk about our North Star: we know that we have to evolve and we have to be true to our DNA that will never change. But we have to evolve so that we can adapt to what’s going on right now.”
Donnie says Rustan’s chairman and CEO Nedy Tantoco wants shopping in Rustan’s to be more “experiential,” and her son Michael T. Huang, vice president for store expansion and operations, is taking the lead in this.
Personalized services
Rustan’s offers special services that personalize the holiday experience with a premium on convenience. You can shop from home via the “Gift List Management” service that allows customers to send their gift list to Rustan’s personal shoppers, who can look for the gift choices, assist in the transaction process, and set the delivery to the buyers’ or the recipients’ houses.
Rustan’s also offers “Assisted Shopping” services, in which customers can schedule an appointment with store personnel to assist them during their store visit. On the other hand, patrons can also opt to go on a virtual store tour, which allows them to view items found at Rustan’s stores via video call with a personal shopper.
Apparel can also be altered to fit specific measurements. Once everything is ready, orders may be gift-wrapped in Rustan’s iconic wrapping paper and gold ribbon.
Together for Christmas
The minute Rustan’s aired special videos to the media attending the Zoom Christmas gathering, their message of togetherness was as clear as a Christmas carol. Each of us got a video message from people special to us — in my case, my husband Ed and son Chino.
“The holiday is always exciting because of the people who make it special: the family,” pointed out Dina Tantoco, Rustan’s marketing communications manager.
The essence of Christmas is truly being with those whom we hold dearest in our hearts.
Like tying a ribbon around a gift, Donnie put it all together by saying, “What a gift it is to be enlightened by a very basic truth as we embark on Christmas season 2021. It is not good for man to be alone. We are made for togetherness.”
(You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez @yahoo.com. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)
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