I guess that there is no movie house... but we'll see if they'll have one...but it seems the old wing will still be SM Dept Store... since all the displays they had on the center alleys are moved into the renovated wing....

the SM Supermarket moved at the ground floor of the new wing and was open since the new wing opened.... the electronics items would most probably move to the renovated wing...

All SM branches have Banco De Oro branches in it...

I passed by today curiously at Masagana Store in Taft/TM Kalaw , Manila because I went to my alma mater nearby and since lunchbreak earlier , pumasok muna ako sa Masagana . Ngayon ko lang nalaman na hindi na pala operational yung tri cinema nila sa 5th floor nung building and also yung 4th level nila ay halos sarado na rin at may maliit na videoke /billiard hall na lang.
Dati part pa ng department store yung 4th level nila ngayon hanggang 3rd floor na lang operational at maski yung supermarket sa ground level ang liit na at deteriorating na yung store as a whole. It is in an old building na rin kasi ( Sunvesco yata yung name ) . May vacant lot pa na malawak sa likod nung building at yung sa Casino Espanol , if mapapagsama nila yung lot area nung building at sa vacant lot at C. E. ay malaki din if ever i-demolished nila yung old building at tayuan ng makabagong mall , ganda kasi nung location nun..malapit sa mga universities, hotels , hospitals , nasa main road at MRT station at near Rizal park pa.
Probably , business there was killed by the nearby SM City Manila

Tomorrow , btw is the grand opening of a branch of Robinsons Dept. Store and Do It Best hardware at festival mall . It is located on 2nd and 3rd levels of the rear wing of the mall opposite Shopwise . It is on top of the new Savemore supermarket on the 1st level.
The whole of 2nd level and half ( back portion ) of 3rd level will be oocupied by the dept. store while the other half |( front portion ) of 3rd level will be occupied Do-It-Best hardware , as I read from infos. I will just check if its true when it finally opens.

hey pau thanks for the update.... my mom will most likely go there when we go back. she likes dept. stores:D

still boring....

They should really fix up Harrison Plaza. I think its the oldest mall in the Philippines, and it would be very sad if they close it down (not that im saying that its closing na). I grew up kasi going to that mall, and good thing the management is doing something to fix up the place. New tenants are renting the place.

It has Rustans Dept. Store, and its Supermarket. It also has an SM dept. store, together with its Appliance Center. So, medyo complete na rin siya! Hehe.

Its location is also nice, very near to all those tourists spots, Rizal Memorial Centre, universities, and Hotels.

Oo nga ang lawak pa naman ng lote ng Harrison Plaza . Yung Waltermart sa Pasong Tamo , mukhang maganda kasi they completely tore down the former 2 storey structure and built a 4 level building and looks like may additional amenities sila like cinemas and more shops . I like stand alone malls rather than chain malls kasi mas may character at uniqueness kaysa sa chain malls na magkakamukha.
Siguro kung hindi man ngayon ay baka next decade na magrenovate ng HP kasi despite that kumikita pa naman sila sa present mall nila. Maybe , their waiting for the right timing na truly mag boom talaga ang Manila bay area saka sila gagawa ng tamang aksyon at makikipagcompete . Itong present mall nila ay 2nd version na nila kasi yung nauna ay nasunog at marami ang nagsasabi na mas maganda daw yung una kaysa dito sa present mall nila.

no prob!

I actually think that they should tear down HP and turn it back into the park it originally was. It was the first real mall in the Philippines, but it was also one of the first projects where they took away urban green space that was zoned as parkland ever since the Burnham Plan of the American colonial period and turned it into commerical property.

Why not turn it into a mall with provisions as an urban park , tutal malawak nga yung lote ng HP . It could only happen if they can at least make the mall into 4 levels or above with underground and multi-level parkings para ma-maximize yung space at magkaroon talaga ng beautiful urban park. i think that is a win-win solution.
The urban park with a mall will even complement the nearby Manila Zoo and Rizal Sports complex. Kaya lang this mall is privately owned na , kaya yung rich family pa rin ang may say whatever redevelopment they plan to do with HP.

It was a park? Or was it formerlay a part of the Manila zoo? Please dont tear down HP!! Grabe, lots of childhood mems will be gone.

Yep, it was a park. Before it was Harrison Plaza, it was Harrison Park until the 60s or early 70s, separate from Manila Zoo. I think it was actually bigger than Rizal Park. Together with Rizal Park, HP formed such great green lungs for the city. I was astonished by this too when I found the original Burnham city plans at an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum (in the Banko Sentral complex) 2 years ago. There was actually a lot of parkland in the original Burnham Plan. Rizal Park was the central mall around which a government center would be built. HP was the park for southern Manila and another park north of the pier area, near Tondo was supposed to be for northern Manila (though this one was never built).

Got this message from a-wire. I can't see anything that should be kept private between us in the discussion, so I just deleted the personal info and decided to reply to his message here in the forum.

- hi jude d, sorry if i got to you just now... i am speaking on an architect's point of view... pansinin mo magakakadikit mga malls dito ganun na ba ka grabe ang demand natin

Yes, I believe that the demand really is that great. We are a nation of 80 million people, Metro Manila is a city of 12 million. It's a huge market however way you cut it, larger than most European countries. People need to buy things, so there need to be places where you can buy things, so malls are built. If there are too many malls than are necessary, it is the market that will ultimately determine this, and not any governing body. Malls that are poorly planned or can't find a market eventually die a natural death, we even have a thread solely devoted to this phenomenon over here in the forum.

- yes you say may commerce true there is but we lack the basics we need industries to power more economics diba if we concentrate on buy ng buy money goes out,
can you honestly say that the products you see at the malls are filipino made products or products from other countries... my friend supplies china made shoes to sm... most of the people i know would rather prefer getting imported products to sell it here in manila...

Look at it this way. Any industry, whether shopping malls or hotels or factories or even farms, require imports. In fact, the proportion of imports that goes to retail is a lot smaller than what goes to heavy industry and even agriculture. It's still best to buy Filipino products, but when you shop, even if the product you're buying is not Philippine-made, you're still contributing to the Philippine economy because you're still helping to pay for the salaries of the saleslady who helped you, the staff of the mall, the employees of the company who imported and distributed the product, and the people at the ports and ships through which the item traveled.

- malls developing towards the province is good pero malls saturating metro manila is too much na... try mo lang edsa diba every station ata magkakaroon na eh...

Well, the entire stretch of Edsa is zoned as commercial so if Edsa turns into a procession of malls, there's nothing legally wrong with that.

- hehehe baka naman mas ok if its not mega malls diba kung town centers mas reasonable what is happening is that we are only developing manila what about other places kaya probinsiyanos migrate to manila... what we should do or our government should do is to bring the development to them... ehehehhe tinggin mo...

I'm totally in agreement with you here. But I don't see how a private developer putting up a mall in Manila has an effect on the government's countryside development plans.

- by the way i am architect [info deleted to protect identity] if you have time come visit me here we can discuss further... i am not against development but all i am saying is that dapat our government should vigorously implement urban planning a good example of of well planned complex... CBD MAKATI CBD FORT BONIFACIO CBD ORTIGAS CBD ROCKWELL CBD ROCKWELL AREA/ yong development ng ayala land yong serendra ok din yon you should check it out.

I agree with you here as well. In case you haven't noticed, all of us here at the forum are in favor of good urban planning. And that we're also all in favor of projects that are well-planned and contribute positively to the country. As has already been mentioned, almost all malls are private sector projects, and all the business districts you mentioned are also private sector projects. The private sector is driven primarily by profit, and putting up a mall or retail center is usually a good way to "anchor" a development because it helps bring in business and provides necessary services amenities to the surrounding tenants. And it's not like mall developers put up malls all over the place without studying the area. They're big money projects and go through extensive feasibility studies before any deals are struck. I'm not an architect but I've been studying architecture and writing about it for quite some time. I also know and have spoken to a few notable architects and I've also researched a lot about the retail industry for both the family business and also for writing assignments. So my perspective may not be that of an architect, but of an informed layperson.

Harrison Plaza is doing very good business so small chance of it being closed down anytime soon. Yup the whole area was a park, that's why the nearby hotel was named "Century Park". It's really sad though that they built over it. The family who owns the mall also owns the Figaro coffeehouse chain

The Masagana has been in decline for years, ever since Robinsons Ermita was renovated, and even more when SM Manila was put up. This is one store that's in real danger of closing down. They set their sights too low kasi by targetting only the CDE crowd. Eh, the CDE crowd would rather go to malls for the ABC crowd.

The vacant lot beside the Casino Espanol is where they're gonna start constructing the new Instituto Cervantes building soon.

really, so magrerelocate na ang Instituto anytime soon??!! but out of curiosity, what is so special bout the place, coz i find d area kinda filthy & disorganized, parking lots kasi cya ng mga vans for hire every afternoon, then along the sidewalks may mga beggars don na natutulog sa gabi, i was even surprised na casino espanol pala yon, kasi nga twas built out of place, in other words, pangit ung lugar...why dont they just relocate in makati like alliance???

nwai, hei, goethe is also moving to salcedo from aurora sooner, FYI

Aurora as in Aurora Tower in Araneta Center?
BTW, there is an Embassy in Aurora tower, forgot what country tho.

What is Instituto Cervantes all about ? Kindly , anybody here explain , ngayon ko lang kasi naka read an item about I. C .

Instituto Cervantes promotes the Spanish Culture here in the Philippines. I think they offer courses/classes, they also show movies/plays/musicals, hold painting exhibits, etc. Their office right now is located at the corner of Leon Guinto and Estrada St, just besides LaSalle (or is it CSB?). 2 weeks ago, I saw some of their painting exhibits at Greenbelt3.

The Instituto isn't relocating until the building is finished, so at least a year pa. They were able to get the lot because it's owned by the Casino Espanol, who are naturally supportive of the project. The area isn't all that bad naman, one reason why it's dirty and has beggars is because it's been vacant for a long time. So once construction starts, it should improve the area significantly. It's near schools like PNU, UP Manila, PCU, EAC, Sta. Isabel, Manila Sci. HS, and Adamson so it'll be close to the students who may want to take up courses in Instituto. The new building will be at least 2x bigger than the current one and have its own auditorium/screening room.

The Instituto Cervantes is a public, non-profit institution founded by the Spanish government in 1991 to promote and teach the Spanish language and spread the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. Established in the Philippines in 1993, it strives to provide Filipinos with an understanding of Spanish culture and a broader view of the Hispanic world.

