What's a papemelroti?
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Many people think that the name "papemelroti" comes from "paper".
It's actually the combination of the first syllables of five names - PAtsy, PEggy, MELdy, RObert, and TIna. They are the children of Benny and Corit Alejandro, (from eldest to youngest) who started the papemelroti business.
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| SOCORRO ALVIOLA ALEJANDRO, PAPEMELROTI FOUNDER |
Papemelroti is a specialty shop which carries a wide variety of gifts and decorative accessories. Papemelroti’s history began in October 13, 1967, when Benny and Corit opened a small gift shop along Tomas Morato Ave. (Manila, Philippines). Korben Gifts, as it was called, started out as a hobby, with Corit making stuffed toys and doll’s dresses and Benny supervising the furniture making.
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| PATSY'S NEWSLETTER |
Even before that, Corit was already sewing dresses for her daughters, making stuffed toys from cloth scraps, and play food from felt for her children to play with. Benny’s hobby was woodworking and he made furniture for their home, and a playhouse from a wooden crate for the children.
Soon their children were making their own paper dolls, decorating box dollhouses with clippings from old catalogs, drawing and doing other crafts. From this background, it was natural for the children to help out in the family business, starting with painting figurines, and hammering wooden plaques to give them a distinctive "antique" look.
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| THE FIRST SALES STAFF WERE (LEFT TO RIGHT) PATSY, PEGGY, MELDY, TINA AND MOM CORIT |
In 1976, the family planned to open a new shop in Ali Mall, Cubao. Since Korben came from a combination of Corit’s & Benny’s names, it became a family joke to name the new shop after the 5 Alejandro siblings - Patsy, Peggy, Meldy, Robert and Tina. When they couldn’t think of a better name, they finally decided to give the shop the tongue twister name - papemelroti.
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| THE FIRST PAPEMELROTI IN ALI MALL |
From the start, when that first shop opened during the summer vacation, all five siblings helped out in the business. In time, younger family members helped manage the business and you can also see their designs in the shops.
Papemelroti products strive to encourage, uplift, and inspire as well as bring warmth and beauty to homes. They carry themes and values that reflect a commitment to and love of God, family, home, country and the environment.
Through years of designing, manufacturing and retailing, papemelroti has become a popular name in the Philippines’ gift and decorative accessories industry.
Can you say "papemelroti" correctly? So far only 1 person got it right here.
See what's in store in papemelroti shops these days.
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