Chiq Boutique

Resurrecting Chiq Boutique

February 6th, 2008. Published under Uncategorized. 3 Comments.

I used to sell stickers and small toys to my younger siblings when I was thirteen to fourteen years old. My wares were carried around in a small yellow kiddie purse that was shaped like a toothpaste tube. It had pictures of Donald Duck on it. I called my store – Chiq Boutique.Napa-uso yong larong tinda-tinda sa aming magkakapatid.

There were five kids in our household, but only four of us were into the selling craze. Our eldest, a full-fledged teenager, was detached from us all. She was forever daydreaming about her boyfriend, writing in her diary, reading Sweet Dreams Romance, and listening to Air Supply. I was second in line and resisting the idea of puberty with every fiber of my being.

My younger sister was selling her services as a portrait artist. She’d pretend to take pictures of us and our dolls. Then she would draw it and frame it using cardboard and felt paper. Her business was called – Dreamer’s Crafts.

Not to be outdone, my one and only brother, who was seven years old, put up his own. He named it – Loglog Shop. On Sundays he would go to the market to buy Tagalog komiks, which he would rent out to us for 25 or 50 cents.

Our youngest was three years old. She didn’t know anything about competition so she was only a customer. Neither did she know anything about money nor did she have any allowance, so we just gave her our stuff for free. (more…)