The Masagana has been in decline for years, ever since Robinsons Ermita was renovated, and even more when SM Manila was put up. This is one store that's in real danger of closing down. They set their sights too low kasi by targetting only the CDE crowd. Eh, the CDE crowd would rather go to malls for the ABC crowd.

So the backlot is already owned by Casino Espanol . In any case , the lot of the building that houses Masagana store including its front parking space and the one occupied by a former noodle house is quite big by itself. Perhaps they could maximize that space by building a mixed-use complex at that corner of Taft Ave./TM Kalaw because its undeniably a good location for business. A multi-level podium which will house commercial spaces such as bookstores ( very ideal cause of several schools /offices in the vicinity ) , fastfoods/restos , variety of shops , business centers and mid-size supermart. On top of the podium are multi-level parkings and finally rising above is a high rise or even mid-rise residential/office complex . With the residential/office occupants will provide a built-in customer base for the commercial shops on the podium as well as the walk in customers /shoppers it will surely be a success.

Cropher, the project that you're proposing sounds a lot like the Times Plaza which is just across Masagana. Shops in the podium, parking underground, and its higher floors house the offices of a call center. What the area currently lacks is a mid-to-high-end residential development.

the renovated portion of SM is now done. IVe seen when i pass by this lunchtime. and yes, you are right, it's going to be the department store of SM. The aisles are now cleared up, and the thoroughfares for passerbys are now wide and convenient. SM Makati now looks huge.

Just trying to picture where Masagana is. Is it on the eastern side of Taft Ave near Adamson U?

Aurora as in Aurora Tower in Araneta Center?
BTW, there is an Embassy in Aurora tower, forgot what country tho.

its aurora blvd., not aurora tower, goethe naman is the cultural arm of the german embassy. actually ung mga major euro countries have luckily been picking manila to be their S. E. Asia center of choice when it comes to putting up a cultural agency, although they do also have satelitte offices in bangkok, KL, sing & jakarta, manila offices are much bigger & services are elaborate. others like:

british embassy- has the british council, taipan place, ortigas
spain- IC, malate
france- alliance francaise in belair
germany- goethe I. accross st. paul
US- ? i dont know i guess no need coz were too amercanized.
japan- jap. foundation

the embassy located in aurora (tower) is the emb of Colombia, iv no clear idea why its situated there, but i guess it has something to do w/ stella marquez-araneta, the colombian wife of tycoon george, the owner of the whole araneta center.

:)

Yup, Masagana is along Taft's eastern, north-bound lane, near Adamson. To better jog your memory, it's right beside the dearly demolished Jai-Alai building.

The US has Thomas Jefferson.

where is alliance francaise now? i got french lessons for around 2 months with them, and their office was behind Export Bank. belair... as in the area around Toyota?

where is alliance francaise now? i got french lessons for around 2 months with them, and their office was behind Export Bank. belair... as in the area around Toyota?

We got to use that location last before they moved to Reposo in 2000 if I remember right. It's near the Bel-air village chapel and L'Incontro.

the embassy located in aurora (tower) is the emb of Colombia, iv no clear idea why its situated there, but i guess it has something to do w/ stella marquez-araneta, the colombian wife of tycoon george, the owner of the whole araneta center.

:)

You are so on target!

I just went to Gateway this lunch hoping that I could take pictures inside because I noticed last Monday that the escalator to the mall level is open.
So I decided to come back this friday to take pictures when the guard suddenly stopped me from going up the escalator saying that it was only for the store owners.
Sabi ko na lang "kala ko dahil open na yung Taco Bell eh bukas na rin yung mall" but apparently it was only open to the store owners who were checking out the construction of their stores.
I tried sneaking on the other entrance by saying na pupunta lang ako ng taco bell pero ayaw pa rin lumusot ng excuse ko, sabi nung guard umikot na lang ako sa labas papunta ng taco bell... hayyyy

Maybe someone here could sneak inside the mall to take pictures by passing yourself as a store owner.

i'm wondering why there's a bank in there.. and what's it doing in a major department store.....:? or at least occupying a pretty big space in it

where would SM Supermarket be now, now that ACE hardware is occupying it's old lot? also how about the electronics area and stuff above the old supermarket?

Let me make it clear to you:) The new wing houses the SM department store on the top levels and the supermarket (which is pretty big) on the ground floor. The old renovated wing has ACE, ToyKingdom, Our Home, Surplus Shop, etc.

They also renovated SM annex Makati, right? I dont know whats there, tho.

@ Thomasian - hahaha, tough luck. Oh well, just come back when it fully opens;)

the department store part of the SM bldg is now open.
so when will this Gateway mall open up to the public? im sure my sneaking expertise wont work on this one. and guess what? i just sneaked thru shangri la this morning. i went to the top floor thinking that there must be some part overlooking the skyline, but you got to go inside the suites to see the skyline. sad...

lol...yeah, you'd have to pay for that view from Shangri-la, Francis;) And its not cheap. hmmm, maybe the next time my dad stays in Makati Shangri-la, i'll tell him to take pics from his view:D

how did you get in, btw? its a hotel, pretty good security to the hotel rooms.

lol...yeah, you'd have to pay for that view from Shangri-la, Francis;) And its not cheap. hmmm, maybe the next time my dad stays in Makati Shangri-la, i'll tell him to take pics from his view:D

how did you get in, btw? its a hotel, pretty good security to the hotel rooms.

Went there for some business. An old friend just invited me in. So i made the most out of it. But that 'most' means nothing. haha...The chandeliers looks great. i mean that one in the main lobby and those ones in each elevator lobby.

yeah thanks for the explanation man.

Makati Shangrila.. hm... the front view is used too much imo:D but views from other sides of it haven't been revealed yet ;)

Let me make it clear to you:) The new wing houses the SM department store on the top levels and the supermarket (which is pretty big) on the ground floor. The old renovated wing has ACE, ToyKingdom, Our Home, Surplus Shop, etc.

They also renovated SM annex Makati, right? I dont know whats there, tho.

@ Thomasian - hahaha, tough luck. Oh well, just come back when it fully opens;)
i'm betting that one of the stipulation that ayala made to sm for them to have a lot at ayala center is that they're not going to build a cinema, bowling alley, ice skating rink in it.....cause glorietta cinema couldn't compete outright if that happens....same goes with the bowling alley at greenbelt

Thats an interesting point, and i agree to it. But GB is also an Ayala Mall, why not build a bowling alley there?

maybe lack of space. a bowling alley takes quite a lot of space...

thanks for the explanation ronnaveth

Thats an interesting point, and i agree to it. But GB is also an Ayala Mall, why not build a bowling alley there?
you misunderstood my statement...what i mean by same goes to greenbelt is that since GB has a bowling alley already, sm was barred to build one :) :)

nope.. the only bowling alley there is the one at Coronado lanes.. which is very old.

I have just visitid SM Makati.. and it looks better now.. Toy Kingdom is still close tho.

well, i'm not sure bout this but here's what i know.....

sm makati is just leased from the ayalas....

but in a sense, sm deferred to the stipulation because they (sm prime) have a substantial share at ayala corp anyway (i think it's bout 5%)....so even if they can't construct a cinema...they know they will still earn...

what's baffling is that why isn't there any ice skating rink at makati yet.....i'm sure there's going to be demand for that

http://img94.exs.cx/img94/2702/DSC05177.jpg

Sobra to. Akala mo naman pag maka commercial parang special na special.
I actually thought it would be something very special and shocking just like Greenbelt. Hindi naman pala. Pero okay na rin. It's not that bad. Reminds me of Shangri-La Plaza. But come on, the developers should be sensual, the Global City deserves something more unique and world-class like Greenbelt. Imagune if Greenbelt was built in BGC, wouldn't it have been perfect?

I like the overall feel of Market! Market! You can't really compare it to the poshness of Greenbelt 3 or Rockwell Power Plant but it certainly has its own charms.

There is a general feeling of airiness due to the massive space and it possesses a certain fiesta atmosphere that you can't quite get from the airconditioned, fully-enclosed malls that we're so accustomed to here in Manila.

Iba talaga siya.

Maybe , they have conceptualized Market!2x that way to capture all market sectors and make BGC more accessible . Maybe in the future , especially when BGC is fully develop they will build a high -end mall too.

@thunderflip, the thing is that i don't think this was one meant to be like Power Plant or Greenbelt. i heard that this one is supposed to have a wet market.. but in a mall.

it's more like a big Farmer's Plaza mall.

I'm sure they will also make another mall for the AB crowd... I hope it will be a mall/park like Greenbelt..

just went to festival, and i just realize that it's design is really nice....esp the pixie forest and x-site part....it's really huge

SM corners Ortigas expansion
money.inq7.net

SM HEIRESS Tessie Sy-Coson and the Ortigases of Greenhills have struck up a wide-ranging alliance, making the SM Shoemart retail chain the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Ortigases' Virra Mall and C-5 properties.

According to the grapevine, SM Shoemart has agreed to build five of their stand-alone stores-SM Appliances, SM Hardware, SM Furniture, Toy Kingdom, and Watson's, the Hong Kong-based partner apothecary chain -- to occupy one-fourth of what is now the Virra Mall section of the Greenhills Shopping Center.

Landlord Ortigas and Co. plans to close down Virra Mall by January after the holiday rush, tear down and rebuild partitions round the clock, and, hopefully, have the retrofitted mall ready by November, in time for next year's Christmas boom.

Over at the C-5 property, SM has agreed to build a two-hectare SM Hypermart out of the 19-hectare Ortigas lot, bounded by the busy C-5 and Ortigas Avenue.

Left empty for decades, the sprawling corner property has now the makings of a strategic commercial destination with the recent completion of a two-level vehicular overpass, magically untangling the gridlock that for years had tortured motorists crawling through that key intersection.

In addition to the SM Hypermart, Ortigas and Co. plans to construct a total of 12 buildings in the C-5 property and pattern the complex after that of the world-famous Chatuchak bargain market of Bangkok, with thousands of sectionalized stalls and booths selling all kinds of goods.

good news. Virra Mall desperately needs a facelift to regain at least part of its former glory.

It used to be the "premiere" mall before, with the class A,B and C as its target market. Its architecture is even seen as one of the most advanced and upscale during the time it was built, since malls at that time doesn't have an atrium that's as expansive and as skylighted as the Virra Mall.

I don't know what happened but it slowly deteriorated over time maybe because of neglect so its upscale atmosphere is lost and "cheap" stores started appearing together with the computer stores and cellphone shops that dominate it today.

Anyone here who has pictures of the old Virra Mall when its was still new?

