The Pangasinan Star ONLINE

AFTER ALL
By Behn Fer. Hortaleza

THE most sensible suggestion to save the new Malimgas public market from economic perdition and by extension, the city government from going crazy on how it could pay the amortization for its P300 million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines, is to open the whole second floor to big food chains or to big-time franchisees who could probably convert the area into a giant “food center” of sorts. You know, like the SM Food Plaza which is never wanting of customers all hours of the day up to early evening.

Food as a business has always proved to be a crowd-drawer— i.e., for the gourmets and the plain hungry, regardless of the eater’s social standing or bank deposits. Clothes shops or boutiques located in a public market, no matter how classy and trendy (or even low-priced) their wares may be, on the other hand, suffer from the common impression that these could not but be just so-so wears, considering the location.

Let’s – okay, the city government must – face it, despite hard times, even the low-income youngsters would go for a commercial modern mall and upbeat supermarket anytime, there to be seen by neighbors and friends and earning the mark of being “in” or simply “belonging”. Dagupan youth and teens, even some adults, are no different from those of their age groups anywhere; just make a quick survey of their shopping area preferences and you will see what we mean. It’s Pavlov’s conditioned reflex theory at work, maybe even the real signs of the times – when you’re used to playing rich or “can afford,” it’s hard to shake off the habit.

We can only wonder how and why the feasibility study groups for the Malimgas modern public market did not factor this particular human factor when it comes to people’s choice of their kind of market. The great misfortune of the Malimgas market is that it tried, is trying, to compete with the big commercial malls found right beside it by trying to copy their ambience and facilities – without however considering the mental makeup of shoppers and buyers who have some unconscious aversion for goods and wares especially clothes found in public markets.

Malimgas planners had thought putting in modern amenities (airconditioning system, escalators, elevated parking, great lights) was all there is to drawing in the crowd.

Sad miscalculation!
Come to think of it, this could have been the reason Belen Fernandez, once she had the CSI franchise tucked in her (wide) belt from the city council then led by Vice Mayor Teddy Manaois --and despite the publicly announced concept of building a “modern public market thru private initiative” at the old site of the original Dagupan market some years back – made a 360 degree turn and came up with a purely commercial mall instead! Now, you can see her gambit worked – and worked so well, never mind the frayed nerves and heartaches she left in her trail among both allies and oppositors.

On hindsight, it does look like Belen had a much better reading and “gut feel” of the idiosyncrasies of the Dagupan buyer then than the present marketing geniuses of the Malimgas combined. To hear the The Fat Lady sing: Profit and public service don’t mix. You’ve got to make a choice.”

And she didn’t even have to throw good money after bad hiring, like the Malimgas guys did and are still doing, some fancy media outfits to produce those so-called “catchy” promotional jingles that so far, has succeeded only in catching the city taxpayers’ money -- not the sought-after, hard-to-get local marketgoers.

Time to go back to the planning boards, gentlemen!