Spruce Gallery is Manila’s Print Paradise
In Manila, new independent retailer and art space Spruce Gallery is a mecca for magazine lovers and an ode to the printed periodical
If necessity is the mother of invention, then we have excess baggage charges to thank for Spruce Gallery, a new independent magazine retailer and art gallery in Metro Manila. ‘I’m constantly plagued by extortionate overweight luggage fees when I travel and the inconvenience of having to lug back heavy stacks of rare titles,’ says Spruce Gallery co-founder Ric Gindap (pictured above, left), who came up with the idea for the store when he and his now business partner Bonnapart Galeng (above, right) ‘jokingly agreed to make a side hustle out of selling titles we love to people who also love them but are hard-pressed to find them in our home city.’
As the founder, creative director and chief strategist of Manila-based branding and design agency Design For Tomorrow, Gindap’s thirst for stimulation and inspiration in insatiable. ‘For that, magazines never fail me,’ he says. ‘I’ve been a long-time magazine reader and collector. Print is a unique, luxurious medium that cures my easily distracted attention span. Discovering magazines when we travel around the world is Bonnapart and my common ground.’ Galeng, the associate creative director of Design For Tomorrow, has worked with Gindap for over a decade, so going into business together was a natural next step.
After two of the Philippines’ major bookstore chains stopped carrying many independent magazine titles during the pandemic, the pair took the leap, spurred on by the new gap in the market and a newly vacant space just next to the Design For Tomorrow office building in the Ortigas Center CBD.
Spruce Gallery opened in early November with more than 120 titles on its shelves, all of which Gindap and Galeng were already familiar with. Creative titles are a natural fit, so the likes of Design Anthology, Vienna’s It’s a Passion Thing and London’s Monocle sit next to titles such as nomad, Slanted, The Paris Review and Apartamento, as well as lesser-known but beloved publications such as Electra, Noema and Seisma. There are also already plans in the pipeline for title launches, collaborative events and meet and greets with editors.
The founders are passionate about the intersection of art, print and design, so the space will double as an art gallery for emerging talent. The store’s interiors reflect these values and aspirations: the team undertook the design themselves, and walls are made from powder-coated perforated steel that allows for the easy hanging of art and reconfiguration of magazine shelving and displays, and imbues the space with a unique graphic texture. The palette is understated yet highly effective: raw concrete, black-stained wood and matt black perforated steel make an industrial, restrained backdrop for the riot of magazine covers.
Gindap and Galeng have been vocal and ardent champions of the titles they carry for years, so it is heartening to see an equally enthusiastic response to the opening of Spruce Gallery, which is nothing short of a physical manifestation of their belief in the enduring power of print.
Text by Simone Schultz
Images by Chris Yuhico
