Korean no name brands conquer Philippines

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Mari Mikhaela Javier

Photos = Mari Mikhaela Javier

The cheapskates’ eyes are always on the "sale" tag of the most popular items. However, there’s no need for the ultimate price slash when you visit shops in Korea that offer the cheapest deals in town on no name brand items.

With a wider selection than department stores, these are specialty shops that sell products at lower prices. They’re now offered in Korean stores just like in cities around the Philippines.

The first time I learned about this was when I toured a mall here in the Philippines with some of my Korean friends. There’s no doubt about how much they love shopping for cosmetics and clothing, because it took us four to five non-stop solid hours to shop. They love sales, too. I brought them to a high quality cosmetics shop, but instead they asked for a no name brand shop.

Following that, we had an awkward moment.

"No name brand shop? You mean, like, a department store?"

"No. A shop with no brandname."

"What do they sell?"

"Everything!"

"‘I think that's a department store, no?"

"No. The shop’s name is No Brand."

Still not believing that it exists, they showed me a box of face powder with the name No Brand on it. Out of curiosity, I tried looking for such items on the internet and found a lot of them. I know that in certain markets, there are unpopular brands that small-scale businesses can use, but I didn't think that an actual No Brand brand actually existed. That's a pretty weird idea for me. In the Philippines, generic brands are more popular. However, in this case, they didn’t bother to name each item, so they used the name No Brand.  

A few months later, I saw my teacher eating cookies with the No Brand name, so I asked her if she bought them in Korea. She just got them at a Korean store a few blocks from the school. We had a short conversation about these Korean products. 

“No Brand. Made for consumers. Become a smart consumer.”

The No Brand name still follows strict guidelines in terms of packaging and standard quality control. True to its original concept, these items are cheaper than branded items, but they have almost the same quality, making them quite popular nowadays in Korea among youth who have a limited budget. Take note: these items range from food, laundry supplies and make up all the way through to items for your personal care.

Surprisingly, you can easily spot these products in Korean stores around the most prominent districts in the Philippines, including in BGC, Ortigas and Makati. So if you're trying to cut costs on your next shopping spree, remember that No Brand might actually be the brand you're looking for.

wisdom117@korea.kr

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