If you told Johans Juruena that he’d be working at SM 12 years after he met its founder Henry Sy, Sr., he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
It was 1978, and the nine-year-old Johans was just looking forward to his yearly summer visit to Manila. Summers from his childhood were filled with memories of hanging around at what was then Shoemart along Carriedo Street in Quiapo, Manila, where his mother, Erlinda, worked as a sales clerk.
He still vividly remembers what the shoe store looked like. “Ang ibinebenta d’un, may men’s shoes, may ladies’ shoes, may pambata na rin talaga. May glass showcase sa gitna kung saan nand’un yung mga naka-display na sapatos,” he said.
(“It sold shoes for men, ladies, and children. There was a glass display in the middle where all the shoes were showcased.”)
However, there was a particular encounter that would shape his future career. During that same summer, Johans unexpectedly met the shoe store owner—Henry, whom SM employees fondly called “Tatang.”
A close encounter with Tatang
Johans shared that his mother immediately reminded him to pay his respects through pagmamano, the traditional gesture of respect toward the elderly by touching one’s forehead to the back of their hand as an act of “blessing.”
“N’ung bumisita si Tatang sa Carriedo para i-check yung display and items, nagkataon na nand’un ako. Isa ako sa mapalad na nakapagmano kay Tatang,” he recalled. “Nakangiti siya. Inabot niya kamay niya para makapagmano ako.”
(When Tatang visited the store along Carriedo to check the display and items, it just so happened that I was there. I was one of those lucky enough to approach him and pay my respects,” he recalled. “He was smiling. He even held out his hand for me to ‘bless.’)
While observing the store owner, Johans overheard how Tatang constantly quizzed his employees about what the customers needed. “Ano ba ang hinahanap ng customer na wala tayo?” Tatang would ask. “Ano ba ang kailangan ng customer na wala tayo?”
(What are customers looking for that we don’t have?” Tatang would ask. “What do our customers need that we don’t have?)
In that brief encounter, Johans caught what mattered most to Tatang – giving his customers what they need.
