SOCORRO C. RAMOS Founder and General Manager National Book Store, Inc. Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2004 Woman Entrepreneur 2004 In 1940, when Ms. Socorro C. Ramos was approaching 18, she began working as a salesgirl in Goodwill Bookstore in Escolta. The store was owned by her brother and his wife. The store was located on the ground floor of the building that housed Panciteria Nacional. Later on, because of her selling skills, she was put in charge of the store. She married Jose Ramos and together they started National Book Store. After overcoming many hurdles brought by the Japanese occupatiom, fires, and natural disasters, National Book Store made its transition from a general merchandise store to a store that sells more than books. Upon finally settling in a nine-story building along Avenida Rizal in 1965, National Book Store has been growing nonstop. It has lived up to its name, selling school books, office supplies and even greeting cards. In 1973, Ms. Ramos successfully obtained licenses to reprint Hallmark greeting cards. She also convinced publishing giants like McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall, and Addison-Wesley to allow National Book Store to reprint textbooks, making them much more affordable to Filipinos. Today, nearly 65 years after the Ramos couple opened the first National Book Store in Escolta, the red and white colors of the company’s brand are seen in over 70 locations nationwide. In 1996, the family opened Powerbooks to address the reading public’s need for specialty books at affordable prices. “Nanay Coring,” as she is fondly called, also deals with her 2,500 people with motherly concern, and has been rewarded with the loyalty of her employees and a relatively low turnover rate. Among her awards are the Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship (1991) and the DTI Outstanding Filipino Retailer Award (2001). In the next five years, Ms. Ramos and her family plan to increase their stores to a hundred. Many communities still lack access to affordable books and school supplies, and Ms. Ramos’ goal is to widen National Book Store’s reach in the Visayas and Mindanao
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 09:15:34 +0000
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