Manila Members’ Treat with “Buy One,Take One” Offers and a beefed up selection of goods apparently started yesteday the 16th and will run until Sunday, the 20th of March 2011. We were out of town from Monday until last night, so apparently missed the near pandemonium at S&R Fort Bonifacio where I understand they nearly ran out of shopping carts at 7 in the morning and they had to close the doors to new clients just minutes after opening them. Obviously, these sales attract a serious amount of attention. I was in the store two days before the sale began, and noticed shelves stocked to the RAFTERS, literally, so if you are up for a challenge and some good bargains, don your battle gear and get to a Manila S&R soon. :)
More interestingly, perhaps, is the first ever CEBU Members’ Treat Sale, from March 30 to April 3! That store is also stocked to the rafters so it will be curious to see if the same sort of shopping frenzy descends on that branch or if Cebuanos will be true to their “frugal” stereotype. I think I will be in Cebu on March 30th, so I may just drop in and see how the sale is going there. We use several ingredients that we source from S&R in our lechons so it would be wise to stock up if they have been discounted. But a note to S&R buyers… where’s the kosher salt? We are probably the largest buyers of your kosher salt and you haven’t had any in months! :) Happy shopping everyone! And no, I am NOT connected to S&R in any way nor do I receive any compensation for frequently mentioning their sales… Actually, I probably shouldn’t do these announcements so I wouldn’t have to line up for hours to get into the sales! :)
25 Responses
Wow! thanks for posting about S & R’s Member’s Treat here in Cebu MM! Definitely, we’ll go there..
we were at the alabang branch yesterday and it was chaos when the store opened in the morning. we got somr good deals but–the lines to the cashiers were a nightmare.
i had to leave the stuff because i had an impatient toddler with me. my cousin stayed put in the line and ended up waiting gor her turn to pay for a good 10 hours!
same here. braved the lines yesterday to get first dibs. the lines were soooooooo long. stood in line at around 5:30 PM and got to pay at the counter at 10 PM. yup, that’s correct. although i can say that the deals are really that good.
i usually go on the last 2 days of the sale, observed that the lines are not that bad anymore. although probably less items are still available by that time as everybody has consumed the goods on the first 3 days of sale.
Sounds like panic buying on great deals. Or a new Apple doodad on the market. 5-10 hours waiting in line for groceries is, well, over the top. Credit our homemakers for willing to endure such an experience to stretch the kitchen budget.
louinsanfran, I have to agree. 2-3 hours MAXIMUM is the most I would endure to save say PHP10-15,000 from staples shopping such as vegetable oil, toilet paper, detergents, dry goods, etc. If I wasn’t going to save that much for the time invested, I wouldn’t bother either. :)
my battle plan: go with a driver and 2 helpers. driver worries about the car, helper 1 lines up at the cashier in advance with an empty cart, while i and helper 2 go around the crowded aisles getting the stuff we need (and want) and bring them to the helper 1. my MIL went yesterday and gave up when she got to the door! lines were snaking around and people were like ants! that was in S&R Aseana
With hard to get ingredients, like kosher salt and the like, it’s actually easier and sometimes cheaper, to get a balikbayan box and ship it from the US. In a panic last Christmas when I couldn’t get any Chorizo El Rey, we got some from abroad. The world has shrunk to the point that you can get most anything that isn’t perishable shipped to you door from practically anywhere.
I arrived in S&R Fort at 8am yesterday. Finished shopping at 10 and Got to pay at 2pm. That was 4 hours of waiting in line! I was so tired. Then now, I’m looking at my receipt, there are some discrepancies. Like they punches 3 items instead of 2. I wonder if I can go back to have this fixed? I was really so anxious to go home yesterday that I wasnt paying attention when the cashier was ringing the items I bought.
Was in Alabang at 9am, out by 2pm. Just lining up at the cashier took me 3 hours. It was really crazy. I wanted to go around but I just couldnt, given the volume of people. I normally avoid the first day but I just had to get some white beddings (they ran out last time)… We got other deals too – Corelle sets were buy 1 take 1! We got for our use only. There were so many hoarders! I wonder what they plan to do with those plates?? I will go again maybe on the third day and hopefully get to shop better…
I passed by on my way to an appointment at 8am this morning. I saw the lines just to get in and almost passed out. If you put a value to your time spent, am not so certain its worth standing in line for…. Still I love S & R!!!
yesterday while i’m on my way to the office i passed by S&R Congressional and saw the LONG lines and the parking lot FULL actually there are still more cars lined up near the entrance gate. Then on my way home, its few minutes before 12 midnight and there are still lots of cars parked, the entrance door is already closed while there are still people lined up at the counters…
At Congressional branch yesterday, a lot of customers were angry because S&R had to turn away some people because of the huge crowd.
I lined up for 5 hours just to be able to buy the Samsonite luggage set that I wasn’t able to buy in last year’s sale.
I went there last year at the Fort Bonifacio Branch, just left after a few minutes. Couldn’t stand waiting that long in line…
It’s a bit embarrassing to read this article knowing that some people in Japan and even some compatriots in Bahrain are subsisting on so little food and other necessities.
