Our store in Robinsons Galleria was the branch that started it all. 

It was the first branch we signed the contract on after my in-laws gave us the company to manage. We refurbished a brand new look and feel for our kiosk, and it became the jumping board in updating the brand. 

Last month. we pulled out. And was replaced by our direct competitor. 

To that, I say, wish them luck and hope that they do better than we did.

On one hand, I feel a bit bitter. That’s how you feel when your ex replaces you easily with another woman. No matter how incompatible you guys are, you’d still be somewhat hurt, 

It’s the same with this mall.

Foot traffic isn’t as much as it used to. At its peak, it was the go-to mall of everyone. That was before SM Megamall, SM North EDSA and SM Mall of Asia were not even as popular as before. We all used to go to this mall to hang out, watch movies and enjoy the free aircon.

But with new malls popping up every month, competition got really stiff and despite being in a nice location, people just didn’t go to Galleria as much. 

“Do you think we made the right decision to leave the mall?” I asked my husband. “Do you think it’s like admitting defeat?”

“Well, do you think we can be profitable in this mall?” He pointedly asked. “Despite best efforts, do you think we can make money?”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“Then they can have our spot,” he retorted. “Let them realize what we realized early on. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

It’s really tough to cut your losses. In a way, it’s like admitting defeat. That you cannot survive, and hence, you have to close shop and move on.

My in-laws remind me it’s a matter of economics. Sometimes, we hold on to something that doesn’t work because of sentiment. But sometimes, cutting loss is a much better decision. 

If you close shop, you cut down your expenses. To be fair, since evacuating, we were able to reallocate our resources and focused on our other existing stores.

Thanks to God’s blessing, our sales still remain the same levels. And we have saved up on rent and labor. 

So our competitor can have our slot. 

If they think they can make money in the mall, so be it. But not all that glitters is gold. 

And if you think something’s a rock, don’t keep on bumping your head into it just because you don’t want people to realize you’ve made a mistake in the first place. 

Have a great weekend everyone!