BF Homes tries to lure weekend market crowd

THE BF Saturday Market at Elizalde Park began operations on Feb. 14 this year. Enterprises of all sizes sell a variety of products catering to the different tastes of the community members.

BF Homes is trying to regain its former glory by re-branding itself as a bustling commercial district catering to surrounding communities of Tahanan Village, Hillsborough, Alabang Hills, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Parañaque.

Touted as the largest subdivision in Asia, BF Homes is a suburban community in the south of Manila with more than 12,000 households.

Everybody wants a piece of the sizeable demographics. It is no wonder why the once sleepy streets are now filled with rows of restaurants and mini-shopping centers.

BF Homes was developed by businessman Tomas Aguirre in 1964. His family once owned Banco Filipino, the premier bank in the 1960s.

After his success in the banking industry, Aguirre then ventured into land development and acquired 765 hectares of agricultural land in Barrio San Dionisio in Parañaque and some parts of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa. Aguirre then set up BF Homes Inc.

He envisioned BF Homes as an attractive residential area for those who wanted to get away from the busy streets of Manila, Makati and Quezon City.

BF Homes became the first gated community at the southern tip of Manila. The development was fast. By the 1970s, it already had its own convenience store, movie theater, bowling alley and two premiere hotels (The El Grande Hotel and Tropical Palace).

It enjoyed unparalleled success during those days until the collapse of Banco Filipino in 1985. The bank was shut down by the old central bank under the Marcos regime following a rift with Aguirre.

The Aguirres then fled to the United States and left the management of BF Homes in the hands of the residents.

Weekend market

In 2014, BF Federation Homes Association Inc. (BFFHAI) officer Manuel Perez heard of the success of the Legazpi Sunday Market in Makati. He thought that BF Homes could replicate this by positioning itself as the weekend market for those living in the south.

Last January, an organizing committee composed of Rosanne Hugo and Joey Casimiro signed a memorandum of agreement with BFFHAI president Arturo Carlos O. Astorga.

Hugo and Casimiro are vendors and also members of the organizing committee of the Legazpi Sunday Market.

The BF Saturday Market in Elizalde Park began operations last Feb. 14.

“We wanted to set up a similar premier market in the south. We saw the potential of the area knowing that there are 12,000 households located there,” said Casimiro, who sells Patika Beads & Wireworks at the two weekend markets.

Hugo, on the other hand, is also a major player in the weekend market scene having been a vendor since 2007. The “Chicken Chorizo Bake” she sells at the Legazpi market is a hand-me-down recipe from her grandparents. The recipe is originally known as “Lolo’s Macaroni.”

Compared to the Legazpi market, Hugo said, “BF is still a baby of sorts. How we run things is basically the same, but since BF is so new, we are still more relaxed on rules as we need to see how the community will accept things. We are allowing the market to grow organically, so we can see what works for our market base.”

She also emphasized the need to develop home-based businesses in the BF Homes area. “We love the mom-and-pop-type vendor [concept] and at this point, we are seeing young and innovative home cooks and entrepreneurs coming out of the woodwork.”

Casimiro noted that the initial challenge was “how to sustain the market and increase the number of vendors to have a variety of food offered.”

On the first day of the BF Homes market, families came in droves. The atmosphere, however, was more laid-back because of the location.

“[Elizalde Park] is friendlier to the family as a whole. It has plenty of space for families to linger and stay. It’s a safe place for kids to hang out as its fenced and enclosed. There’s also ample space for parking,” Casimiro said.

Besides food, the Saturday market also offers handicrafts and whatnots. Today, it has a total of 40 vendors mostly coming from the south side of the city.

Mike Clarapols and the rest of the organizing committee have high hopes for the BF Saturday Market.

“Just like any other market, it will take time until people would get to know the BF Saturday Market,” he said.

They are now turning to social media to spread the word that in the heart of the south lies a weekend market that has a bit of everything for everybody.

“We have both a Facebook page and an Instagram account. We do our best to regularly post photos on our accounts, from the items our vendors sell to our vendors themselves and even our guests enjoying their day with us,” Hugo said.

The desire to serve the BF community is on top of the to-do list of the organizing committee.

“We want to be around in the next five to 10 years, serving the BF community with good food and unique, hard-to-find items. It could be a place where people from BF and the South can showcase their products and develop their entrepreneurial skills, an incubator of innovation,” Clarapols said.