@thunderflip, the thing is that i don't think this was one meant to be like Power Plant or Greenbelt. i heard that this one is supposed to have a wet market.. but in a mall.

My point is that I actually expected something more spectacular... the only advantage I see to notice is that this one has space effiency but I've never visited the place, so I can't really judge. I just think that the Global City needs something more grand than just a big mall with a wet market.

Why do Philippine businessmen keep on building malls? I like the idea of having a shopping street rather than a mall. Like HK's Canton Road or NY's Madison Avenue, those places are filled with places to shop and upscale luxury stores like Prada, Louis Vuitton or Dolce and Gabbana. Nakakahiya sa mga ibang foreigners na mayayaman na iisa lang ang branch ng mga yon dito, like Prada for example, sa Greenbelt na nga lang, ang liit liit pa nung space, puro bag at sapatos pa, walang apparel. Hay nako, sa Tokyo yata 25 plus yung bilang ng mga Prada dun.

SM corners Ortigas expansion
money.inq7.net

SM HEIRESS Tessie Sy-Coson and the Ortigases of Greenhills have struck up a wide-ranging alliance, making the SM Shoemart retail chain the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Ortigases' Virra Mall and C-5 properties.

According to the grapevine, SM Shoemart has agreed to build five of their stand-alone stores-SM Appliances, SM Hardware, SM Furniture, Toy Kingdom, and Watson's, the Hong Kong-based partner apothecary chain -- to occupy one-fourth of what is now the Virra Mall section of the Greenhills Shopping Center.

Landlord Ortigas and Co. plans to close down Virra Mall by January after the holiday rush, tear down and rebuild partitions round the clock, and, hopefully, have the retrofitted mall ready by November, in time for next year's Christmas boom.

Over at the C-5 property, SM has agreed to build a two-hectare SM Hypermart out of the 19-hectare Ortigas lot, bounded by the busy C-5 and Ortigas Avenue.

Left empty for decades, the sprawling corner property has now the makings of a strategic commercial destination with the recent completion of a two-level vehicular overpass, magically untangling the gridlock that for years had tortured motorists crawling through that key intersection.

In addition to the SM Hypermart, Ortigas and Co. plans to construct a total of 12 buildings in the C-5 property and pattern the complex after that of the world-famous Chatuchak bargain market of Bangkok, with thousands of sectionalized stalls and booths selling all kinds of goods.


Amazing! Metro Manila is one huge shoppers' paradise. Our insatiable appetite for consumption is fuelling all these big retail construction explosion!

Hmmmm.....so C-5 is going to be a key player in the retail development of the Metropolis.

With Market! Market! in the Taguig side, SM Hypermart in the Ortigas part, and Eastwood City in the Quezon City side, C-5 could someday rival EDSA in terms of traffic activity.

Ano ba ang top 5 biggest malls in Metro in terms of floor area ? Kindly feedback pls , anyone.

Amazing! Metro Manila is one huge shoppers' paradise. Our insatiable appetite for consumption is fuelling all these big retail construction explosion!

Hmmmm.....so C-5 is going to be a key player in the retail development of the Metropolis.

With Market! Market! in the Taguig side, SM Hypermart in the Ortigas part, and Eastwood City in the Quezon City side, C-5 could someday rival EDSA in terms of traffic activity.

Sometimes I wonder, why is Manila stuffed with so much malls and business.
I know it is part of our life to shop and linger around. I am not saying this is bad but don't you think this is too much for a developing country? With high inflation rates, large number of urban poor. Akala mo sa Manila pag maka business and patayo ng mall, parang talo pa ang rich first-world country.Why are almost all urban developments lately only residential highrises and malls. Haven't you ever wondered? I am not trying to be negative but I always wonder why it has to be like this. Many things have changed but the economy and the lives of the urban poor and jobless is still the same. I mean, can't the businessmen do something different for a change. Well, I don't blame everything on the tycoons since they are businessmen and they are suppose to make money and malls are the best way to do it. It is actually the government's job to change the nation's face. I just get pissed when I always hear a new mall, mall, mall, mall, mall being built. Hala, sige mag tayo pa sila ng a thousand malls, tayo, tayo, tayo pa! Let's see if that will change anything in the face of the economy. I don't even know if most of the forumers will understand what I'm trying to point out here.Oh,well.

Metro Manila is indeed 'Mall Country'.

But if huge, gleaming malls and residential high-rises are being built like crazy, it's simply because of the supply-demand equation. There is simply a demand for malls and residential condos.

When you say the economy hasn't changed....I beg to disagree. The economy has indeed changed by leaps and bounds. We have a thriving telecommunications sector, a booming consumption sector, a resurgent agricultural sector, a rapidly growing business process outsourcing industry and others.

We've been growing an average of about 5% the past years. The economy grew nearly 6% the first half of this year.

I know that a lot of people don't believe these figures because they say they still see the urban poor and the poverty all around. But look at the new malls, high-rises, new subdivisions, new bridges, roads, and other infrastructure being built. These are manifestations of growth and prosperity. These are manifestations of money flowing and touching every nook and cranny of the Metropolis.

We are not as poor as many think. I think it is largely the media that keeps on emphasizing the negative news and keeps us thinking that we are dirt poor.

But while there are still a lot of poor and underprivileged people in Metro Manila, a greater number have actually crossed over to the middle-class. Many of these are the families of OFWs who pump in about $7 billion a year to the Philippine economy.

The money being sent by the OFWs to their families in the country enabled them to gain purchasing power. Not only the OFWs but the dynamism of many of our local industries (telecoms, beverage, banking etc.) and the spending power of many of our business process outsourcing workers have all contributed to the retail consumption explosion....and thus explaining why we see the construction of a lot of new malls today.

Let me make it clear to you:) The new wing houses the SM department store on the top levels and the supermarket (which is pretty big) on the ground floor. The old renovated wing has ACE, ToyKingdom, Our Home, Surplus Shop, etc.

They also renovated SM annex Makati, right? I dont know whats there, tho.

@ Thomasian - hahaha, tough luck. Oh well, just come back when it fully opens;)


let me correct this... I was on leave yesterday and I was able to roam around SM Makati... the renovated and new wing of SM houses the SM Department Store... top floor is Home products (Our HOme) ground floor of the new wing is SM Supermarket....

the renovated SM annex houses ACE Hardware and Banco De Oro (ground), Surplus Shop 2nd, Toy Kingdom 3rd, and SM Appliance Center at 4th...

on the bridge, McDonalds and a boutique on 2nd, Chowking and a shop at 3rd and David's Salon at 4th... Brownies Unlimited is at the 2nd floor near the bridgeway to Glorietta 2...

Sorry, but I'm a bit piqued by some people not comprehending that these malls are private businesses and there's almost nothing you can do if a private company wants to put up a mall. Smart businessmen, before putting up anything worth millions, be it a mall, building, or housing development, have feasibility studies drawn up to see if its going to be profitable. Sy, Gokongwei, Ayala, et al don't put up malls just because they want to, but because its good business. So as long as the demand is there, they will. It's nothing to puzzle over.

And then we have those who want all malls to be upscale malls, much as this would be ideal, it's not very sensible business-wise. Each mall has its target market. In Market Market's case, obviously Ayala chose to target the lower to middle class because they don't want to cannibalize the market of their other more upscale malls. Especially since they aren't too far from each other. And what would we do with a chain of Prada and Louis Vuitton stores around Manila anyway? Tourists don't come here to shop for high fashion. Believe me, even if you ask every single tourist who comes here, I can guarantee that 99% don't plan to shop in the expensive shops in Greenbelt or Shangri-la, they're all much more interested in the tiangges at Greenhills, or even Quiapo and Divisoria. In fact, Greenhills is much more popular (especially for pearls and other jewelry) among foreign shoppers than Greenbelt, they enjoy the haggling and tiangge atmosphere. The really rich Pinoys do most of their high fashion shopping in Europe, the US, or at least in Hong Kong, those brand-name shops are just here "pantawid-gutom" in between their shopping trips abroad.

And yes, there are a lot of poor people in the Philippines, but there are also a lot of middle to upper class people. We have a population of over 80 million, even if only 30% of that has significant purchasing power, that's still 24 million people, more than the population of a lot of richer countries. And these 24 million people want malls, homes, cars, and other things. It's very simple math.

...... It's very simple math.
whew! well said Jude.

I agree with you JudeD , very well said . Solving poverty is the governments concern , and malls does not descriminate people/shoppers from all walks of life and lets us enjoy their facilities no matter what as long as you simply comply to their house rules /security measures. Even in upscale malls , they dont prohibit anyone to enter , but most of the times , its the mallers themselves who pervade themselves to enter in those high end malls thinking they do not fit in and feels intimidated right away.

Sometimes I wonder, why is Manila stuffed with so much malls and business.
I know it is part of our life to shop and linger around. I am not saying this is bad but don't you think this is too much for a developing country? With high inflation rates, large number of urban poor. Akala mo sa Manila pag maka business and patayo ng mall, parang talo pa ang rich first-world country.Why are almost all urban developments lately only residential highrises and malls. Haven't you ever wondered? I am not trying to be negative but I always wonder why it has to be like this. Many things have changed but the economy and the lives of the urban poor and jobless is still the same. I mean, can't the businessmen do something different for a change. Well, I don't blame everything on the tycoons since they are businessmen and they are suppose to make money and malls are the best way to do it. It is actually the government's job to change the nation's face. I just get pissed when I always hear a new mall, mall, mall, mall, mall being built. Hala, sige mag tayo pa sila ng a thousand malls, tayo, tayo, tayo pa! Let's see if that will change anything in the face of the economy. I don't even know if most of the forumers will understand what I'm trying to point out here.Oh,well.
well, filipinos sort have evolved to using malls instead of plazas or park as meeting places....plus there's one bonus: air-con

Ano ba ang top 5 biggest malls in Metro in terms of floor area ? Kindly feedback pls , anyone.
in terms of gross floor area----now i mean to include the aisle, atrium....i would bet festival is one of them

in floor area I think that would be SM Asia, SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, Glorietta, Robinson's Place Ermita, Festival Mall

SM corners Ortigas expansion
money.inq7.net

SM HEIRESS Tessie Sy-Coson and the Ortigases of Greenhills have struck up a wide-ranging alliance, making the SM Shoemart retail chain the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Ortigases' Virra Mall and C-5 properties.

According to the grapevine, SM Shoemart has agreed to build five of their stand-alone stores-SM Appliances, SM Hardware, SM Furniture, Toy Kingdom, and Watson's, the Hong Kong-based partner apothecary chain -- to occupy one-fourth of what is now the Virra Mall section of the Greenhills Shopping Center.

