It all started when the then Juana Lopez Sarmiento known to the neighbourhood as “Aling Juaning” started a small sari sari store in #8 T. Bugallon Street, Karuhatan, Valenzuela, Metro Manila. Everyone in the neighbouring community from Karuhatan, Gen. T. De Leon (Pugad Baboy), Ugong, Mapulang Lupa, Maysan, Malinta and as far as Dalandanan grew up buying their groceries, rice, animal feeds, beverage and even dried fish from a small bubbly woman they fondly called Aling Juaning. Aling Juaning was born in Karuhatan on May 16, 1936 as the 3rd child of Maria Doon and Felipe Lopez.
In 1975, Aling Juaning’s brother Damaso Lopez, a newlywed came back to Karuhatan with his wife, Lydia Bayani and started a small banana vending business beside Aling Juaning’s Sari Sari Store. There was no formal market in Karuhatan at that time though there was a talipapa at the corner of T. Bugallon Street (now Karuhatan Road) and Mac Arthur Highway. The 2 siblings have the habit of talking about their day’s experiences during their down time every night. Then one night they hatched an idea to put up a wet market to compliment their grocery store and fruit stand business.
It was the year 1978 when Lopez-Sarmiento building was finished and Karuhatan Market was inaugurated and formally opened to the public. Aling Juaning continued with her sari sari store and Damaso quit fruit vending and started his own sari sari store himself. The 2 became the anchor businesses in the new market. The talipapa vendors at the street corner followed suit to occupy the meat, produce and seafood stalls in the new Karuhatan Market. The 2 siblings no longer sell groceries but the market they started flourished and expanded to a bigger and better Karuhatan Market you see today.
