Innovative Street Markets Deliver Service at the Right Price 143.0
Evangelista keeps the clunkers going
The lady beside me at the coffee shop murmured, “I thought I was coming home to a third world country. Everybody seems to be out and enjoying what most Filipinos like, eating!”
Life in Manila is made affordable for many people because of such well-known secrets as Evangelista, the automotive parts and service street market in Makati.
Street markets. Other similarly famous ‘street’ markets in Metro Manila are:
- Divisoria and Baclaran for dry goods
- Navotas for fish and other seafood
- Dimasalang for flowers
- El Cano and Sto Cristo for bakery ingredients
- Tabora for vegetables
- Gilmore for computers and components
They are cheap because they are bagsakan or wholesale markets at the back end. They supply all the other neighborhood markets down the supply chain. They also do not offer too much of creature comforts like the airconditoned malls unless you enjoy talking with the artisans and traders who man them. I do!
The affluent have their own flea markets where they like to be seen but end up paying more rather than less like the Saturday Salcedo and the Sunday Legazpi markets. For dry goods, it would not be surprising to have the same products sold at four times the price you can buy them in crowded and often smelly Divisoria.
Banawe in Quezon city is the bigger automotive street market. But I have my clunker serviced in Evangelista.
My experience. Yesterday, I had two rear shock absorbers of my 10-year old Honda replaced while I watched and waited 45 minutes. This was done for the princely sum of P2,000 or US$42.75 (or US$34.20 for two shocks and US$8.55 for labor) and friendly conversation with the mechanic. On the right, the receipt is informal with just the mechanic’s cellphone number as the address.
A few months back, I had the automatic transmission replaced for a total cost P12,000 (US$250) while I waited. The bid was P33,000 (US$687.50) at a shop near the gated Alabang Village with a similar surplus transmission.
An efficient and successful street market. Not all the shops are small as pictured above. Some are big like the one shown below. What is more interesting is the range of services offered as given in the sign – and with warranty at that.
Despite the apparent bedlam, my quick investigation shows that, like most successful markets, Evangelista is well organized.
Like the Chinatown hardware stores, the streetfront shops are specialized. They are able to offer everything within their range because importers and, possibly, chop-chop shops with huge warehouses just behind the street hand deliver required parts within minutes when requested. The shop owners always say, “Yes, it’s available,” to any inquiry.
Carrying cost of inventory is minimal – in fact, there is positive float – as, copying Chinatown again, Evangelista shops also practice Saturday borrow-and-sell settlement with the importers and wholesalers every week. And they get paid in cash for goods and services rendered.
The shop owners normally have their own mechanics but are served by roving freelancers as well. Service is quick and often done while you wait. There is evidence of informal apprenticeship arrangements for the better mechanics. The boy at the background is probably one such apprentice.
Sales is also driven by ‘touts’ who are not paid a fixed wage but earn from free-market commissions thus further reducing risk for shop owners. Still, a failure of service is quickly punished by loss of customers. These touts are often the best source of good deals on the street. Just make sure to talk to as many to compare.
The luckiest businessmen in the area are probably those who own property and rent out the storefronts.
The clunker. My clunker is running better and better. And I am having fun exploring what the artisans and traders in Evangelista can do. I am sure many there are like me who are having similar fun, too.
With a little fixing here-and-there, the remaining unwanted sounds seem like loose screws left over by some such mechanics. The sources of these sounds are the subject of detailed search as I write. The engine and the aircon are quite robust.
Many enterprising people buy six-to-eight year old cars – the clutches on the automatic transmission I have learned give up in 9-10 years – and fix them bit-by-bit for resale. With all the little things I have done for my clunker, I may instead transform it to my Evangelista Express, using a little bit of engineering economy in maintenance, to have fun while extending its life.
Quality assurance. The final issue of course is quality and reliability. Here, my approach is obviously not engineering -given an old car and surplus parts replacement – but optimization as above, and cultural tack.
As is usual in the Philippines, the way to minimize these risks is by befriending your suki, the main service provider. I always talk to him to suggest friends for other specialized parts and maintenance. I do not mind if he makes some commission; the efficient Evangelista free market will assure that to be a reasonable amount.
And then there is always that old reliable, “Pare, ikaw na ang bahala sa akin,” that works among Filipinos. And the usual response, “Yes, my friend, I will take care of you,” that seals the deal.
