5 Places Where You Can Shop Like a Local in Batangas All Year Round

Address: Fiesta World Mall, Marawoy, Lipa City

Store hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Sunday

Back in the days when there were still no Robinsons and SM in Lipa City, Fiesta World Mall was the place to be. Its popularity somehow dwindled when the two big malls were opened. But the Fiesta World Mall owners reinvented the shopping mall. Vacant spaces were turned into a big furniture store, while a large portion was converted into a bargain shopping space called Fiesta 888 Hypermart. As the name suggests, Fiesta 888 Hypermart offers an array of choices—clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, cosmetics, decors, gift ideas, fixtures, dinnerware, kitchenware, and more. These items are sold at prices comparable to Divisoria.

Shoppers looking for affordable trinkets are likely to find what they are looking for in Fiesta 888. A plain mug can be bought for as low as PhP20, while headbands start at PhP10. Dresses range from PhP250 to P400. Busy shoppers who have no time to go to Divisioria in Manila or Greenhills in San Juan can opt to go to Fiesta 168. Fiesta 168 Hypermart caters people from all walks of life, from practical shoppers to spendthrift ones.

Address: Rizal St., C.M. Recto Ave., Lipa City*

Store hours: 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday to Friday; 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday

Trendy, hip, young, novel, cool: these words describe Fashion Avenue Boutique and Lifestyle Store, a shop which houses online brands in a brick-and-mortar store. The boutique is a good source of what’s in and what’s hot when it comes to clothes, shoes, and accessories.

The store is not exactly new to the market, it is in fact an old-timer when it comes to selling clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, and other items online. So while others are going online to establish their presence in the market, a group of online sellers joined forces and decided to make their presence known through a physical store. For this, they chose the busy street of CM Recto Ave. in downtown Lipa.

Since its recent opening, online shoppers have done their share of walking to visit the store. The store caters to mostly millennials but millennials-at-heart are definitely most welcome.

Address: Mabini St., Tanauan City

Store hours: 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Cedera in Batangas means a place where there is a bazaar. Cedera comes from the Spanish word cede, which means to transfer. It is called cedera because of the nomadic nature of the business. The presence of a cedera always coincides with an upcoming fiesta. But in Tanauan City, a cedera lasts not just for one week, but up to two months.

Come November, the inner lanes of Mabini St. (the opposite side of Mabini Strip) going to the church are closed for the bazaar. The bazaar is not sorted. But there is order in chaos because the shopping crowd can still manage to find what they are looking for in the sea of more than 50 stalls—from hairpins to chopping boards, curtains to kettles, shoes to mugs, and blouses to headphones. Here, shoppers can expect to find items starting at PhP10.

Address: C.M. Recto Ave., Poblacion Brgy. 11, Lipa City

Store hours: 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM

The logo of J&C Lucky 99 Store in yellow and blue is pleasing to the eyes, and so are the prices of items sold here. As the store name suggests, items sold here start at PhP99. This popular store sells mostly clothes for men, women and kids, as well as accessories. They also sell housewares, kitchenware and appliances.

Affordable and quality stocks is the store promise to its customers. It seems to be true based on the more than 50 branches (and still expanding) nationwide. J&C Lucky 99 Store has two branches in Lipa located on the same street. J&C Lucky 99 Store precedes Lucky China Town and 999 malls in Divisoria. Its name is not a fusion of two mall names. Besides its two branches in Lipa, it has several branches in Batangas.

Address: A. Mabini St., Tanauan City

Shopping hours: 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM

While the place is called Mabini Strip, this is not its formal name. It just so happens that this is the street where shoes and clothing stores, along with accessories and gadget stores mushroomed. It is a strip where shoppers’ bargaining power can be tested and exercised. Discounts can be made available to good hagglers. The stores have diverse choices when it comes to value-for-money stocks.

Practical moms and trendy teenagers looking for outfits can buy a blouse at PhP100. A pair of jeans is sold for as low as PhP180. Most of the clothes sold on Mabini Street are from Pasig, Taytay, Thailand, and China. Do note that the sales staff at Mabini Strip can be persistent. They follow shoppers around and say things like “Suki, anong hanap? (Frequent shopper, what are you looking for?), and “Suki, pili na” (Frequent shopper, feel free to choose what you want). Among the stores on Mabini, 668 Shopping Center is the one that stands out. It is bigger than the other stores and sells more items.

Go to Yoorekka for more local shopping spots.