Sari Suki 2050: A Scenario Draft
Some thoughts surrounding the initial research we’ve done so far around the sari-sari store in the Philippines.
As of 2015 ASEAN as a regional bloc is projected to emerge as a more unified region in the years to come as the most complete form economic integration thus far nears fruition. However what does that really mean for the everyday person that isn’t a governmental power elite nor a corporate entity?
Will more cultural objects, systems, and services that aren’t inline with a neoliberal development agenda wither away as we’ve seen over the last two decades as countries all over the world desperately attempt to modernize?
The sari-sari store, a neighborhood corner store that is responsible for nearly 40% of the retail sales in the Philippines has been a micro economic corner stone in supporting the families that run them as well as 20 or so families that will do business with one sari-sari store.
Beyond the entrepreneurial retail model inherent within every sari-sari store, there are a plethora of other systems that exist to serve the community. A social and recreational gathering point, a bank of sorts where people buy products on credit, an eatery, social services such as childcare, a media center, a farmers market.
How will the sari-sari stand up to corporatized convenience stores like 7-11? A similar structure to the sari-sari store is a neighborhood bodega in a city like New York. These privately owned neighborhood stores are already disappearing as their corners get taken over by corporate behemoths like CVS, Walgreens and 7-11.
On the ground observations in and around Cebu have already suggested an aggressive expansion of 7-11s and other super/hypermarts. How can these small neighborhood sari-sari’s compete? Under the current parameters of ASEAN economic integration, government elites and corporate entities take priority over the 600million people that inhabit the region.
How might a sari-sari serve as a catalyst to support independent and autonomous neighborhoods that are able sustain and thrive on their own without having to fully participate in a archaic neoliberal developmental agenda?