MEDIUM RARE 

Nedy Tantoco was her mother’s daughter. Glecy Rustia Tantoco wanted to give every shopper at Rustan’s an experience. Nedy, born five years after Manila’s first classy retail store (1952), added another dimension to that aspiration by fragrancing the shop throughout the day.

A Nedy touch. If a space smells good, it must be clean, not only clean but spic-‘n-span clean, smelling fresh, smelling good. Rustan’s fitting rooms and ladies’ rooms fit the bill. In the same vein, their salesgirls are taught to apply makeup, so they look professional in their uniform, wear it with pride. 

Glecy went against the grain of contemporary storeowners warning customers against damaging their goods and instead asked them to “touch our merchandise, you’ll love it.” In her time, Nedy made room for the kiddies who tagged along with their mothers by giving them their own play area. Last Christmas, the children had their own rec room in a “Christmas Wonderland” where they drew, painted, made toys while their mothers shopped.

Nedy was well traveled, but I thought she had a special affection for Italy, which was why I often wondered – and I told her so – why she was not the best ambassador to Italy we could have had. (On hindsight, I’m sure a diplomatic post had been offered her, more than once, by more than one administration.) Nonetheless, she had a way of bringing “exotic” countries like Morocco and Turkey to a section or an entire floor of her stores, “making the ordinary extraordinary” for shoppers, well-traveled or not. 

But Nedy was more than the face of Rustan’s, she was also an ambassador for culture and the arts. She lent her name to foundations, helped sell – or buy – tickets by the yard, and where monumental events desperately needed a shoulder to cry on or a magic way to sell the show, she offered her team’s services to illuminate the road, lighten the load.

The last time I saw Nedy, it was at a musical event a few months ago. Glowing as softly as the pearls around her throat, under the moonlight, she seemed to be enjoying the conversation, smiling or laughing in that gentle, ladylike way of hers. Whichever paradise you are in now, Nedy, you’re right at home.