Before founding Blade Auto Center, now the largest car accessories retail chain in the Philippines with over 50 stores nationwide, Robertson Sy Tan was living what many would consider a stable life. He was the president of a marketing and distribution business owned by his extended family. On paper, everything looked secure—but underneath, something didn’t sit right.
“I was actually an employee for 20 years,” Tan shares. “I worked for a family business, supplying SM, Uniwide, Rustan’s—wide-ranging products, from toys to linens to hardware.” Even with a high-ranking position, he realized, “No matter how high your position is, you’re always at the mercy of somebody else.”
In 2004, two events shook him to his core. The first came from reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. “I saw my future going that same direction as Poor Dad,” he recalls. “He did everything right but ended up poor. I had to start my own business, otherwise I would end up like him.”
But it was a tragic family event that gave him the final push. His uncle, an innocent bystander, was killed during a crossfire between police and robbers in Valenzuela. “He died right there, because of loss of blood,” Tan says. “If someone as good as that can just pass away like that… life is really short.”
That moment left him with one haunting question:
“What would you do if this was your last day on Earth?”
It became a turning point. “We had three kids at the time,” he recalls. “So my wife and I decided—we need to establish a business really fast para masecure ‘yung future ng mga bata.”
When it came time to decide what kind of business to build, Tan made two key decisions: it had to be non-competing with his family’s wholesale business, and it had to be something he was already familiar with. “I was 37 at that time,” he says. “I only have one or two more chances to fail.”
A chance encounter with Harley Sy of SM, gave him the spark. “I asked him, ‘What if I build a car accessory store?’ He said, ‘It’s a niche that’s not fully covered yet.’ I took that as a go signal,” Tan recalls.
In late 2004, Blade’s first store opened in Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City—an area many considered a terrible choice at the time. “People said, ‘Why are you starting there?’ Soldiers and squatters don’t buy radios,” Tan says. “But our vision was not limited to that one store. We were thinking this is our last day on Earth.”
Fueled by that mindset, Blade expanded quickly. “After Market! Market!, we opened our second store in three months. Then our third. Then our fourth,” he says. “We were more than willing to invest when no one else would.”
By the end of Blade’s first year, they had opened six stores. In the second year, they added seven more. “At the end of two years, we were already recognized as a market leader,” he says. “When you have 13 stores, the supplier cannot ignore you anymore.”
Today, Blade has over 50 stores across the Philippines and is the go-to brand for automotive accessories in malls like SM, Ayala, Robinsons, and Filinvest. More than a retail chain, Blade is the product of a mindset shaped by urgency, loss, and a deep desire to build something lasting.
As Robertson Sy Tan reflects, “If tomorrow wala ka na, what will you do today to make tomorrow better?”
That question continues to drive him—and it built a business that’s now driving others forward too.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
