HRM grad turns back-seat venture into ‘glocal’ brands

What started as a “back-seat” venture has grown into a brand that builds on the concept of “glocal” – globally competitive but of local roots.

Mary Love Deen has always loved apparels and as a young woman, she would often do buy-and-sell trading on the side even while she has full time job.

Eventually, she decided to go into her own business and resigned from her full-time job in a hotel.

“I love selling so in 1994 I started peddling after I resigned from my job. I brought my stocks along with me in the backseat of my car, which served as my mobile shop then,” Deen said.

A graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of San Jose Recoletos, Deen was on her way up for a corporate career in the accommodations sector. But she saw herself more as an accomplished businesswoman than a successful career woman.

Deen said she started her trading business with a capital of P50,000 worth of stocks.

Hard work and initiative with a motivation to grow kept Deen going and after a couple of years, she finally opened her first boutique in a space in Century Plaza Hotel.

“I named it Style by Mary Love. My collections then were just bought in Manila,” she said.

Deen said that she loves to travel and hunt for good buys so she managed to buy products that are of good quality and priced them right for her customers in Cebu.

Soon enough, her hard work paid off and she launched her first registered brand called Adina Plus Size Fashion in 2002 and Simon Apparel in 2004.

From just being a one-woman company, Deen started to hire people to help her in her operations. At present, she has about 15 people on-board both her brands.

“I have two outlets for each brand now located in SM City Cebu and Ayala Center Cebu which are the two major malls here in Cebu,” Deen said.

The apparel sector however has become really competitive in the last five years including international brands, which expanded in Cebu.

“All of the local brands like me are affected with these openings but in retail there is what you call a cycle. It’s normal for people to patronize the new ones in their early months but soon with always be a matter of niche marketing,” Deen said.

For her brands – Adina and Simon – Deen knew from the very start how to position them to ensure there her her market share.

“Adina is for women who need bigger sizes but fashionable cuts and styles. It has been performing really well and I already have patrons for that brand. Simon on the other hand was born because I noticed before that there were not much brands here that offer easy to wear clothings for men.”

Deen said that Simon was inspired by a boutique that she saw in Hong Kong that offers easy to wear clothes for office, casual, parties and more.

Simon fits the lifestyle of most Cebuanos now who work in the morning then goes to parties at night.

Because of her huge operation, Deen said that she schedules four to five trips every year to hunt for new collections that she can sell in her stores.

Deen said that she always feels the fabric, looks at style that will be comfortable to wear and always checks what other brands are doing to get ahead in the game.

The middle market is expected to expand more according to Deen which is where she wants to focus on in terms of product lines and pricing.

“Unlike franchise brands, local brands like us have the ability to be flexible in pricing our products according to how the local market dictates it. That will be our edge,” Deen said.

Deen added that she is looking at more expansions for her Simon brand in terms of product lines in her thrust to become a “glocal” brand.

“My brand belongs to the Mass Market which is produced by volume which is what other brands here are. We expect more brands to open and make competition even stiffer so I have already set plans to be ready when that happens.”

She said that she wants to be a brand that will be globally-competitive with a wide range of products but still having that local touch in terms of flexibility in styles and prices.

“I want to expand beyond fashion by including products for the home, perfumes, eyewear, cosmetics and many other products under the Simon brand which I have successfully made into a for him and her brand by also including women apparels.”

According to Deen, she plans to get her plans rolling next year.

Because she is also a health enthusiast teaching Yoga four times a week at the Cebu Country Club, Deen said she also plans to carry Yoga clothing lines under Simon.

“All of these products will complement each other in the future which is what I plan my brand to be. Something that’s easy and healthy,” Deen said.

While expansions in terms of number of branches is also very tempting, Deen said she wants to focus on establishing her brands first before spreading too thinly across the country and abroad.