FLASHBACK: Hoskyn’s in Iloilo was the Philippines’ first department store

The historic Hoskyn’s building in Iloilo City stands as the birthplace of modern department store shopping in the Philippines.

Walking through a mall today feels ordinary. Clothes on one floor, groceries on another, toys, jewelry, appliances, school supplies, hardware—everything you need under one roof, each item with a fixed price.

More than 140 years ago, that idea was revolutionary.

Long before shopping malls transformed the country, Hoskyn’s Department Store in Iloilo City introduced Filipinos to a new way of shopping. Opened in 1877, it is recognized as the Philippines’ first true department store, pioneering a retail experience that would eventually become the norm.

Founded by English businessman Henry Hoskyn and his brothers under Hoskyn & Co., the store stood at the corner of Calle Real (now J.M. Basa Street) and Guanco Street, in what was then the country’s busiest commercial district. Henry Hoskyn was also the nephew of British vice-consul Nicholas Loney, the man credited with helping build Iloilo’s sugar industry into a global economic force.

The store that sold everything

Hoskyn’s quickly became famous for carrying an astonishing variety of merchandise.

Its reputation was summed up in a memorable phrase: it sold everything “from a needle to an anchor.”

Customers could buy imported fabrics, groceries, jewelry, stationery, toys, furniture, hardware, and even heavy machinery—all in one place. During the Spanish colonial period, there was simply no other shopping destination like it in the Philippines.

The price tag revolution

Hoskyn’s didn’t just change what people bought. It changed how they bought it.

Before the store opened, shopping usually meant bargaining. Prices varied depending on the customer and the merchant.

Hoskyn’s introduced the country’s first fixed-price system, where every item had a set price and every customer paid the same amount.

Today it seems ordinary. In 1877, it was revolutionary.

The concept helped modernize Philippine retail and laid the foundation for the department stores and supermarkets Filipinos know today.

Why Iloilo?

Hoskyn’s flourished because it arrived at the perfect time.

During the late 19th century, Iloilo was known as the “Queen City of the South.” Fueled by the booming sugar industry, the city had become one of the wealthiest in the country, attracting foreign merchants and affluent families looking for imported goods from Europe.

The city’s prosperity created the ideal environment for a large department store unlike anything the Philippines had seen before.

From Hoskyn’s to Iloilo Supermart

World War II disrupted the business and damaged much of the city’s commercial district.

In 1948, the Que family acquired Hoskyn’s, renovated the property, and renamed it Washington Commercial. It later became Washington Supermart, which eventually evolved into Iloilo Supermart—now one of the largest supermarket chains in Western Visayas.

The original Hoskyn’s business may be gone, but its legacy lives on.

Its historic building still stands at the corner of J.M. Basa and Guanco Streets in downtown Iloilo, where its preserved facade continues to house local businesses.

Where Philippine retail began

Every time Filipinos stroll through a department store, browse neatly organized aisles, or pay the fixed price printed on a tag, they’re experiencing a shopping tradition that began in Iloilo nearly a century and a half ago.

Before SM, before supermarkets, and before malls became weekend destinations, there was Hoskyn’s in Iloilo—the department store that changed the way Filipinos shopped forever.

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