It was in the late 80’s or early 90’s at one of the malls in Manila, Philippines when I saw a couple of teenagers trying to pronounce this word Papemelroti correctly. I thought it was French or from another language maybe. Until through research I found out that it is actually an acronym for the first syllables of the first names – thus it means PAtty, PEggy, MEldy, RObert, and TIna, the Alejando sisters and a brother from Bulacan, a province north of Manila.

Papemelroti is a place where you can buy unusual decors or gifts made of wood or cloth sawn – all are products of this entire creative family starting from their mom Coret and dad Benny. It all started in 1968 as a hobby for Mrs. Alejandro by then another business name KORBEN, from the first syllables of Coret and Benny. Coret would saw stuff toys and display them at their small store located below their ancestral house.

Eventually KORBEN industry gave birth to what is now popularly known not only in the Philippines but in the world as PAPEMELROTI. They sell variety of things, from paper products to ceramic figurines to cotton t-shirts to wooden furniture or small decorative items.

What made their products unique from others is the fact that they make sure that every item that display to the stores have the personal touch from the skilled hands of any of the Alejandros. Be it a cute illustration of a home, a scripture passage, a tiny ribbon, words to live by, and many more. In every little way, Papemelroti share the family values to their customers: love of God, country, and the family.

At their stores, the products they sell delivers simple, straight forward and environment-friendly messages. They also encourage people not to buy disposable items but to buy products that are recyclable, re-usable and repairable. They encourage people to buy products made in the Philippines. Today they have buyers from as far as Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia.

Helping out others is also one of the main factors that motivate this business-minded family. They always look after the welfare of their workers and employees.

The secret behind the success of this business is they hold on to their company motto “Yard by yard, life is hard… inch by inch, it’s a cinch!” Plus a whole lot of hard work and a whole lot of fun too.