A favorite shopping haunt for bargain home items on weekends is Dapitan Arcade, located on the corners of Dapitan and Kanlaon Streets. Dapitan has long been the go-to for wood carvings, home decors, and other native products.
Though Dapitan Arcade is accessible to consumers the whole year round, the sidewalk vendors start emerging only with the help of the barangay by September. By January, vendors sell their items at an even lower price to clear its holiday goods and make way for the next set of new arrivals.
What makes Dapitan a crowd drawer is the low price on quality home
goods that consumers won’t find in major department stores. “You are assured of the big discount that you will be getting here in Dapitan,” shares Josie Abaja, who sells her items of decorative jars, watch and jewelry boxes, leatherette hampers and assorted handicrafts in Stall 34. “Ang laki ng madi-discount mo. The items that I sell mayroon sa Robinsons and SM. Like the Christmas tree binebenta ko ‘yun nang P200 to P400, but you will see it in certain stores for P1,600. Nagkaroon ako dati ng angel figurines for P1,200 per piece. Doon, it’s P6,000 plus.”
Another vendor, Shirley Montenegro shares that her items are from
department stores.“Galing nga itong SM Homeworld may tatak pa,” she says. This
is because Shirley gets her items from dealers who sell to department stores such as SM and Metro. However she sells them at half the price as these are overruns. “Pero we sell it for half the price,” she quickly adds.
Quality assurance
Besides the attractive prices, buyers are also assured of the quality of the materials sold in the area. Some retailers acquire their items direct from the factory, while some wait for the delivery of export overruns.
Unique lamps adorned with wooden beads (priced at P650), wind chimes, scented candles, and other accessories make buyers all set for revamping their homes. Photo by Ana Valenzuela for InterAksyon.com.
“The items we sell are of excess production or some are good for export but what happens is it is of late shipment,” says Josie. “Instead na nakaimbak sa warehouse, binebenta sa amin. I get some of my items direct from the factory.”
Josie says that buyers can be assured of the quality of the items that they buy at Dapitan Arcade as they have passed through quality control.
Aside from the overruns that buyers can see in malls, Dapitan also has one-of-a-kind pieces that you cannot see anywhere else. Some stalls offer native goods crafted from abaca items and lamps made from local materials like capiz or adorned with wooden beads.
By this time, ceramic Christmas figurines such as this snowman are sold at even lower prices. Photo by Ana Valenzuela for InterAksyon.com.
Mylene Lanuza, who sells ceramics and locally made lamps in Stall 29-31, says, “Yung items namin wala naman sa mall. Pili yung mga paninda naming galing China. Wala kang makikita sa iba kasi isa lang yung supplier namin. We have selected goods from China.” She says.
This is why Mylene warns that some of her items run out of stock easily—sometimes after three days or a week after the delivery. “Depende kung may darating na late, ‘yun ang matitira. Dito sa Dapitan Arcade, kung ano yung nakikita niyo, ‘yun na ‘yun. Wala na ‘yung by order. Kasi, kung ano ‘yung dating sa amin ng
container, ‘yun na ‘yun. Depende na lang kung mauulit,”
