Knowing Your Lhuilliers

Whenever the subject of my 6-year tenure as a marketing fellow at PJ Lhuillier, Inc. comes up in any, as in ANY, discussion, I find myself always explaining the complexities of the Lhuillier Family and the common misconception that there is just one Lhuillier Family running the pawnshop business.

In essence, it’s true that there’s just one Lhuillier Family. What’s not true is that there is just one Lhuillier pawnshop chain. Nah, there’s three or more but only two are quite prominent – that’s the Cebuana Lhuillier pawnshop chain and then there’s the M Lhuillier pawnshop chain.

The M Lhuillier chain is primarily based in Cebu with several offices in key provinces including one in Makati (last I researched, located along Valero St.). The M-chain is owned and operated by the family of Michel Lhuillier, husband of socialite Amparito Lhuillier.

On the other hand, the Cebuana Lhuillier chain is owned and managed by the family of Ambassador Philippe Lhuillier and is primarily based here in Makati, it’s corporate office located at the corner of N. Garcia St. and Kalayaan Avenue.

BUT BUT BUT they come from ONE FAMILY!

Michel and Philippe are actually brothers and M is older than P. They are the sons of one Henry Lhuillier, a French businessman who in the 1930s came to the Philippines and set up the first Lhuillier-owned pawnshop.

Henry Lhuillier came to the Philippines in the 1930s to expand the French-owned retail business then called Levy and Bloom (later known as Oceanic Commercial). He settled in Cebu where he met and married a Filipina named Angelina Escaño and expanded his pawnshop business in the Visayas. Business prospered well into the 70s and 80s and the Lhuillier pawnshop chain became famous in Visayas, Luzon and in some parts of Mindanao.

However, in 1986, the elder Lhuillier died and the entire family business was divvied up between the siblings. I don’t know the actual division but I think Michel got the brunt of the pawnshop branches while Philippe was given 4 branches to manages, all based in Metro Manila. Another sibling also received some branches which later became known as H. Lhuillier.

Now, this part of my narration is extremely biased because this is what I’ve learned from the Philippe Lhullier side of the coin.

Apparently, an agreement was reached by Michel and Philippe whereby territorial boundaries were set by the brothers so as not to encroach on each others’ businesses. Michel was given Visayas and Mindanao as his territory for expansion while the younger Philippe had the entire Luzon to concentrate expansion in.

However, it is unclear which brother violated the family agreement first but eventually, each brother began infiltrating the other’s market and the business rivalry started. Back then, both brothers were using different brands for their pawnshops but in an effort to distinguish one from another, both Michel and Philippe started “branding” their pawnshops.

Michel went for “M Lhuillier” while Philippe used “Cebuana Lhuillier” and in 1996-97, the Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop trade name was incorporated and a new holding company called P.J. Lhuillier, Inc. (now Cintree Management Services) was incorporated.

A third Lhuillier who runs the H. Lhuillier chain still manages several branches but is in no competition against her brothers whose branches each number in the thousands.

Based on info from their website, the M Lhuillier chain is being managed by Michel himself with valuable help from his sons, Charles and Michael Lhuillier. On the other hand, the day-to-day operations over at the Cebuana Lhuillier chain are managed by Jean-Henri Lhuillier who is the husband of Bea Lucero-Lhuillier, yes, the same Bea Lucero who was the Milo-endorsed athlete who in her younger years was into gymnastics and taekwondo.

However, I believe the most popular Lhuillier today is Monique Lhuillier, the famous designer. She is the daughter of Michel and Amparito Lhuillier. Among Philippe’s children with Edna Lhuillier, no one, I think is at par in popularity with Monique’s. The closest would be Jean-Henri.

Aside from being the husband of a well-known former athlete, Jean-Henri has distinguished himself primarily in the field of sports. He was the owner-manager of the Cebu Gems, formerly of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball League. He is also a sports philanthropist, devoting time and resources to basketball development, tennis enhancement, and other sports-oriented endeavors. He is also a partner in Tequila Joes and CPK along with good friends Manuel Zubiri and Archie Rodriguez.

Strictly speaking, both Lhuillier pawnshop franchises are now being run by the second generations although both claim their respective companies’ roots to that of their father’s original Lhuillier chain. Before I left Cebuana Lhuillier three years ago, their branches numbered already in the thousands while that of rival M Lhuillier were nearing a thousand. Both pawnshop chains operate not just pawned jewelry loans but also a low-priced insurance policy plus local money remittance.

Marketing-wise, both Cebuana and M claim to be the No. 1 pawnshop in the Philippines. However, it is quite difficult to ascertain which Lhuillier is number one because there is no central regulating body that has jurisdiction of pawnshop operators. Both pawnshops make the claim however because of their sheer numbers. Of course, there is some truth to this claim because given the perfect scenario that all branches are achieving their daily “sales” targets, the more branches you have, the more income you get. With a thousand plus branches, Cebuana Lhuillier clearly has this advantage. But I don’t think at this point, M Lhuillier is at a disadvantage as they have been the more marketing-savvy between the two competing family businesses ever since.