A MEDIA colleague posted on her Facebook account on Wednesday, rather wistfully, that Tropical Hut Supermarket on Scout Borromeo St. was closing shop.
For those of us who have been long-time residents of Quezon City, Tropical Hut was one of the OG grocery stores we patronized, where we bought anything from fresh meats to canned goods and small toys. And when the holiday season came around, we would buy our leg of ham at the kiosk which sold Majestic Ham, which the supermarket hosted. Papa would also have his keys duplicated at one of the stalls outside, along the supermarket’s perimeter.
Boosting the popularity of Tropical Hut are its delicious burgers, which thank goodness will not be affected by the closure of the supermarket slated at the end of July. Back in my elementary years, whenever Mama said she was going to shop for groceries at Tropical Hut, I was very eager to tag along because, most likely, there would be an opportunity to eat a cheeseburger at the adjacent cafe.
While Mama was picking up our groceries, I would sometimes sneak off and cross over to National Book Store to check out the latest Nancy Drew books in stock, buy school supplies I needed, then after make my way to the small Sanrio store-the first of its kind in the Philippines-to see what new kawaii My Melody or Little Twin Stars stuff had come in. (Nope, I was never a Hello Kitty fan.)
These days, National Book Store at the corner of Quezon Avenue is a shadow of its former self. It’s now called just ‘NBS’, and the Sanrio store has been long gone. And much of the property is devoted to food and beverage merchants, instead of books. The small-sizing of NBS began sometime in the early 2000s, which was later mirrored by Tropical Hut, in that the favored supermarket which once dominated the Scout area had also gradually scaled back its operations. (Apparently, it is no longer a ‘Supermarket’ but a ‘Foodmart’.)
The area also hosts other equally popular community supermarkets-the former Rustans-owned The Marketplace at Scout Madriñan, which caters to the more affluent residents; another OG, Hi-Top Supermarket along Quezon Avenue; and just a hop and a skip away, Robinsons Supermarket along Tomas Morato Avenue on the ground floor of a towering condominium.
I suppose the onslaught of more supermarkets in the area, along with availability of online store delivery, no longer made it tenable for Tropical Hut to continue operating. With higher cost of utilities and persistent inflation, it may have been difficult for the supermarket to keep the prices of its grocery items affordable as it once had.
Besides, Tropical Hut’s owner, the Mercury Drug Group, already sells grocery items at its drugstores so in a way, the company hasn’t strictly exited the supermarket business. The grocery portion of the group will just exist inside its ever-expanding drugstore network, side by side its pharmaceutical business. In a way, it is serving more customers by killing two birds with one stone: buy your drugs, buy your snack food-in just one store.
While it’s a tad upsetting to say goodbye to my once favorite playground, Tropical Hut fans will be happy to know that the burger joint at Scout Borromeo will be kept, and even expanded to a full-blown restaurant, while the rest of property will reportedly house the burger operations’ main office. And perhaps, more restaurant branches will be rolled in the near future.
Once upon a time, I also thought Tropical Hut Hamburger would likely go the way of its supermarket business. But in 2022, one guy’s tweet about his visit to the burger joint’s Escolta branch, along with a photo of his order-burger, fries, and a glass of soda-sparked a sentimental frenzy of visits to other branches.
I admit that because of that tweet, I have since returned to patronizing the restaurant, ordering what is now dubbed the Super Cheeseburger Classic.
The sandwich is wrapped in foil such that it is still warm when I receive it via delivery, and doesn’t break the bank because it costs just P187. It is beefy, juicy, and just the perfect no-frills cheese burger. I also belatedly realized that Tropical Hut Hamburger now caters to group orders, so it makes for an inexpensive meal for company meetings or family hangs, while bingeing on the latest hot streaming series.
Meanwhile, according to another Facebook post, there is an ongoing closing-out sale at Tropical Hut Supermarket, uhm, Foodmart, where its remaining inventory are being sold at heavily discounted prices, in case our dear readers are interested in making a nostalgic pilgrimage to the place.
Living in Quezon City most of my life, I’ve said goodbye to other great well-stocked supermarkets, which sold some unique goods. My Lola’s favorite was Sunshine Mart near the Mayon St.-Quezon Avenue area, where she would buy prepared morcon for cooking during Christmas Day.
Then there was also Glo-ri Supermarket along Del Monte Avenue, which was walking distance from our former home in Santa Mesa Heights, where my favorite purchase was Caroline’s Potato Chips, which was a treat using my saved baon. (Sheesh. Who even remembers that chip brand? I’m definitely showing my age!)
Of course, cities must change. New businesses will come, old ones will find new lives, and today’s children will someday look back with the same fondness on the places they now take for granted. That’s the cycle of every neighborhood, and every generation.
Still, every now and then, I can’t help but grieve the loss of these familiar landmarks, because they were never just stores. They were the backdrop to our family traditions, small triumphs, childhood treats, and ordinary weekends that, without realizing it then, would become ingrained as my life’s sweetest memories.
Maybe that’s why the news about Tropical Hut Supermarket feels so personal to me. It isn’t really about the closing of a grocery store. It’s about saying goodbye to a place that quietly witnessed my youth. And while the shelves may soon be empty, the flavors, the faces, and the memories it gave me remain wonderfully, deliciously full.