I go to the market to buy groceries. I notice that there’s a small number of people in the area. Suddenly I ask myself, What is going on? Where are the people? As I was going home, I saw a tricycle full of grocery stuff. The driver stops at the house and a woman buys their products. Again, I ask myself, Oh I see so this is the new normal that they’re talking about. 

It is hard but we need to adjust ourselves to this so-called new normal. Going outside is very tough due to the pandemic. We’re doing everything we can to adapt to the new normal. A huge number of people are being affected by this pandemic. 

Going to the store is really time-consuming. Instead of going to the store and risking your health because of the pandemic, why not try to buy at the rolling store. So now we are going to know more about the rolling store.

What is a Rolling store?

A Rolling store can be a sidecar, bicycle/ e-bicycle,  motorcycle/ e-motorcycle, tricycle, mini-truck, and cart that can hold a product. The rolling store is meant to travel to barangays, in the Philippines, the lowest local government unit, and bring the products to be brought by the consumer.

The Rolling Store decreased the number of people going to city markets to buy basic commodities such as canned goods, coffee, salt, noodles, rice, meat, poultry, and seafood, as well as fruits and vegetables.

What can you find in the Rolling Store?

Rolling store has a lot of kinds depending on the products of the seller. Here are some kinds of products that you can see in the rolling store

1. Fruits
   Fruits in rolling stores in the Philippines include watermelon, mangoes, banana, pineapple, apples, pears, avocado, orange, and many other fruits. 
2. Vegetables
   Vegetables are found in the rolling store onion, pepper, garlic, tomato, cabbage, eggplant, and other vegetables that you can hear when you sing the song bahay kubo.
3. Street foods
   When you go to the market you can see different rolling stores that sell street food like isaw, fishball, squidball, kikiam, betamax, balut, kwek-kwek, penoy, turon, banana cue, and other Filipino street foods out there. In my neighborhood, every 3:00- 4:00 in the afternoon there are many rolling stores that sell street foods and that will be our merienda (a light meal in the late afternoon).
4. Meats and fishes
   The common fishes in the rolling store are mackerel scad, milkfish, anchovy, tilapia, etc. The meat that you can find in rolling stores is the meat of chicken, different parts of pork, and kinds of beef, and it is very rare if you see rolling stores with the meat of rabbits in there. 
5. Grocery items
   In groceries, there are bread, rice, canned goods, dairy products ( eggs and milk), breakfast foods, noodles, drinks, and condiments. Grocery rolling store is a very needed in the midst of the pandemic.
6. Home supplies
   This is a very common product that you can find in rolling stores in the Philippines. Even before the pandemic, you can see a lot of vendors along the streets that sell everything from chairs to mirrors. Brooms, laundry holders, tabo, plastic plates and cups, and clothes hangers are some of the products that you can see in the rolling store.

Now that we know the rolling store and also the different products from the rolling store, we are going to find out how does it help the Philippines during the pandemic.

How does Rolling Store help the Philippines?

The implementation of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) over the whole of the Philippines gave rise to the idea of the Rolling Store during the pandemic after President Rodrigo Duterte places our nation in a state of National Health Emergency. Here are some of the advantages that the rolling store provides, it includes the following:

• From the local sellers

Due to the pandemic, sellers are losing when it comes to their business. People minimize their time outside, especially during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), making it impossible for sellers to sell their products. Some products are expired and so unprofitable.

Rolling stores help them to not give up and gain hope. Sellers can sell their products by bringing them to the customers. They are not staying in just one place but in another barangay, so many people will buy at them. 

• From the household or individuals

Due to the pandemic, the government limits the people to go outside to prevent the spreading of Covid-19. Because of that, it is really hard to find basic commodities.
Consumers benefit greatly from rolling stores, not just because of the low cost of the items, but also because of their safety. Because of the rolling shop, the consumer has access to a wide range of affordable basic commodities. 

• From the government of our nation

The government is supporting the sellers of the rolling store to implement it. During the continuing enhanced community quarantine, the different cities of government have deployed rolling stores to provide food and other supplies closer to local residents. Barangays from Baguio City, Benguet, and Manila is has a program to implement the rolling store in their every barangays. From the barangay of cordilleras, the Department of trade and industry (DTI) and the Local government unit (LGU) have collab to run the rolling store.

• From the people who want to start a business

Having to start a new business is really hard during this pandemic. You don’t know if it will become a good or bad business. People who want to have a business in a home cannot income much money because of the pandemic. So people do have an idea to start a rolling store business. 

Rolling store business is a profitable business if you know how to start a new business with small capital. You can also speak to the barangay and if there is a project that they are doing then you can have a free rolling bike or cart for your business.