National Book Store, NBS, or Nash: Local bookstore issues statement following backlash for 'conyo' name change
Many of us have been there at some point in our lives—calling globally famous cafe Starbucks as "Starbs" or "SB," upscale shopping mall Shangri-La Plaza as "Shang," and saying "G?" when asking your pals if they are game for something.
What seems to be the latest addition to this conyo vocabulary—or not—is National Book Store's "Nash." In a tweet published on Monday, Sept. 19, the popular local bookstore jokingly announced that it is shortening its name to, well, "Nash."
"Call me National, Nash for short [wink emoji]," the shop's official Twitter account tweeted at 10:08 p.m. that day.
Call me National, Nash for short 😜 #BalikSayaBalikNBS
— National Book Store (@nbsalert) September 19, 2022
While the nickname is a reflection of how today's youth would shorten brand names to single-syllable monikers, many netizens were not hearing any of it.
"Wag niyo push to pramis," Twitter user @kabulastugan wrote.
"NBS pa din! Sa nbs ko nabili mga school supplies ko!" another user said.
"NBS pa din o National 'punta tayo sa national!' lam na," one user chimed in.
Not long after hearing the Twitterverse's sentiments, the local bookstore backtracked its attempt to change its name and tweeted, "Balik 'National' na po tayo!"
Balik “National” na po tayo! 😃
— National Book Store (@nbsalert) September 20, 2022
Apart from appearing as a response to the negative comments, National Book Store's latest tweet is also an echo of its ongoing campaign titled "Balik Saya, Balik NBS Na."
But more than appearing as a slice of its ongoing campaign, the store's tweets were, in fact, an allude to a netizen who tweeted about the store's now-gloomy atmosphere and called the store "Nash" instead of its original name.
“Is it just me or are National Bookstore shops so depressing these days? School supplies are always lacking, inventories are hardly getting new stuff, and just the overall feel of emptiness abounds. I remember as a kid going to Nash was always exciting because they had it all,” a Twitter user said.
The tweet, which was published at 4:14 p.m. on the same day, has earned 7,194 retweets and over 49,600 likes as of writing. Many netizens were quick to express their surprise at the nickname he used for the store.
“Seriously- Nash?” a Twitter user replied.
"I'm SO curious, there are ppl na ano who calls national bookstore as 'nash' and not 'nbs' ??????" another user tweeted.
One user said, "When did National Bookstore become Nash???? calling it NBS is still quite unusual for me but calling it nash???"
Some Twitter users, on the other hand, seemingly did not mind the new "conyo" nickname and, instead, paid better attention to the customer's observation about the store.
"Agree, and consistent sila in different branches. Akala ko ako lang, di pala ko nag iisa!" one user replied to the tweet.
In a response to PhilSTAR L!fe, a representative of National Book Store said that the brand's commitment to providing customers with quality products and service remains unchanged no matter what they name the store.
"Regardless of how they call us - NBS, Natio, or Nash - we remain committed to providing an ideal shopping experience in all of our branches nationwide. We also wish to express our gratitude to all of our customers who returned to their back-to-school shopping at National Book Store, especially after 2 long years without face-to-face classes," National Bookstore's representative said.
"We value the feedback of every customer and are taking concrete steps to address their concerns. Over the past 80 years and beyond, we are every Filipino's trusted partner for their creativity, productivity, and life-long learning."
Known as the Philippines’ biggest books and supplies store, National Bookstore Inc. has been providing affordable school and office supplies to customers throughout the country.