Landlord Ortigas and Co. plans to close down Virra Mall by January after the holiday rush, tear down and rebuild partitions round the clock, and, hopefully, have the retrofitted mall ready by November, in time for next year's Christmas boom.

Over at the C-5 property, SM has agreed to build a two-hectare SM Hypermart out of the 19-hectare Ortigas lot, bounded by the busy C-5 and Ortigas Avenue.

Left empty for decades, the sprawling corner property has now the makings of a strategic commercial destination with the recent completion of a two-level vehicular overpass, magically untangling the gridlock that for years had tortured motorists crawling through that key intersection.

In addition to the SM Hypermart, Ortigas and Co. plans to construct a total of 12 buildings in the C-5 property and pattern the complex after that of the world-famous Chatuchak bargain market of Bangkok, with thousands of sectionalized stalls and booths selling all kinds of goods.
i guess the ortigas property along c5 answers my question way back at the global city thread....

this is one big piece of land

they can even construct a subdivision in it

Yeah the lot along C-5 is huge!! Interesting that SM is now diversifying its commercial proporties by setting up hypermarkets (which are hot all over the world with the expansion of Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Tesco, etc). I think this is a smart move by SM because currently there arent really any hypermarkets in RP besides Pricesmart and this other retail place (I know this one, i just have a mind block right now; completely forgot). Good that they are also incorporating 12 buildings into that lot. But it would be nice if they built a park area or at least mixing this development with parks because MM is in need of more parks.

Pity that Carrefour decided not to carry on with their plans to go into the Philippine market. They were planning on buying Uniwide for their entrance, but maybe they were intimidated by SM:D

Sorry, but I'm a bit piqued by some people not comprehending that these malls are private businesses and there's almost nothing you can do if a private company wants to put up a mall. Smart businessmen, before putting up anything worth millions, be it a mall, building, or housing development, have feasibility studies drawn up to see if its going to be profitable. Sy, Gokongwei, Ayala, et al don't put up malls just because they want to, but because its good business. So as long as the demand is there, they will. It's nothing to puzzle over.

And yes, there are a lot of poor people in the Philippines, but there are also a lot of middle to upper class people. We have a population of over 80 million, even if only 30% of that has significant purchasing power, that's still 24 million people, more than the population of a lot of richer countries. And these 24 million people want malls, homes, cars, and other things. It's very simple math.

Eh, hindi naman yan ang ibig kong sabihin eh. Eh di, pag uwi ko pala sa Pinas halos mall lang ang mapupuntahan ko. What if I want to do something else for a change than just malling? Hindi ko naman sinisisi and mga businessmen na nagpapa tayo ng mall sa atin, infact it is actually good. Biro mo, out of 80 million people 24 million lang ang nabubuhay ng maayos. China's new upper class number up to 200 million...well,what about the remaining 1 billion, isn't that a lot of people? Well, I think it is wrong on me blaming all this to the mall developers, it is the job of the government to improve the lives of the people anyway. But imagine, what if there were no OFW workers working abroad at all, imagine how bad that will be...no more 9 billion dollars a year. With the economy, hindi naman yung pag boom ng business, consumption, at agriculture anf tinutukoy ko eh. Marami pa talaga...but don't get me wrong, I am not really trying to be negative at all.

Eh, hindi naman yan ang ibig kong sabihin eh.

Eh hindi lang naman ikaw yung kausap ko eh. Mag-balik-tanaw ka pa.

By the way, it seems that Carrefour was really close to fixing a deal with Uniwide, I was at their branch in San Pedro recently and they were using old Carrefour grocery carts. Nauna sigurong ipadala yung carts bago nag-pull-out ng tuluyan ang Carrefour.

:lol: naalala ko tuloy ang debate(?) ni @weirdo at @renell dati sa ibang threads dahil kay @thunderflip at @JudeD. :jk: peace po.

yeah that lot was indeed very large... but wouldn't it congest the area if a mall stands on that corner?.... you know how fanatic Filipinos are into malls.... I guess that making a residential haven would be better....

I saw a glimpse of the news this morning.. the police raided Harrison Plaza and apprehended a lot of pickup girls! The report said that it was the HP Management that requested for the raid.

at least the Management is doing something.... :)

I went to Araneta Center in Cubao , I saw the still unopen Gateway Mall. It really looks impressive , but its kind of not that big to me as for now / I will check that when it opens to public to know if my assesment is right , will the whole mall be done in phases ?
Ang laki nga ng Araneta Center at kapag na-fully redeveloped ay maganda siguro , sana maging modern nga ito as planned . Ang ganda siguro if integrated with walkways ( under/above ground ) at magiging comparable na siya sa Ayala Center in the future , may similarities kasi sila in terms of size , road networks . Even sa centerpiece nila ay Glorietta for Ayala at Araneta Coliseum which is a landmark in Cubao.

Actually Gateway is partly open for more than a week.
The only open store right now is Taco Bell and it is located in the driveway beside the coliseum.
You could enter the mall by using the same Entrance for Taco Bell.
The upper floors are accessible but there are no open stores yet.

I saw a glimpse of the news this morning.. the police raided Harrison Plaza and apprehended a lot of pickup girls! The report said that it was the HP Management that requested for the raid.

I wonder how many of the apprehended people were students dressed in normal student clothes looking for their friends while hanging out on the railings?

By the way, it seems that Carrefour was really close to fixing a deal with Uniwide, I was at their branch in San Pedro recently and they were using old Carrefour grocery carts. Nauna sigurong ipadala yung carts bago nag-pull-out ng tuluyan ang Carrefour.

Ah, sayang naman! Especially since Uniwide is dying. My dad even bought Uniwide stocks because of the news of Carrefour coming in. Now, he is loosing money because Carrefour pulled-out:(
On the bright side, at least SM is now building hypermarkets. Mas ma buti pa ng pinoy! No need for MNCs to come in.

does anyone know why Carrefour cancelled their plans? Most other asian countries have Carrefour - Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc...

Really partially opened ma Gateway , maganda ba interiors?

Yeah, very bright and looks quite upscale, although I haven't seen how the facades of the stores look like since they still have those u/c boards that cover the whole store's facade.
The escalators look expensive to me, maybe because of its color.
It even has escalators leading to the underground parking which is also open now, although I'm not sure if the deeper levels of the parking has escalators.

One thing I noticed is that some parts of Gateway look very uspcale while the other parts don't, especially the part near the LRT station where there will be shops that are not really considered as classy or upscale.

hypermarkets? are these the supermarkets plus electronics,shoes, clothes?

seriously i dunno what's the difference

i think hypermarkets offers items by bulk... it focuses more on middle enterpreneurs... and not on a by piece items... they do have apparel, electronics, garden tools, hardware, and home products

you mean like Makro?

Gateway's open? Have you tried Taco Bell? How does it taste? :) lol.

well it seems that in every development there will always be positive n negative impact thus kaya nga meron tayong urban planning n zoning... i agree with ronnaveth malls replaced the town plazas and be an agora at the same time, but for a country like the philippines, tama rin sabi ni thunderflip n otakaw visions of a really concerned citizen, we maybe not be needing all the malls being built at the same time just because of competition etal n the likes... come to think of it, developing country tayo diba so dapat balance development, we need more institutional structures be built replace the old ones, improve the services they provide example art museums hanggang science museum, library mapa text book library or cyber library, other type of structures new techno bridges, transportation... schools... on the other hand may point din si judeD, MheAnN the demand is present I rest my case by saying we simply need a more sustainable, balance urban, regional development para mas efficient ang city natin and the government should promote policies to regulate the building on only malls=)

I don't agree that the gov't should regulate building of malls... since it would be like stopping investors on investing locally.. maybe proper zoning of malls or commercial centers is more appropriate...

plus with all those instutional structures... lets admit it.. our gov't has not enough money to finance these.. and only the private sectors are capable of funding these... our gov't can't even provide enough schools and books what more art museums and other advanced facilities...


so maybe if we have enough money... after the right infrastructures are up.. then these institutions may be built in the future...

www.philstar.com

Did you know 4: For the third time in so many months, Araneta Center, Inc. chairman Jorge Araneta is asking his regular geomancer or feng shui suki to come up with an auspicious date to officially open the Gateway mall.

Gateway was supposed to open last September, then this month. Now, it’s supposed to be next month. The basic problem of the Araneta Center’s first try at a high-end mall are the tenants – they’re all waiting for each other to open for business first.

Well, Mr. Araneta – through his food company – has done just that by opening last Oct. 18 the first outlet of Taco Bell.

you mean like Makro?

Yeah, Makro could be considered as a hypermarket. But a little too extreme since it sells all products in bulk. Hypermarkets sell a range of products from food items, grocery items, household necessities to clothes, electronics and plants. Carrefour does sell items by the bulk, but not all like Makro. It also has a lot of piece-by-piece goods.

a-wire_2.0 is right. I also agree with the others that those firms have the right to continue to build malls. However, as a-wire_2.0 said, it has come to a point where it is saturating the market. Malls and other retail are getting built to replace old, herritage type buildings which is wrong, imo. Additionally, more institute buildings should be built also such as museums, libraries, parks, etc instead of all these malls. Ayala is good because they incorporated a mall into a park with a museum (Greenbelt). Sy, Ayala, Gokongwei can also invest in building infrastructure, institutes, etc to help with the progress of the country.

Pero kung titignan mo ayus lang naman yung maraming malls dito tutal di naman tayo ang gumagatos para ipagawa (hehehe). Atsaka at least sikat, sabi nung pinsan ko sa States ganito: "Ive heard pinoys are mall-friendly, and you've got loads of big ones here, take me there!" O diba? maganda yon atsaka at least tutal mainit dito sa pinas, marami lugar tayo para magpalamig.

Gateway's open? Have you tried Taco Bell? How does it taste? :) lol.

It's partly open but it's not yet officially open (weird, right?) since they haven't had those opening ceremory stuffs for the mall. The Taco Bell staff said official opening (soft opening) will be sometime in November.

About Taco Bell, I find their Burritos good.
Their Tacos and Nachos are also fine (a bit on the sour side which I think Filipinos are not used to) but there are still better Tacos and Nachos out there.

I think they're now planning to open two more outlets, one in Manila and if I remember it right the other one would be in Makati. ;)

thanks GreyX... you exactly got my point, its not bad putting up businesses or infastructures with a master plan to follow rather than just developing a mammoth "white elephant" structure one after another without considering the socio-economic and environmental impact it brings to the totality of the city or regional plan.

