Flower On Concrete Street

Where do you usually see a flower shop? Usually, flower shops are located on shopping centers or malls. Others have set up their flower shops along the streets. But there is one place in the Philippines that got very famous for its wide range of philippine flower shops across a whole street, the Dangwa Flower Market. Dangwa Flower Market, or commonly known as Dangwa for the locals, is a very famous land mark located in the heart of Manila, particularly in Dos Castillas and other parallel streets in Dimasalang and Sampaloc.

The place is famous not only because of their wide collections of flowers, but also because of the number of philippine flower shops congregated in that tiny street in Manila. According to recent reports, Dangwa Flower Market has a total of more than 50 stalls set-up along the street, displaying their collection of flowers on the street. Another popular reason why many people buy flowers from Dangwa is because of its cheaper priced flowers compared to those found in malls. On a regular day, roses can be bargained for as low as P50 a dozen.

Historical Highlights
In the past, before it was even known as a flower market, Dangwa was known first as a bus terminal. It was called Dangwa because of the bus terminal situated on that street, the Dangwa Transport terminal. Since because it was known by that name, flower vendors have chosen it as their own name. The market was then founded in 1976. During the 80's and the 90's, the market has surpassed the fame of competitors in Quiapo, Manila and Baclaran. It was so popular that then Mayor Lito Atienza have redecorated and remodeled the street to make more like a flower market rather than just a simple street.

One of its most popular highlight was when Marcos was still president of the Philippines and Imelda Marcos was the First Lady. philippine flower shops in Dangwa provided flowers for big flower shops which in turn decorated the Malacanang Palace. Because of the growing popularity of the flower market, the market became open for 24 hours due to the increasingly growing business in 1994.

The Market of Today
The advent of modern technology, specifically Short message service or "texting" has improved communication and efficiency in transporting the flowers from rural farmers. SMS is also used to prevent losses since the flower dealers can tip the farmers to what flowers would be in demand.