For a very small area, Araneta center has quite a significant number of DIY or hardware stores. There are three in basically one block. DIY shop is found in Gateway mall. Handyman is in Farmers. ACE hardware is in Shoemart. I wish True Value would come in to add to the fray. Variety, in this case, is the spice of life. I just love going to these stores. The nearest one to me is DIY. Not only do they have a lot of the regular power tools, small appliances and parts but they also have the Everything for 88 section. Yup, everything you see for 88 bucks. They have flashlights, pots, pans, organizers, earphones, pens, clips, cases, tissue, battery, and a few other novelty items. Just today, i got some nuts and bolts that i need for my car. Some crazy hardware/car parts stores sell those from 5-20 pesos per set. I got some where a small box of a kind sold for 25 pesos.
I was checking out the Sentry Safes in Ace hardware yesterday. They were selling for the same price at True Value. I have a true value card that gave 1 point for each hundred pesos you spend. 100 points can be converted to a 200 peso gift certificate. Ace hardware, being part of SM, has the SM advantage card. That card gives a measly 1 peso/point per 100 pesos. If you use your card, they give only .5 points for 100 pesos. Yes, i did the math. I will get more bang for my buck at True value for the same item. However, it is farther and the travel time will cost me. The true value card was free while the SM advantage card costs 150 pesos and expires in 2 years. Henry Sy, you money making machine you, you know that you cant take that moolah with you even if you stuff it up your corpse when you die.
Some items are cheaper in DIY, some in Handyman and some in ACE. Canvassing is not really a problem since they are relatively close to each other. Hope to bump into you guys sometime 