March 2003
Destination: Manila

Divisoria Mall
is the Choice of All
by Cristina Cordova

To find the cheapest clothes and experience shopping galore, one has to eagerly wait for a mall-wide sale. Of course, expect the troubles you will have to go through just to buy the things that you need at the most reasonable price. Imagine waiting through the traffic and struggling your way inside the mall entrance only to find out that the items on sale were old stocks and some are still considered expensive. You might think that it is impossible nowadays to buy all the things you want on a tight budget.

What if there is a place where all the items are virtually on sale? One does not even have to wait for a mall-wide sale to buy the cheapest clothes. It is no shopper’s paradise, but for those who seek to really have a good bargain, get into your most comfortable clothes and go shopping at the New Divisoria Mall.

The New Divisoria Mall is located at the heart of Manila’s shopping district. It occupies a block located at the corner of Sto. Cristo and Tabora streets in Binondo, Manila. You could go there by car, jeep or the LRT bound to “Recto/Divisoria.”

The Divisoria district comprises of flea markets but the New Divisoria Mall stands out as a one-stop bargain haven among the rest. It is a fully air-conditioned, three-story building, and is well guarded by security personnel. Bargain hunters are welcome and porters are designated outside to help you carry heavy loads. Although not as big as the other shopping malls around the city, you can find almost anything you want here. Believe me, this is where most of the things you find in other shopping malls come from, so prices are really cheap.

The mall opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 7:30 in the evening. Clothes are priced so cheap that they cost almost half the price found on the other malls, yet they have the same quality. Items are sold on either wholesale or retail basis and the stall owners are very accommodating, resulting to a very good buyer-seller relationship.

So, why wait for a mall-wide sale? I bet that you won’t be having second thoughts of buying a thing or two in Divisoria Mall.

Here’s one thought: Divisoria and other parts of Binondo used to be the Philippines center of trade during the Spanish era, and it is now being revitalized by the local business industry to be competitive with other trade districts.

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The best meal is not always found in a five-star hotel or in expensive restaurants. There are places where you could get food that is hotel quality but the price is very light for the pocket.

A decade ago, bargain hunting was never heard of since choices were quite limited. With the boom of industrialization, new businesses erupted thus giving way to more choices and extreme competition.

In the quest to find the cheapest clothes and experience shopping galore, one has to eagerly wait for a mall-wide sale. But of course, expect the troubles you will have to go through just to buy the things that you need at the most reasonable price.

During holiday seasons, more and more people come to visit bargain shops to do their holiday shopping. With the current economic downfall and difficulty in earning money, who would want to send their hard earned money to waste?

Aling Merta Salvacion, 36, started being a 'tindera' of tiangge since she was in her teenage years. "Feeling ko nga dito na ako tumanda (sa tiangge). Dito na ako nagkaasawa at nagkapamilya," she relates.

If it makes no sense to you to fly to Bangkok or Hong Kong just to buy cheap clothes and knick-knacks, there’s one place that’s your best bet for imported stuff at the right price: Greenhills in San Juan.

Establishments such as Greenhills, Divisoria, and Tutuban are known for offering good bargains to customers. This enables Filipinos to buy products for a very cheap price.