SMPH Completes $150 M Loan
SMPH 10/29/04

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. announced the successful
completion of the $150 million syndicated
term loan facility arranged by ABN
AMRO Bank N.V., ING Bank N.V. and
Standard Chartered Bank. The facility is
a 5-year bullet term loan which carries an
interest based on USD LIBOR. In line with
SM Prime’s expansion into the provinces,
this loan agreement will assure continuous
reach into the large provincial market.
Soon to open, in November 2004, is
SM City Batangas located in Batangas City,
Batangas. SM City Batangas will have a total
gross floor area of 71,000 square meters.
Set to open in 2005 are SM City
Molino (Molino, Bacoor, Cavite), SM City
San Lazaro (Manila), and the SM Mall of
Asia. By the end of 2005, SM Prime Holdings,
Inc. total gross floor area will be approximately
3,000,000 square meters. In
addition, total land bank of SM Prime
Holdings, Inc. for future developments is
173 hectares, in 12 strategic locations nationwide.

I just came from Batangas today, I got to see SM Batangas and it's HUGE. We also had lunch at Hotel Pontefino which was really impressive, very posh. Weird location though, looking out from the rooms and the restaurant you get to see a view of SM!

Anyway, sure we need more institutional structures built. And the only entities with the finances to put them up are large private companies, the church, and the government. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to find people who are willing to finance a project solely as a gesture of magnanimity. For example, although its main purpose is to bring prestige to the Ayala family and corporation, even the Ayala Museum is a very commercialized institution, they do good business hosting events at the lobby, and its presence definitely adds to the mall traffic and the added prestige factor enables them to charge premium rates for retail space. My point is, if you're concerned about urban development, harping on the mall developers is rather naive and akin to barking up the wrong tree. Although it would be admirable of them to also build structures that serve a greater purpose, it's not their responsibility. It's the government's. What we CAN do is lobby for legislation requiring developers to allot more space and funds for civic projects. I'm very much for tighter zoning laws and building codes. If you want to do this, then by all means get in touch with your district's congressman or a senator then request them to write a bill that deals with these matters, that's their job as legislators and our right as their constituents. You can talk to Sy and Gokongwei all you want, and they may even agree with you, but they have to answer to their boardmembers and stockholders first, and what those people are mostly after are profits, other matters like prestige or providing for the common good are quite lower down on their list.

With regards to white elephants, the very definition of the term is expensive extravagance. So it's a bit intriguing how you bandy about the term since the label has actually been more often applied to civic projects or cultural institutions, any project that swallows more public funds than they initially generate. The most obvious local example would be the Cultural Center complex. Abroad, the Guggenheim in Bilbao has been accused of being one, while the Chunnell more accurately fits the label. Monuments such as The Louvre, The Hermitage, and the Taj Mahal have all been considered white elephants at one time or another. In principle, being commercial buildings, malls are supposed to eventually pay back their investors. By this definition, you can't really call them "white elephants". The fact that a mall has failed is punishment and warning enough to other developers not to repeat the same mistakes. Which is a perfect example of business regulating itself, even without government interference. As I've said several times prior, if you're putting up a mall you better have a feasibility study done, and apparently the successful developers follow this tact, while the foolish ones don't. If a foolish developer decides to go ahead with a project even if it isn't feasible, then that's his fault. But if he's got the money and a stubborn will, then not even the government can stop him from making that mistake, but he will have to answer to market forces eventually.

Wow. Hotel Pontefino is nice. Do you have any pictures?

I just don't like the location of SM City Batangas, it's quite far. Most Batangueños will surely choose to go to BayMall instead :dunno:

maybe yes, maybe no... but as the saying goes "do what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for"

maybe yes, maybe no... but as the saying goes "do what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for"

Actually, the quote from JFK goes "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

This is why I've done work for the government almost my entire life.

Hey guys anyone have recent pictures or updates for the SM Mall of Asia?

I was in Luneta recently and from the boardwalk I could see a very massive and sprawling 5 story building with a lot of cranes visible on the right side of Westin Philippine Plaza. I just want to confirm if this is MOA.

just an update, there another establishment recently openened at gateway....a mercury drug

New store to cater to Pinoys' penchant for 'tingi'
Posted: 7:41 PM | Nov. 07, 2004

Margie Quimpo-Espino
Inquirer News Service

printable version email a story write the editor feedback


FILIPINO consumers, even those in the upper bracket, have similar shopping habits as those who don't have as much spending capacity.

Even if these consumers live in Forbes Park or Tondo, they still like to buy a lot of items tingi (by the piece).



Those who buy in bulk are the owners of small groceries or sari-sari stores, for reselling purposes.

Big and small shoppers who want good bargains are the target market of a new warehouse store set to open soon to catch the Christmas shoppers. Cost U Less promises to be a warehouse store that will be different from others in the Philippines.

A similarly named store exists in the US but Randy Labrecque, chief operating officer of the soon to open shop, says there is no ownership relationship between the two.

There is, however, a suppliers' tie-up. Labrecque used to work for Cost U Less in the US and he has tapped the store for some of the merchandise they will be carrying.

In the Philippines, he worked for Price Smart.

"We patterned ourselves with the Cost U Less of the US," he says but adopted the smaller-package scheme so popular in the Philippines.

He says their strategy is to get US goods at a price point that will be attractive to local consumers.

Labrecque hastens to add, however, that they will also be carrying locally produced goods.

"We will take what SM and Robinson's and Price Smart do. We will not do multiple sizes. We will rely on what the vendors will tell us as the best-selling sizes in Metro Manila," he adds.

Cost U Less, which opens its doors to the public on Nov. 19, is located along East Rodriguez Avenue.

It will be competing with the Libis branch of Shopwise which is just a few steps away.

Labrecque says unlike Price Smart, Cost U Less will be on a non-membership basis.

He says they will beef up their non-goods sector which is actually where businesses make the most profits.

Some designer labels will be carried by the store and so with sports and activity gadgets like giant trampolines, ping-pong tables, unique office items, outdoor sets, furniture sets.

But he says their food items will also be something to contend with.

"Our fresh department will have humongous freezers where we will cut everything in a chilled room. We will not break the cold chain."

Cost U Less will have ice cream in boxes, US cheeses, a variety of juices and 100 different kinds of spices.

Labrecque says they will also provide a service where shoppers can ask for certain products that the store will try and source.

He adds the initial plan is to open three shops in two years, including one outside Metro Manila.

Cost U Less is owned by Guess franchisee Victor Siasat, Edmond Thelmo, who is the president of Cost U Less Enterprise, and Cebu sardine factory owner Eric Uy.

Hey guys anyone have recent pictures or updates for the SM Mall of Asia?

I was in Luneta recently and from the boardwalk I could see a very massive and sprawling 5 story building with a lot of cranes visible on the right side of Westin Philippine Plaza. I just want to confirm if this is MOA.

Here's a picture from the Luneta Boardwalk - sorry for the quality, I just placed the PDA infront of the binoculars for a closer view (resourceful?) so the quality is not that good.

http://www.geocities.com/csbrocks_hunter/moa.jpg

Can anyone confirm if it is the SM Mall of Asia?

New store to cater to Pinoys' penchant for 'tingi'
Posted: 7:41 PM | Nov. 07, 2004

Margie Quimpo-Espino
Inquirer News Service

printable version email a story write the editor feedback


FILIPINO consumers, even those in the upper bracket, have similar shopping habits as those who don't have as much spending capacity.

Even if these consumers live in Forbes Park or Tondo, they still like to buy a lot of items tingi (by the piece).



Those who buy in bulk are the owners of small groceries or sari-sari stores, for reselling purposes.

Big and small shoppers who want good bargains are the target market of a new warehouse store set to open soon to catch the Christmas shoppers. Cost U Less promises to be a warehouse store that will be different from others in the Philippines.

A similarly named store exists in the US but Randy Labrecque, chief operating officer of the soon to open shop, says there is no ownership relationship between the two.

There is, however, a suppliers' tie-up. Labrecque used to work for Cost U Less in the US and he has tapped the store for some of the merchandise they will be carrying.

In the Philippines, he worked for Price Smart.

"We patterned ourselves with the Cost U Less of the US," he says but adopted the smaller-package scheme so popular in the Philippines.

He says their strategy is to get US goods at a price point that will be attractive to local consumers.

Labrecque hastens to add, however, that they will also be carrying locally produced goods.

"We will take what SM and Robinson's and Price Smart do. We will not do multiple sizes. We will rely on what the vendors will tell us as the best-selling sizes in Metro Manila," he adds.

Cost U Less, which opens its doors to the public on Nov. 19, is located along East Rodriguez Avenue.

It will be competing with the Libis branch of Shopwise which is just a few steps away.

Labrecque says unlike Price Smart, Cost U Less will be on a non-membership basis.

He says they will beef up their non-goods sector which is actually where businesses make the most profits.

Some designer labels will be carried by the store and so with sports and activity gadgets like giant trampolines, ping-pong tables, unique office items, outdoor sets, furniture sets.

But he says their food items will also be something to contend with.

"Our fresh department will have humongous freezers where we will cut everything in a chilled room. We will not break the cold chain."

Cost U Less will have ice cream in boxes, US cheeses, a variety of juices and 100 different kinds of spices.

Labrecque says they will also provide a service where shoppers can ask for certain products that the store will try and source.

He adds the initial plan is to open three shops in two years, including one outside Metro Manila.

Cost U Less is owned by Guess franchisee Victor Siasat, Edmond Thelmo, who is the president of Cost U Less Enterprise, and Cebu sardine factory owner Eric Uy.
good concept

Here's a picture from the Luneta Boardwalk - sorry for the quality, I just placed the PDA infront of the binoculars for a closer view (resourceful?) so the quality is not that good.

Can anyone confirm if it is the SM Mall of Asia?

hahaha...! cool... i never knew you could do that...

looks big...! probably is the SM-MOA...

hahaha...good thinking, thomasian. Looks massive, so our best guess would be SM-MOA.

We were in Tayuman shopping for a belen and I started walking around the area and unexpectedly came upon the construction site of SM San Lazaro! Here's a photo of it, it's really massive, this is just one corner of it. The cam in my phone couldn't do it justice. Fortunately, it doesn't look like a box. It seems that SM has begun to finally abandon their old boxy mall designs.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/peefbb5289f1f7eba832bb5e6f2b7427d/f651a459.jpg

Yeah, I've seen that one too and I agree that it doesn't look like the conventional SM.
The rendering looks great. If only it was clearly visible in your pic.

