ECHOVILLAGE Store, a social enterprise opens a new model
ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle has partnered with The Village Store of the Partner and Access Centers Consortium Inc (PACCI) to open a sustainable lifestyle store in a village setting. The venture, now aptly named ECHOVILLAGE Store Sustainable Communities, has opened its flagship at the Peace and Equity Foundation’s (PEF) offices along 69 Esteban Abada, Loyola Heights in Quezon City last November 26, 2009. The PEF has been the major supporter of PACCI and has allowed it to operate a storefront in the busy Katipunan area.
The ECHOVILLAGE Store will showcase products from seven PACs covering the areas of Cordillera, Bicol, Palawan, Negros Island and Bohol, Zamboanga, Davao Cotabato and other parts of Mindanao. It will also be enhanced with eco-friendly and natural products carried by ECHOstore in its Podium and Serendra branches as a twist to the usual artisanal products supported by the PEF.
Besides promoting community artisanal products, ECHOVILLAGE Store will be selling green and environment-friendly products to start one off on a sustainable lifestyle. After the opening of the Quezon City store, other PACs will be opening their versions of the ECHOVILLAGE Stores in Palawan, Negros and Baguio and soon in Mindanao’s key cities like General Santos and Davao.
“The launching of ECHOVILLAGE Store is a very significant milestone in the lives of t he marginalized entrepreneurs as it brings about new hope and new light to chart their road towards improved quality of life.” says Marietta Paragas, Chair of the 7-member consortium called PACCI. And Veronica Villavicencio, PEF Executive Director, says “it’s about time our communities thought about sustainability of their enterprises by looking at what the market wants and not just what the community can make or do,”
Villavicencio continues,” this partnership with ECHOstore is a new way of reshaping our communities, so we can share in ECHOstore’s marketing and design experience.”
Rene Guarin and Marietta Paragas, Treasurer and Chair of the NGO consortium respectively, worked with the ECHOdesign Lab duo Jeannie Javelosa and Reena Francisco of ECHOstore, by bringing them to the PACCI communities in Negros Occidental, Gen San and Benguet and showing them what products are presently being made and marketed, albeit not too successfully. Jeannie and Reena went to work and tweaked the designs and ordered sample products from the various communities, keeping in mind the fashion-forward and eco-conscious market of ECHOstore. “So far, we have made some improvements design-wise and packaging-wise,” says Reena, the merchandizing expert and graphic visual artist between the two.
“We also have to keep in mind the various cultural nuances when we redesign the products,” says Javelosa. As an artist, curator and cultural manager, and once working with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) pushing local culture in the ASEAN level, Javelosa has knowledge of the local cultural communities nuances, crafts and other indigenous and folk expressions of the different tribes around the country.
It is a marriage made in heaven. Under its volunteer program called ECHOdesign Lab, ECHOstore has a pool of designers, graphic artists and product developers including volunteers like cultural manager Dannie Alvarez with experiences in museum and was once connected to the Design Center Philippines. It has a pool of mentors under ECHOteach giving seminars on entrepreneurship, leadership and environmental awareness through sustainable living.
The PACCI has a whole community of artisans, community workers and NGO specialists in institution building and capacity-building including social preparation. All they need is business development for the products they already have or can still improve on.
And this marriage results in the latest NGO-Private sector partnership which has never been done before: ECHOVILLAGE Store. This time, the acronym “ECHO” stands for “Empowering Communities with Hope and Organization” and the focus is now on sustainable communities.
This is a partnership that starts novel ways for communities to connect with mainstream markets, says Chit Juan, who heads ECHOstore’s marketing directions.
NGO work does not have to be the usual dole out mentality. And Private sector groups can be social enterprises. The union is workable and may address sustainability issues for many communities around the country.
You can check out ECHOstore at www.echostore.ph.
