SM Retail through its subsidiary HMS Development Corporation and Crate & Barrel opened the first Crate & Barrel store in Manila last November 20.
Crate and Barrel opened its doors in 1962 as a family business started by Gordon and Carole Segal in Chicago, Illinois. The couple was inspired by the simple, well-designed, affordable products they had purchased on their honeymoon in Europe. The Segals decided to open a home furnishings store, calling it ‘Crate and Barrel’ after the shipping crates and barrels, which brought their inventory and became their first store fixtures. Working directly with European ateliers and factories to import their products, Crate and Barrel was among the first retailers to make modern tabletop and kitchenwares affordable to American consumers.
Aryanna and I were delighted to be invited during the VIP launch. Since I live in Makati, a trip to Megamall requires strategic planning to avoid traffic hell and getting a decent parking spot in the mall. The event was at 5:30 so we left Makati at 4pm to avoid the peak hour traffic and got lucky with parking so we were in the mall before 5pm. Not bad.
Early birds (from left): SM SVP for Operations Steven Tan, Aryanna and AVP of SM Premier Malls Mitch So
This is it!!!!!!!
I was so excited to shop, I forgot to take photos inside the store! Anyway, it’s more reason for everyone to visit the newly opened Crate & Barrel in Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall. All I can say is, it has everything you need and never thought you needed under one roof!
I’ve shopped in Crate & Barrel in the States and in Singapore. I’m familiar with their merchandise and the last time I was in Singapore I bought stemware and hand-carried them to Manila. I could only bring home 6 glasses at that time and I wanted to buy more. It was impossible to stuff them all in my suitcase. I was frustrated and the thought of having friends buy me more was stressful. When I heard that the store was opening in Manila, I was excited because I would be able to complete the glassware I previously bought.
Aryanna and I had only one shopping agenda: Buy the rest of the wine glasses (and maybe some other stuff too).
Let’s unbox my Crate & Barrel loot!!!
Before the reveal, I have a short story about the stemware I was obsessing about: If you watch Scandal, perhaps you have noticed that Olivia Pope subsists on a diet of red wine. The first time she took a sip of red on the show my eyes immediately went to the fishbowl-like wine glass she was holding! It’s just like me to pay attention to her “plato-platuhan”!
I took a mental note of Olivia Pope’s wine glass. I didn’t even bother Googling it but when I was in Singapore and shopped at the Crate and Barrel store, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Camille 23 oz. Red Wine Glass. My heart skipped a beat, I knew I’d found it!!! True enough after searching Google, it confirmed that they are the Pope stemware!
OK, that’s my Crate & Barrel story. On to the unboxing…
Here are my new wineglasses.
Like most of my plato-platuhan, I personally wash and store them so there I don’t have to blame anyone if anything gets broken.
I couldn’t help but also buy the jute table runner. It’s a tad big for our outdoor dining table but I like the dramatic effect of long cloth.
I also bought a beautiful copper plated pitcher. This will be ideal for serving water and doubles as a flower vase.
Like what I mentioned, I only had six of the Camille 23 oz. Red Wine Glass from my Singapore trip. Now, I have 9 of them and with matching Camille 13 oz. White Wine Glasses! My service for 8 (I buy one extra glass of my stemware in case of breakage) stemware is complete. I’m fulfilled haha!
Handmade beauties
The Crate & Barrel Camile Wine Glasses are elongated slender stems with a bubble bowl that’s perfect for cradling in hand to allow wines to open up and breathe. They’re sleek and sexy. Don’t they look elegant on the dining table?
Ready to use and abuse my purchases!
The best part about completing my collection is using them! However, I’m skipping wine or any other alcohol till I’m over the flu. It’s freshly squeezed OJ with tons of ice for now.
Scroll down for the Crate & Barrel catalogue:
I’d like to end this post by thanking Frank Briones of Thinline for making my Crate & Barrel shopping experience delightful. I really appreciate your help.
Shoppingero/shoppingera, visit Crate & Barrel!
Crate & Barrel is at the 4th floor of SM Megamall’s Mega Fashion Hall