My heart goes out to Japan and its people, some of my best friends are Japanese. I was even an exchange student in Sendai for a semester. But the world doesn’t and shouldn’t stop because of the tragedy in Japan. There are other ways to show support for the people of Japan, commenting on a food blog is not one of them. There is political, racial and gender oppression, child abuse, slave trafficking and natural disasters happening all over the world every single day, should the whole world stop living until all of these problems are solved?
On topic:
I went to the Fort branch to browse. I circled the aisles twice and did not find anything too exciting in the food section. As always, tables, chairs and towels were hot items and so were chinaware. What the heck do people do with dozens of Corelle dinnerware sets? Do they resell them? Maybe for use in a high-end catering business?
I was focusing on the discount tags in the food section and nothing really caught my eye. A lot of the stuff on sale last time were on sale again this time around. Does anybody care to share what they think are the good bargains of this sale are?
I am smiling and frowning at the same time imagining how you guys can stay in line for that long. I don’t think I have that much patience standing for 4 or more hours. Here in the States, waiting in the cashier’s line for 30 mins. – most folks will already be complaining… ummm maybe on Black Friday (Thansgiving sale), people lined-up in Electronic Stores, way before they open up at 5:00 am, and its pandemonium when they get in… but still when its time to pay… its less than an hour. What takes time is if when you don’t know what to get or buy and you search around on crowded aisles..which is unavoidable because stores publish their sale items days before the actual day. So you know what you wanted and your budget, and you go to the store that you are familiar with the layout.
Kosher Salt – wow, I did not know that is a real sought after ingredient there. When I visited Pinas last May, I had sent ahead of me boxes of this, but preferred to use the “local sea-salt” that is harvested by the townsfolk, non-iodized, organic, and cheap. You can’t get it any better. It looks whiter too.
EbbaBlue, I agree, really good local sea salt is ideal, but finding NON-IODIZED sea salt is difficult, in fact, technically ILLEGAL under Philippine law that regulates the addition of iodine to all salt manufactured locally. Some folks ignore the regulations (thank goodness for that) but it isn’t easy to find salt without iodine. Almost all salt in local markets is iodized. As for the kosher salt, it has smaller and much drier granules and we use it for a specific part of our lechons, and local salt does not do as good a job in our opinion. We do use lots of local and organic ingredients, but olive oil and kosher salt are a must whenever possible.
I went to the S&R at the Fort today and while it seemed orderly, the lines looked like they would take 2+ hours to navigate, so I left instead. Canola oil looked like a great deal and should last for months in the pantry. Some kubiertos or cutlery on the modest end of the spectrum were great deals if you had a restaurant or catering business… but overall, being on a diet, I decided to return another time if lines abate…
went to SnR Congressional Ave. in QC to do our regular grocery and it was filled with people and a lot are still outside waiting for pushcarts. the parking lot is filled with so many cars and was so hard to find a free space. went inside and saw the long lines at the cashier. normally this isnt the case when they had a sale before. wandered what the fuss was all about so I looked around and saw lots of B1T1 items – bedsheets, chairs, curtains, etc etc. Didnt want to line up for hours just to pay so just bought one scoop of Bunny ice cream (butter pecan) and left. went grocery shopping at SM Megamall instead. hehehe.
well, just go to addidas/nike / reebok sale instead…. waiting period for your pair of shoes is an hour lucky if they have your size though. ; )
btw, st/ luke’s had to place barriers on the road, bec the s&r clients are blocked the emergency room entrance!!!!!!!
I so far am skipping this sale for the first time. The last one was just too crazy for me. I also am one of those weird shoppers that will buy something I do not really need just because it is a good deal. Although, they did have great bath mats and sheets last time, all buy one take one. I went to S&R the day before the sale to buy my milk (it never goes on sale) and they were stocking the shelves with TONS of items.
Kosher salt can usually be bought at Unimart. It is not Morton’s…some random brand.
Was at S&R Fort early this morning. The lines were not that long at the counters. Took me just 30mins or less to pay …at around 1130am. Not bad. I think the crowd was just like during Christmas season.
When my parents got to the Aseana branch on the first day of the sale at past 8am, there was already a line to get inside S&R and no push cart available. Apparently, people started lining up as early as 5am. Yikes! But my parents finished before 11am, because my dad already lined up at the counter after getting some stuff. According to my mom, she saw someone using a giant Rubbermaid trash bin with wheels as a push cart. At first she thought the person intended to buy the bin as well but after paying for her items, she just left the bin at the counter. Tsk tsk.
As for me, I went this evening to the Congressional branch with my mom and sister. We were there by 6pm and out by 8pm.
I decided to pass by S&R at The Fort on my way home close to 9pm last night. I saw pushcarts outside but I had to go around the block to be able to get to the parking entrance. Lines were about 7 carts deep but by the time I was done at 10pm (they had turned off some lights), I was second in line at the counter. I guess I just got lucky. The counter girl said it will probably not be the same tonight & tomorrow…
(i wonder why my IP address registers China…)
We went on the first day. Arrived at 5:30pm, lined up to pay at 7pm–finished paying at 11.
Another upcoming sale at s&r this Wednesday, Sept 14 til 16. I’m not sure if it is 16 or 18 :) been at the sale congressional branch last march earlier this year and it was chaotic because the lines are long and people were carrying their items in laundry bins around the store because push carts ran out quickly. But indeed, they really give good deals especially for bed linens and corelle sets. Got in around 2 pm and was able to pay around 8pm..not bad for the first day. :)