By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Shangri-La Plaza hosted a unique thanksgiving celebration to usher the auspicious Year of the Dragon. Dubbed as Retailer Partners Night held at the luxurious Shangri-La The Fort, the night to remember was filled with insightful discussions, trends in business and marketing, some valuable tips from Feng Shui master for more prosperous and auspicious business and life, great food and drinks, energizing music from no less than the country’s Concert King, Martin Nievera, among others.
Veering away from the traditional way of celebrating Thanksgiving, Shangri-La Plaza introduced young, dynamic and progressive business leaders who shared the secret of their success as well as trends and consumer behavior that redefined the way to market products and services.
After a 5-year of hiatus, Shangri-La Plaza also introduced the new guards of business and retail and started off with a keynote from The Belo Group managing director Cristalle Belo-Pitt who shared that the “secret sauce” to staying relevant is as simple as “going back to your ‘why’.” She pointed out that when Dr. Vicky Belo started the business, her goal was to make the Philippines the most beautiful country in the world one person at a time. “And we did that and continue to do it by bringing in the best technologies from around the world to our country.”
Another thing that Cristalle considers key is working with the best partners. The value of getting the right location, spaces that put attention to details, and the care and support that Shangri-La Plaza consistently extends to The Belo Group is worth all the effort. “I really attribute our success here to the support that we get from the management. We feel heard whenever we tell them about our goals for the year.” Cristalle explained.
Following Cristalle’s impactful presentation, broadcast journalist Karmina Constantino moderated a panel discussion on the experiences of some of the leading brands’ new generation of business leaders. Cristalle was joined by Vohne Yao, the managing director of the hip eyewear brand Owndays Philippines and a director for luxury watch purveyor Lucerne Group; Toby Claudio, the president of the leading multi-brand sports and fitness retailer Toby’s Sports; Rajiv Mirani, the president of Vogue Concepts that brought international brands like Ever New, Parfois, Levi’s and Yves Rocher to the Philippines; and Vania Romoff, a renowned fashion designer and the creative genius behind her eponymous RTW brand that offers pieces that celebrate the modern Filipina.
Venus Wang, Chinese Feng Shui and Astrology expert from Singapore, built on the insights from the panel to deliver an engaging and helpful guide for Shangri-La Plaza’s retail partners. Her talk provided practical advice centered on leveraging the Chinese Zodiac forecast and attributes of the business owners themselves as well as their teams and applying these in their business operations. Venus also offered certain adjustments that retail partners can execute in their spaces, relationships, and investments to prepare for any challenges and further enhance their businesses for the auspicious year of the wood dragon.
With Nicole Andersson hosting and some of the biggest names in business in attendance, the Retail Partners Thanksgiving was a wonderful opportunity for Shangri-La Plaza to celebrate its continued commitment to innovation in support of its valued retail partners, and to have an exciting and fun time doing so.
As Joy R. Polloso, Executive Vice President for Commercial and Retail of Shang Properties, Inc. said in her closing remarks, “Shangri-La Plaza is honored to host a gathering that strengthens our partnerships with the new guard – the next generation of retail leaders – while coming up with ways to help nurture the businesses of all our retail partners.”
She further shared, “We are boldly moving forward in 2024 with new developments that allow us to build for better and continue to be Inspired by Shang. All these moves are centered around Shangri-La Plaza working hard to be a good partner with all of you.”
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