And judeD, you have the guts to take out your camera phone and shoot pictures like that on a place like Tayuman. :colgate:

Tayuman isn't too bad, there's the DOH, the church, and many residences, there are no huge crowds and no beggars or street people. It's full of religious shops selling statues of saints, crosses, and bibles, makonsyensya naman siguro and mga may masamang balak! You people are too paranoid about the streets of Manila. :) I bet there's a bigger chance of your phone getting snatched in Glorietta than along Tayuman. And when SM opens and the San Lazaro complex is further developed, then it'll eventally be a modern commercial district. I hope the religious shops don't move away when that happens though. We were able to buy a really beautiful and large belen that we couldn't find in any other place, and at a great price!

I used to pass by that area everyday on the way to school. they didn't have the rendering up then though. unless I missed it. haha... saw them tearing down the old horse racing circuit thing at San Lazaro early this year. then a few weeks later, before I left manila, there were a few small crane things up already. they're actually going pretty fast...! how come SM's website doesn't have this project on it...?

May mag -open bang malls this month sa Metro Manila ? Yung Araneta's Gateway Mall at yung Robinson's Place Pioneer will it open this year ?

Bukod dun sa mga major malls ( chain or stand-alone ) meron pa ba kahit mini-malls na under construction within Metro Manila , what are those and where it is located ?

Yung Arena sa 2nd level ng SM Southmall , most of the sports shops are opened na , pretty impressive , hindi ko lang gusto ay yung lugar na pinaglagyan nila ng wall climbing , they squeezes it in such a small , small space which looks so unsafe and dangerous. Sana lagyan pa nila ng safety barrier with cushions too dun sa bandang railings .

It's full of religious shops selling statues of saints, crosses, and bibles, makonsyensya naman siguro and mga may masamang balak!
ganun? bakit madami na akong alam na churches na ninakawan? hehe. peace.

If you think about it, with San Lazaro horse racing track gone, there are fewer human vices in Tayuman now.

SM SANLAZARO
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_sanlazaro.jpg
SM CALOOCAN
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_caloocan.jpg
SM BAGUIO
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_baguio.jpg
SM BATANGAS
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_batangas.jpg
SM CLARK
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_clark.jpg
SM DASMARINAS
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_dasmarinas.jpg
SM DIVISORIA
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_divisoria.jpg
SM FORT BONIFACIO
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_fortbonifacio.jpg

May mag -open bang malls this month sa Metro Manila ? Yung Araneta's Gateway Mall at yung Robinson's Place Pioneer will it open this year ?

Bukod dun sa mga major malls ( chain or stand-alone ) meron pa ba kahit mini-malls na under construction within Metro Manila , what are those and where it is located ?

Robinsons Pioneer and Araneta's Gateway will definitely open this year because of the Christmas shopping season. Gateway's official opening is re-scheduled (again!) to November 26. As for Robinsons Pioneer, I really dont know the exact date but I know its November.

As for the lesser known malls, there is this new mall named "168" in Divisoria which caters mostly to the chinese population in that area. The first phase is open while the second one is still u/c.

BTW, welcome to the forum a00556425, thanks for the SM renderings.

I think you forgot to include this one.

SM City Marikina.
It is located on the side of the Marikina river opposite the Riverbanks mall.
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_marikina.jpg
This one really looks good but someone told that this is Cancelled or at least put on hold. Can anyone confirm?

BTW, what's your real name a00556425?

wow thanks for posting those pictures. SM Prime Holdings is really performing well so far. according to a report (http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200411100704.htm) SM's profits for the 3rd quarter grew 11% to Php 1.14 billion compared to Php 1.08 billion of the same period last year. good job SM! keep the malls coming hehehe :D

just wondering, when the SM Mall of Asia is built, how would it rank among the biggest malls in the world/asia/SEA in terms of floor area? thanks!

The first phase of MOA comprising of the Main Mall, Entertainment Mall, and Two Parking Buildings is slated for completion by the last quarter of 2005. It will only be 300,000 sq.m. even smaller than Megamall, so it will be far from being ranked as one of the biggest in Asia.

Maybe the subsequent phases will add significant floor area for it to be the biggest in Asia but I doubt that it will happen.

I know you guys may not agree with me but I feel that we are over-malled. instead of going to parks and open-spaces, families now troop to malls and take refuge in these air-conditioned behemoths. most of the time, they cause horrible traffic particularly during so-called midnight sales. they charge steep parking fees yet they cannot be held liable for any loss or damage to your vehicle. the mushrooming of all these malls are not, in my opinion, a sign of a growing economy because they hardly contribute to its growth aside from taxes paid. i would rather see the money invested to erect these structures go towards the building of factories and industries. also, sometimes, they can destory the urban landscape. a perfect example is SM City Manila.

but, having said that, i would rather see smaller, community shopping centers than all these megamalls.

I agree with you for the most part... I would complicate the part about building factories though and add the proviso that moneys invested should also go to social programs. It's better in the long run for the capitalists if they have healthy people who are able to consume.

If urban development is a goal, I think that city centers need to be redeveloped. I think there may be a demand for inner-city housing revolving around functioning streets that have an active street life.

One of the compelling reasons that developers have for building malls is that in a mall, the consumer is held captive. When they're all under one roof, there's less of a chance for the consumer to leave. Every peso spent will eventually find its way back to the developer's bank account. On the street, there is always constant flow. Nothing holds consumers back from moving on to the next building down the road. It's all about creating a captive market and restricting the flow-through of people. Malls literally enclose their patrons and keep them from flowing down the road.

any renderings of SM MOA?

sm caloocan, sm divisoria, and sm fort bonifacio...this is the first time i heard of these 3 projects....

i doubt that they could still find a suitable land at divisoria though....

about sm marikina, according to the short video presentation at sm prime website for their 10th anniversary, sm marikina is slated for 2006.

according to that video presentation, 4 malls to be open on 2005 and another 4 on 2006

2005=mall of asia, san lazaro, valenzuela, molino
2006=sta rosa, marikina, clark,_____?forgot this one

:omg: Thanks for those SM renderings. First time i've seen a lot of those. SM new designs are soo much better than their white boxes of yesteryear... I'd like to see a better design of SM Fort Bonifacio, though. It is too boxy and plain. They should design a modern and attractive mall & towers since BGC will become the premier financial district.

hmm...i do agree with rmn and boybaha. SM & others are building too many malls already. It is just too much now and is saturating the economy. We dont need malls to be built, what we really need are new factories and office towers as they are clear indication of the growth of the economy. Factories and offices provide lots of employment and incomes really penetrates through the economy.

i though they're gonna put up an SM mass sa vito cruz?

I must say SM has really blossomed into more than just a shoe store from back in the day, now it's a giant in the retail industry. Yet I agree that Metro Manila is oversaturated with all these malls sprouting like weeds. In my opinion, Metro Manila needs vast expanses of "green space," like parks and other open areas for outdoor recreation. But I think most Pinoys will opt to stay indoors rather than tan themselves under the sun. :)

SM Vito Cruz is scheduled for 2007.

Someone has to figure out how to make money from parks. Otherwise, we're going to have to rely on the government to build them and you all know how that's gonna turn out.

A lot of them seem boxy but don't understand me wrong, they really are amazing. It's just that if you look at the mall thread at the Indian Forums, the exterior design of their malls are really upscale compaed to mamny of ours. But what counts is the interior quliaty, right? I just wished that SM Fort Bonifacio and SM Clark could have looked even better, more unique.

Bakit wala yatang plans ang SM to put up a mall in Alabang / Muntinlupa city area ? while sa ibang cities they sometimes have 2 to 4 malls pa ( ex. Manila will become 4 with the under construction San Lazaro and the planned one in Vito Cruz ) Wala na silang landbank for a mall in Alabang/Muntinlupa area ? Sana somewhere in Alabang too they will built a very cosmopolitan mall kasi highly populated naman talaga ang Alabang area para concentrated na lang dun yung commercial centers at hindi scattered yung traffic gridlock.

except SM Caloocan (which really looks boring to me), the others are not that bad compared to the malls here in the bay area, CA. the serramonte mall in Daly City is as boxy as some of the SM malls and it's only one level. the Stonestown Galleria Mall in 19th avenue is not that great either. plus, they're really small compared to what we have in pinas. i like big malls :D

well, these are just plans anyway, so we can expect much better designs for these malls... (hopefully, hehehe)

@cropher, yes, you're right, maybe they should build an SM supermall at Alabang. maybe because they're still considering it since there's already SM Southmall and SM Sucat and SM Bicutan which are just one jeepney away from Alabang. but i'd rather see a park developed for muntipaleños than another mall. cheers! :cheers:

I just went to check my uninhabited house somewhere in Cavite yesterday , the PUV trek the Daang Hari route and we end up in Pala-Pala , Dasmarinas , Cavite. After checking my house and since its still early , I decided to drop by at Robinsons and SM malls in Dasma to check which is better . My verdict is ...
SM City Dasma truly dazzles me with its beauty of both exteriors and specially its interiors. It has spacious hallways with 3 levels , the supermarket and the department store are very organized and big , its one of the nicest SM mall I saw. I also liked the design of its roof ceiling , simply beautiful .

On the other hand , Robinson's Dasma really fell short of my expectations , sorry to say this nothing personal , parang tinipid nila ang pagkakagawa sa mall na ito . The Big R supercenter is not that big and has only a cemented flooring , its looks dirty. The department store is squeeze into a single level cramped space and so as its hardware anchor store , to think this is their mall and they did not give emphasis on their own dept.store /hypermart / hardware ..mas maganda pa ng di hamak yung branch of dept.store at hardware store nila sa Metropolis Mall or sa Festival Mall .
Its really such a letdown , from the outside , the mall does not look new at all kahit 1 year ( or less? ) pa lang silang nag ooperate. Its was claerly overwhelmed by the newer and classier SM mall across it.

Opps , wala nga pala sa Metro Manila yung malls na napag-compare ko , but anyway its still about malls naman , is this thread limited only to malls in Metro ? sana nationwide na para makag-input din yung mga taga-province and we may know too about their malls there para mas wider scope.

I think the one in Vito Cruz (used to be SM ACA) will just be a grocery and not a mall.

