Socorro ramos biography

“SOCORRO C. RAMOS” is the matriarch of National Bookstore, the Philippines’ leading retailer of books, office supplies, and greeting cards. In 1965, she and her husband Jose set up a nine-story building along Avenida Rizal which would be the very first National Bookstore. What has become the Ramos family business has not stopped growing since, having opened Powerbooks, a now popular specialty bookstore, in 1996. In 1940, Socorro Ramos, barely 18, started working as a salesgirl at a Goodwill Bookstore branch owned by her brother in Escolta, Manila. Because of her selling skills, Ramos was put in charge of the store. It was only after marrying Jose Ramos that her dream of the setting up a bookstore finally materialized. The couple started the first National Book Store as a stall shop in Escolta selling supplies, GI novels, and textbooks. Unable to afford extra help, Ramos worked not only as manager but also as cashier, purchaser, saleslady, janitor, and helper. When war broke out, strict censorship regulations forced many retailers in Manila, including the Ramos couple, to shift trades. They moved to selling soap, candies, and slippers instead. After the Japanese occupation, the Ramos couple were able to rebuild a barong-barong in the corner of Soler and Avenida Rizal in time to catch the boom of post-war business. Using the door of their house as a counter, Ramos again started selling textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, and pencils in time for the first postwar school year in the country. Just like that, National Book Store made its transition from being a general merchandise store to a store that sells books and more. Business went well mainly because only a few stores sold school supplies during that time. In 1948, Typhoon Gene entered the Philippines destroying dozens of houses and property including the Ramos’. Their house and store were taken down and all the merchandise soaked following the typhoon. But this did not bring down the Ramos couple. They

When Socorro Ramos was still a teenager, she started working at a bookstore. Nanay Coring, as she is fondly called, worked hard and learned a lot. And it was not long before she and her husband Jose Ramos decided to open a small bookshop more than 75 years ago atop a panciteria in Escolta.

Despite not having finished college, she recognized the value and power of education and lifelong learning. She also liked “to sell and consider everyone my suki.” National Artist Nick Joaquin, in fact, called her a Super Salesgirl in an article he wrote about her in the 1970s.

Nanay Coring also wanted to make books, school supplies, and other tools accessible for everyone. National Book Store made books affordable, especially when Presidential Decree 285 allowed the local reprinting of textbooks used by students in college.

With that, “we were able to sell college algebra books that would sell P300 when imported for only P75 when we reprinted these. P300 was a big amount during that time, and I am happy that we were able to make these books affordable for students and their parents.”

With hard work, patience and perseverance, she – along with generations of Laking National customers and employees, National Book Store has grown to become one of the country’s best-loved brands with over 230 branches and over 2,500 employees. It continues to open more and more branches every year, have launched exciting concept stores, as well as its own school.

It was also one of the pioneer tenants in SM City North EDSA, the first SM Supermall. “Mr. Henry Sy and I both had stores downtown – I was at Avenida Rizal and he was at Carriedo,” she recalls making that crucial move. “Whenever he would open a new mall, he would tell me, ‘Mrs. Ramos, we have a space for you here.’ And I would say, ‘Yes, Mr. Sy.’ That’s why wherever there is an SM mall, there is a National Book Store branch.”

Nanay Coring describes Mr. Sy as a “very nice person, very humble. There was a ti

Filipino businesswoman (born 1923)

Maria Socorro Cancio Ramos (born 23 September 1923) is a Filipino businesswoman. She is the co-founder of National Book Store, the largest bookstore chain in the Philippines.

Biography

Maria Socorro Cancio Ramos was born on 23 September 1923 in Santa Cruz, Laguna. She grew up in a rich entrepreneurial family, she began assisting in her parents' shop and her grandmother's market stall at a young age. After graduating from Arellano High School, she worked as a shop girl at the Ramos Goodwill Book Store. Socorro's brother Manuel married one of the daughters of the Ramos family, leading to the opening of a new bookshop on Escolta Street in 1940, located on the ground floor of Panciteria National. José Ramos was put in charge and asked Socorro to come and work for him. The store was called National Book Store. Despite facing opposition from her family, Socorro married José shortly thereafter.

During the Japanese occupation, many of the American books were hidden and the couple mainly sold office supplies, soap, and flip flops. However, during the Battle of Manila in 1945, their store went up in flames and they had to start over with the stash of hidden books. Unfortunately, three years later, disaster struck again when a typhoon again destroyed the rebuilt store at its new Rizal Avenue location. Nevertheless, the National Book Store was once again reconstructed, this time with a mezzanine.

Over time, the store expanded. New branches were opened at the intercession of the three children of Socorro and Jose. The company became a real family business and grew into a chain of bookstores with branches throughout the country. In the 1990s, the chain had about 50 branches. Twenty years later, there were 145. The National Book Store became the largest bookstore chain in the Philippines and one of the largest companies in the Philippine retail industry.

Ramos turned 100 in Se