SUKIMOKO

The word "sukimoko" refers to a good deal, a fair deal. A good deal is what Maria, the store's owner, wants people to get when they shop at Sukimoko, a sari-sari, a small goods retailer in the town of Valenzuela, located just above the city of Manila on the big northern Philippine island of Luzon... Maria has found that by offering her customers sukimokos she gets more customer traffic in her shop, which results in more sales. Though she doesn't make as much money as she could on each individual sale, the larger sales volume provides her with greater profit. It also helps her sales that Sukimoko is situated on a street featuring a "palengke," a wet market where a great variety of seafood, chicken, and pork is sold, along with vegitables and rice... She sees the young American woman at a rice seller's shop that is across the street from Sukimoko. The American points to rice in a wood rice bin, one of eight square bins that are built side-by-side together at the front of the rice..