Robinson's Pioneer will open on November 17 at 9:30am... Generally the Gokongweis open their malls on a Friday... but for this mall, they chose the 17th after they have consulted Feng Shui and according to it.. that would be the best time to open...

there will be a program at night where bands and stars will arrive... I remember that Francine Prieto will be coming...

my bro's fiance is a manager in Robinsons and she told me this... and today they are setting up the department store to make ready for the opening....

on the 17th (Wednesday) the Robinsons Cinemas, Robinsons Department Store, Supermarket, Handyman will all open up... :D

and according to her... Robinsons Apartelle would indeed be demolished soon to be replaced by a newer building...

anyways... where would SM Caloocan rise?

and according to her... Robinsons Apartelle would indeed be demolished soon to be replaced by a newer building...
yes, but what's curous is why did they even bothered to repaint it when they do plan to demolish it soon after all

I think the one in Vito Cruz (used to be SM ACA) will just be a grocery and not a mall.
what's ACA supposed to stand for?

I just went to check my uninhabited house somewhere in Cavite yesterday , the PUV trek the Daang Hari route and we end up in Pala-Pala , Dasmarinas , Cavite. After checking my house and since its still early , I decided to drop by at Robinsons and SM malls in Dasma to check which is better . My verdict is ...
SM City Dasma truly dazzles me with its beauty of both exteriors and specially its interiors. It has spacious hallways with 3 levels , the supermarket and the department store are very organized and big , its one of the nicest SM mall I saw. I also liked the design of its roof ceiling , simply beautiful .

On the other hand , Robinson's Dasma really fell short of my expectations , sorry to say this nothing personal , parang tinipid nila ang pagkakagawa sa mall na ito . The Big R supercenter is not that big and has only a cemented flooring , its looks dirty. The department store is squeeze into a single level cramped space and so as its hardware anchor store , to think this is their mall and they did not give emphasis on their own dept.store /hypermart / hardware ..mas maganda pa ng di hamak yung branch of dept.store at hardware store nila sa Metropolis Mall or sa Festival Mall .
Its really such a letdown , from the outside , the mall does not look new at all kahit 1 year ( or less? ) pa lang silang nag ooperate. Its was claerly overwhelmed by the newer and classier SM mall across it.
ganun rin observation ko sa mga SM and robinsons malls.....

SM tend to put up simpler yet beatiful designs...simple pero pinong pino

on the other hand, mas bonga ang design on the outside pero when you come inside, para talagang tinipid....parang nakikipag-unahan lang yung robinsons sa SM to a location to capture the market....

nothing personal but i think sm seems to focus more on refining and refining and eventually perfecting their mall design..... :)

I don't know the first "A", but "CA" I think means Car Accesories.

speaking of SM, they're renovating the exterior of building A of SM Megamall..

except SM Caloocan (which really looks boring to me), the others are not that bad compared to the malls here in the bay area, CA. the serramonte mall in Daly City is as boxy as some of the SM malls and it's only one level. the Stonestown Galleria Mall in 19th avenue is not that great either. plus, they're really small compared to what we have in pinas. i like big malls :D
i also like big malls....sight seeing and admiring their designs...but i'm more attracted to huge structures

SM Vito Cruz is scheduled for 2007.
san ba banda to itatayo...baka ito naman yung dating sm harison...di ba sa vito cruz rin yon?

it's at the other side of Vito Cruz, it's actually in the corner of Zobel Roxas and Kamagong.. it used to be SM ACA, then SM ACA closed down and according to the Banco De Oro manager there, it will become a SM grocery. Banco De Oro transferred a few years ago to the other side because they said construction will start, but after 2 years.. it has remained idle. If it pushes thru, it will give Shopwise and Cash N Carry a stiff competition :)

So that's the SM Vito Cruz , will be located , its very near the South Superhighway and PNR station too . The land area is not that big to become a mall , baka big supermarket lang talaga ang itatayo dito.

oooo.. yea i stayed close to that place... and from what i can see its really small.. not for a mall.. but i don't see it being a SM supermarket either.. i mean.. from what i remembered it was sorta tiny looking.

speaking of SM, they're renovating the exterior of building A of SM Megamall..

also Megamall Building B.... I guess they'll make it look like the newer SMs...newer color and more corners unlike the current boxy style...

Imo, Robinson's Starmills mall look better than SM malls:D

but great that they are renovating megamall. :okay: Its exterior was really deteriorating and its box design is really boring.

omg, 4 SM malls in Manila? Thats overkill. And i disagree that SM should build a mall in Alabang. There are already other SM malls that are not too far away! And Festival and ATC already occupy that market. Build more parks, institutions, offices instead!

Well , if any of the mall developers decided to purchase a big vacant lot or an old vacated structure in Alabang and build a mall in it , we cannot do anything about it as the lands there are mostly privately owned. Hopefully these mall developers strictly adheres to the following aspects : traffic management / maximized parking space / proper landscaping and plentiful greeneries / environmental soundness .
I also agree , parks / offices should be built and it looks like those are materializing in Filinvest in the near future, for sure it will not be jungle of steel and concrete structures as it also needs a breathing space and it is a very well planned future CBD . Madrigal Business park has a mini- park in the center of it .

The former SM ACA lot at Vito Crz is actually bigger than it seems, medyo short lang yung frontage niya but it extends farther to the back. The lot area is definitely bigger than Podium's. It'll be enough for at least a supermarket, maybe something like the SM branch in Jaro, Iloilo. The location would actually be great for a mixed use development, they should put up a tower of condos, offices, and shops since it's very strategically located. Right in the center of the U-belt, Malate, Rockwell and Makati CBD.

i lived near the SM ACA area.. walked passed it this morning.. i think ACA means AUTOCENTER and CAR ACCESSORIES.

any maps of the ACA area so we could visualize it clearly

who has gone to Blue Wave Mall in Pasay's Bay City area, or is it a mall? or a mini food center? just like along SLEX?

we almost forgot to report here the new Magallanes Commercial Ctr, or aka Paseo de Magallanes, managed by ayala land. a new cluster of buildings are rapidly sprouting on the area, w/ rustan's & starbucks being the pioneer stores. too bad the magallanes theater was long gone...

Paseo de Magallanes, wasn't there a residential project there too? and it's the one near the Honda (still there?) and bowling right?

Yup, its actually a residential project but ALI included commercial spaces.

I found a different rendering of SM Marikina by Palafox associates.
http://www.palafoxassociates.com/images/sm_marikina.jpg

I suppose that one is older than this one. I guess SM realized that their box type malls has to go.
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_marikina.jpg

Great improvements on SM's upcoming malls , any rendering of SM mall of asia like the one above?

Oh, another update about Gateway, there will be a Timezone(3rd floor) and............ Gonuts Donuts!!!!!!!!!!!(Ground Floor).

WalterMart Mall -Pasong Tamo , Makati , will be partially opened on the 26th and will be fuly opened by December in time for the holidays. 5 -levels na ito with anchor stores as Waltermart supermarket , Robinson dept.store / Handyman and 4 new cinemas at 5th level . It is still on its old site but they completely tore down the former building ( 2-level ) to construct a brand new 5 -level mall

That intersection is already so jammed with traffic. Imagine how it will be now that there's a mall there. I mean MCS was there but it certainly wasn't a top money draw. The Washington-Buendia jeepney won't be able to move anymore if the mall patronage traffic is substantial.

The malls in Metro Manila can rival the malls here in Las Vegas or in any part of the world. Our malls are way bigger than the ones I have seen here in Las Vegas and in Orange County, California. The bottom line is the selection of the stores inside these malls. The Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas is huge or it looks huge but the tenants only number in the 200's.

Brand names well, who says you have to pay an arm and a leg to look great.

Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippines (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbkayaker12)

Jon

Actually, aside from "hatiran" and "sunduan" time, traffic in that area has been much lower ever since the Skyway ramps were put up. The bad traffic before was mostly cuased by the flood-prone and potholed roads, but both Pasong Tamo and Arnaiz Ave have been nicely patched up within the past year.

Many Pinoys who go to the US for the first time and expect to be wowed by the malls and shops are sorely disappointed to find that there isn't much of a difference between what you can find around here in Asia. Even the selections of CD, video, and book shops (where US stores used to rule hands down) aren't all that anymore since most people just find and buy the more obscure stuff online now. Compared to malls in Metro Manila or other cities here in ASEAN and China, the much-touted Mall of America might be the largest anticlimax ever.

Jon, are you the same guy from the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree?

That intersection is already so jammed with traffic. Imagine how it will be now that there's a mall there. I mean MCS was there but it certainly wasn't a top money draw. The Washington-Buendia jeepney won't be able to move anymore if the mall patronage traffic is substantial.

Yeah i know...plus that area gets flooded easily, causing more congestion. i already find it hard to get to my condo, but with this new Waltermart mall the more jammed it would be. Oh well, it beats the old Waltermart and MCS.

I found a different rendering of SM Marikina by Palafox associates.
http://www.palafoxassociates.com/images/sm_marikina.jpg

I suppose that one is older than this one. I guess SM realized that their box type malls has to go.
http://www.siaoling.com/gallery/data/media/1/sm_marikina.jpg

ooohhh very near to the formerly burnt-out Sta. Lucia Mall and that... Uniwide was it? but i believe it's near or will be near, a Line 2 station. the location near the now-pristine Marikina river is definately a big plus. My aunt's house is very near this, i'd like to visit this in the future

It's located in front of the LRT2 Santolan Station and on the opposite side of the river is Riverbanks mall.

yeah, thought so @the LRT2 station. SM are very clever at putting new malls. near interchanges (ok maybe not so smart in regards to traffic but it's good to put it where everyone can see it) and LRT stations. buses stop at interchanges in NLEX or SLEX.

it seems pretty big. how big is it in comparison with other malls thomasian?

well, it does seem big but I don't have the figures so I don't know how it compares with other SMs.

>>>>>Jude, yes one and the same. I find the people "there" to be ignorant so I give 'em a dose of their own medicine. Hehehehe


Jon

wow, just opposite the lrt station...ok a...

Sana rin maimprove na yung SM Harrison.

Pero Department Store lang naman yung SM Harrison, saka katatapos lang na i-renovate nun.

Tigilan niyo na nga ang Harrisson Plaza! Maganda-ganda na siya ha! Puntahan niyo nga muna at usisain siya bago niyo pa mas pintasin. :)

And Jon, well in my humble opinion lang, but picking fights and trading insults with ignorant people doesn't help make them any less ignorant. Peace! :)

Jude>>its just fun putting people in their place. :)

Jon

Well, maganda naman yung Harrison Plaza pero sa SM at Rustan's na part lang yun pati na rin yung ibang bagong renovate na parts, pero some parts of it still remain ugly.

nice renderings there :D

any news on the "Mega Renovation" in Megamall? lol ;)

SM Malls are a big advantage to the places where they are constructed. San Fernando in Pampanga was just a boring, uncivilized municipal capital in Pampanga, but when SM and Robinson's arrived, it paved the way for the cityhood of San Fernando. Now, San Fernando can atleast in a way rival other cities in the Phils. GO SM! MAGTAYO PA KAYO!

