The Hybrid Shop celebrates diversity

The Hybrid Shop located along Beach Road, Garapan promotes community culture as it encourage and promotes diversity and inclusiveness.

“I’m a hybrid—I am half Carolinian and half Filipino. I’m a mix of two cultures that have a rich heritage, which today represent the CNMI as a whole. We are so diverse and we bring to the table many things and that brings out the best of the many worlds,” said The Hybrid Shop manager James Rabauliman.

“The shop has two businesses—a printing and a retail shop. The former is focused on customizing orders of shirts, caps, tank tops, sublimation, any request whether original or anything you see online, we could do it with an influence of local touch. We are also a shop that sells budget clothes, apparel, security system, and vintage clothes that the CNMI was producing before during the garment factory days,” Rabauliman added.

The Hybrid Shop opened last year and was borne out of Rabauliman’s passion for family and home. “At 23 years old, I was travelling the world as a flight steward for Dynamic International Airways. I saw the potential of having my own business because travelling for work is very tiring and it may also be lavish but it’s lonely. Opening The Hybrid Shop meant I didn’t have to leave home and family,” he said.

“I cater to the young ones who likes fashion…and my prices are very affordable as I put myself in their shoes because I know what it is like to be a student and not have a lot of money… I also do shirts for public school students…we carry high fashion items like Adidas’ Yeezy’s, Nike Rubber shoes for the ‘hyperbeast’ crowd who likes to have the latest trends,” he added.

Aside from his shop, Rabauliman also has a strong following in his online shop. “We have a ‘local market hafa adai’ series which is sellable both here in the shop and online. We get clients from the U.S. mainland, Russia, and other parts of the world. Locals who now live somewhere else love our products because they say it’s a piece of home and design is up to date so you can wear it every day,” he said.

For the new year, Rabauliman is transitioning into basketball jerseys for local teams “Whether it is a team or family shirts, this is a necessity on island and we are here to make those for them. As for design, I am inspired by whatever is out there as I go with the flow and the wave but we try to put our own version,” he said.

“Two other goals are expanding the shop and having a 100% fully functioning printing shop. I will try to be the first of my kind to do that as there are not a lot of Carolinian/Filipino entrepreneurs…I do it for my family and the youth of today,” he added.

The Hybrid Shop is open Monday to Saturday from 11am to 6pm. For more information, call (670)788-57-22 email: 670hybridshop@gmail.com Instagram: @hybridspn Facebook: @highbreedshop and website: www.hybridsph.com