Elderly make selves productive in jobs at malls

At the entrance of SM Hypermarket at Mall of Asia in Pasay City stands 62-year-old Lourdes Rentorio—one of the four so-called “grand greeters” of the store—who welcomes customers with a smile so big her eyes squint.

Rentorio hands everyone who enters the supermarket either a basket or a flier to help them with their shopping. Like other “greeters” employed by the supermarket arm of the retail conglomerate, she stands at her post from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for an entire week each year, during the holiday season.

When she’s not greeting customers, “Lola Lourdes” as she is known to the other employees, makes sampaguita leis and sells them for a living.

Her usual spot is in front of Paco Church where she not only sells flowers but also other religious articles like rosaries, scapulars and novena booklets—a trade she inherited from her parents.

Sampaguita seller

Rentorio also goes from house to house selling sampaguita to those who hang them on religious icons. She has been doing this since her elementary school years and, according to her, it is this trade that enabled her parents to send her and her siblings to school, as well as to buy the house in Paco where they currently reside.

This coming January, she plans to take advantage of Pope Francis’ visit by selling pictures of him, too.

“We got our house from selling sampaguita,” Rentorio says. “We earn a decent living from the business.”

Lola Lourdes, a widow, says she raised her son by herself. She didn’t need any help raising her son since her sampaguita business did well and she had spare time for other jobs like selling condominium units, repacking products at factories, or even working as a chambermaid in a famous hotel in Manila.

She likes keeping herself active by taking on different jobs which not only excite her but also give her extra income no matter how small.

Rentorio has a degree in education, which she was able to use when she taught at a local daycare center. Today, she lives with her son who has since married. She and her daughter-in-law run the “family business.”

This year marks her fourth time to work as a “greeter” and she says she is thankful for having been rehired thrice.

Her work at SM Hypermarket is relatively light (compared with selling flowers)—the hours are short and the salary is relatively good.

Rentorio says she makes P400 a day selling flowers but earns P450 for each four-hour shift.

She says she will use the money she earns from SM to buy more sampaguita and, of course, keep some to augment her family’s simple “noche buena” on Christmas Eve.

Apart from the salary, Rentorio says she enjoys her daily interaction with customers.

“It’s fun to work here. I can see lots of things and meet lots of people. And many are glad with what we do as ‘grand greeters,’” she says. “Others, including foreigners, even had a picture-taking session with me.”

SM employs hundreds of these elderly “greeters” each year, especially around Grandparents’ Day and Christmas, and each “lolo” or “lola” has his or her own story to tell.

Different backgrounds

The senior citizen employees come from different backgrounds. Like Rentorio, sari-sari store owner Victoria Castillo, auto mechanic Efren Nilios, former civil service employee Vivencio Sorongon and housewife Amelia de la Cruz have joined the Grand Greeters program mainly for the experience of working with shoppers at SM stores around the country.

“I wanted to experience what they do since I see them every December,” Sorongon says of the elderly employees.

Nilios expresses his appreciation for the program, saying “he enjoys what he does. Shoppers are happy when they see us. It’s really nice that I am here.”

Castillo, for her part, shares a trick she learned on the job. “There should be eye contact. Then smile. We are also glad when they respond. It’s fun. You can’t find another job like this.”

Asked how their family and friends reacted to their work, the elderly greeters said some of their family members and friends initially couldn’t believe that they applied and were accepted for such work at Mall of Asia.

But now, even some of these initially disbelieving friends are interested in joining the program.

The senior citizens appreciate the opportunity of working at SM especially because the load is relatively light and it beats staying at home. And they like the feeling of being productive members of society.

The social activities they participated in also opened opportunities for them to make new friends.

Some 150 spread cheer

Twice a year, during September and December, select SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket and Savemore Market stores hire close to 150 senior citizens, aged 60-65, to help spread cheer to shoppers, especially during the stores’ peak hours.

The program aims to promote the Filipino value of caring for the elderly and preserving “extended family” culture by having shoppers interact with lolos and lolas in the stores.

It also gives senior citizens opportunities to be productive, as they earn while engaging in social activities with shoppers. Over 50 percent are rehired every year by the SM group.

“I gained a broader view of our age group. I thought I couldn’t find work. But now I have one and I enjoy it,” Castillo says.

De la Cruz adds: “It’s good that people see that even if we’re senior citizens there are still opportunities for us.”

For this season, SM’s grand greeters will be manning their supermarket posts until Christmas Eve. And if history is anything to go by, many of them will be back on the job by next September and December.

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