Great improvements on SM's upcoming malls , any rendering of SM mall of asia like the one above?

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/MoA_5.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/MoA_4.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/MoA_1.jpg

Not as detailed as the other SM renderings, but its better than nothing. :colgate:

How about Broadway Centrum, is it still open? I believe the new and improved Good Earth Emporium is now open or is opening soon in time for the holidays.

Jon

haha! kaka-renovate lang ba nun? hehe, sorry, i guess super tagal na akong hindi nakakapunta ng Harrison Plaza.

MOA looks awesome! very very nice.

opening soon... Gateway Mall...:D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/pc489d94ded1073e1a98ed47e13b92e27/f63fed82.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/pf1685403b69c628c0e28985c9a73763a/f63ff07a.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/paa981c23c05ef50edecfd8882065585f/f63ff3b2.jpg

:cool: pics :)

Good Earth Emporium? Is that in Avenida/Rizal Ave.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/pf1685403b69c628c0e28985c9a73763a/f63ff07a.jpg

Nice pics Paul, thank God they replaced the midget palm trees in the center island with taller ones.

yeah... that definitely gave a new face of the area....

grabe ganda ng mall of asia

wow...!! great shots...!! thanks pau_p1!! hahaha...! looking good! when is it finally opening...?

btw, from those pictures, where would the Cubao Station of MRT-2 be located...?

Gateway prolly is the best looking mall in MM.




you can remove the prolly. it is:D

we've said this before but Mall of Asia is a drugged-up version of Megamall, therefore the squiggly lines;)

Gateway prolly is the best looking mall in MM.

you can remove the prolly. it is:D

we've said this before but Mall of Asia is a drugged-up version of Megamall, therefore the squiggly lines;)

I believe Greenbelt 3 is still up to par....! hahaha...! I love Greenbelt. I wanna go see Gateway though. Greenbelt is really open and lush and park-y. Gateway on the other hand has the indoor garden thing, right? did they push through with that "oasis" thing...?

anyway, there are now two really great malls in metro manila. gonna take another joyride on the Megatren next june to check this one out...! hehehe... these new malls certainly beat anything they've got here in Vancouver!

well.. for me.. Gateway doesn't seem that attractive... the only attractive part of it is that part with a dome... but the other side is not much attractive.... though i hope... its internal would be good.... :D

from the 2nd picture, LRT2 is at the rightmost part of the picture... which is no longer seen.... Gateway is a long mall which stood in between buildings...after that glassy front... the rest is in between National bookstore building and Fairmart then crosses another street in between buildings again... so this mall is mostly enclosed...

Yup, the Oasis pushed-thru, and about the interiors, the ground level part of Gateway that was partly opened since Taco Bell opened last October 18 looks quite upscale although I think the upper floors are better because of its yellowish lighting.

They also continued the use of La-Z Boy chairs for the Gold Club Cinema (one of the ten cinemas), they even have the La-Z Boy chairs displayed infront of Taco Bell along with some of the renderings.

Ganda ng Gateway ha! But none can beat Greenbelt 3, it's by far the best! Anu kasi yung napanalunan nyang award along with The Grove in LA and that certain mall in Shanghai?

Maxi Awards for Marketing Excellence from the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers)? not so sure, basta its from the ICSC.

Yung 10 cinemas , complete na iyon once nag open ang Gateway?

Ahh... eh, ewan. We'll see pag nag-open na ang Gateway sa latest opening date which is November 26 (that is kung hindi ulit mamo-move yung scheduled opening).

http://gatewaymall.com.ph/images/gateway/qwerty.jpg

Oh, and BTW mamaya na ang opening ng Robinsons Pioneer - Nov. 17.

Isn't there also going to be an IMAX Theatre?

Nope, there won't be an IMAX, just the Gold Club cinema with La-Z Boy seats, that's the most special cinema they have.

Grabe, India will be having an IMAX Theatre, tayo wala pa. Pero sa SM Mall of Asia magkakaroon daw ng IMAX diba.

What happened to their original plans of having an IMAX in Gateway? Oh well, the cinema with LA-Z boy chairs is pretty cool.

Is it confirmed that SM MOA will have IMAX?

Robinsons Pioneer opens today..... I was there last night while waiting for my bro's fiance and they are rushing the final touches of the mall.... one minus points to the mall would be there are dead spots within the mall.... so it may be hard to use a cellular phone in some parts of the mall...

Robinson's Pioneer opens today ? What's something different about it , meron kaya ? Chain malls like that of SM and Robinson usually have the same interiors /amenities in their malls may slight variations pero same pa rin. Kapag nakita mo na yung isang mall parang nakita mo na din yung lahat ng mall , expect na halos ganun din , iba lang ang locations . Parang by batch sila kung magpalit ng design ng mall , pero iniiba rin naman nila ang design sa mga upcoming malls nila . Yung mga flagship malls lang talaga nila ang may grandeur kumbaga .

Thomasian>>>yes in Avenida Rizal. How about Broadway Centrum, it was a nice mall then not too big not too small just the right size. Very classy. I think if I remember correctly it was near New Manila.

Pearl of the Orient Seas (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbkayaker12)

Jon

those LA-Z boy (never knew it was spelled that way) seats must be expensive. beats those elbow to elbow normal movie seats.

@ Pau, those "dead spots" you mentioned could surely be addressed later. most skyscrapers here have dead spots as well, and most malls. but if you notice, at the basement of Landmark, for instance, the cellular signal is very strong. Globe and Smart have these devices installed in each of these dead spots. There's actually one nearly above me, that says Globe Telecom. And there's another one for Smart along the elevator lobby.

Yup, its Along Aurora blvd. in the vicinity of New Manila.
You said its very classy but maybe that was way back then, because it looks run-down today and not a lot of people today know that is was a mall, although there are still some tiangge like stalls there but not classy ones.

I was disappointed with Rob. Pioneer. I thought it was big because it looked big when seen from the outside, but its only three stories and the mall part is the only the whole stretch from side to side. The rest is for the Dept. Store. Supermarket hardware etc. It also only has 4 cinemas which is too few for a Metro Manila Mall.

hmm...Robinsons Land should have made it a Starmills then.

i'm guessing it would be like the mall in ermita...part of the first few floors of the gateway residences would be a part of the mall

I went to SM Makati earlier and I was really stunned at how modern their West Wing (the new one) looked. It was very classy.

That wing has the Foodcourt, Supermarket and Department Store.
The basement is occupied by the Foodcourt while the Ground Floor houses the Supermarket, the upper levels has the Deparment Store which is divided by the central Atrium in the middle.

IMO this is the best SM Dept. Store i've seen, even better than that of the newest SM malls, except Podium. But it has a Podium-like feel when you enter it. I also like the tiles in the atrium, they're so shiny.

Here's a pic.
http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/SM_Makati_Atrium.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/SM_Makati_Atrium2.jpg

/\ Nice photos, it does look upscale and classy. :)

i'm guessing it would be like the mall in ermita...part of the first few floors of the gateway residences would be a part of the mall

It's not connected to Gateway Residences in any way. I think the same also goes for Gateway Garden Ridge. Speaking of Gateway Garden Ridge, they have it's rendering displayed in the mall together with other RLC projects.

And I just want to add, andaming tao kanina sa Rob. Pioneer kahit opening pa lang as in jam packed talaga ung mall kahit na maliit lang siya, mas malaki at mas maganda pa nga yung Rob. Cainta kahit na it's located at the edge of MM. Sayang talaga ang Rob. Pioneer, IMO hindi siya maganda.

Didn't they used to tape Eat Bulaga at Broadway Centrum? Or was it Lunch Date? One of those midmorning shows.... Or maybe it was That's Entertainment.

/\ I believe it was "That's Entertainment."

Oh too bad, yes it was classy then in the 80's and yes even back then the mall was not a busy mall. You have to realised the people living in New Manila are the "old money people".

Pearl of the Orient Seas (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbkayaker12)

Jon

Boybaha, I expected better of you! It's didn't they USE to tape! :)

They still tape Eat Bulaga there, I have a friend who works for TAPE there. They also used to tape GMA Supershow there.

ARGH! You got me! I know-- those are also my pet peeves. To tell you the truth, I have been typing too fast for my brain lately and have been failing to proof my posts. You'll likely find some bad typos in my recent ones.

I've recently sent some grammatically incorrect group emails to my fellow graduate students and a few professors lately; talk about a bad place to send unproofed emails!

I think the poorly written midterm papers I'm grading right now are rubbing off on me.

Unrelated to tenses:
For fellow grammar nerds out there, Lynne Truss wrote a great book called Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. It's about how punctuation really isn't just symbols separating words and how they actually give meaning to a sentence. It's a very entertaining book. 4/5 stars from me.

Well it is nice to be able to edit your piece even when it has already been posted.

Jon

yup... the Rob Pioneer was packed last night.. i was there when we picked my bro's fiancee in the Supercenter.. well... according to her when I told her that "maliit lang pala yung mga space ng mall" , she said, 'yeah.. mali na naman ang Robinson sa pagplan ng mall.... they should have added more shop spaces...

the stalls are very small.. it even has "pasillos" just like what you see in Virra Mall... and most of the boutiques that opened where unknowns... and according to her... this was done because the area is composed of different classes and they want to cater the different classes... plus they hope that Pioneer would take up part of the SM Megamall's market share and not Galleria's share.... since SM is their biggest competitor..

one problem also on the mall is its location... there are few entry and exit points...EDSA and Pioneer St.... and if you are coming from Boni Avenue passing thru the EDSA tunnel, you need to drive far to take a U-turn... same problem if you're on EDSA from QC..

maybe the pioneer is just playing safe for the meantime coz its only a few blocks away from the ortigas-shaw shopping complex, kaya medium size muna cla, nway, may provisions pa naman for expansion i suppose, so dont be frustated maciado....

ganon talaga pag opening, jampacked kahit alam nilang 60% palang ng mga stores ang open, but after a week, they will start to thin....curious lang kasi kami eh....

parang podium nga cya (sm mkti) but shang's railings (& the roof ceiling my god) are definitely much better than any malls in the metro....

if seen the aerial view of market2x!! on the other thread, & its huge!!! except the sliding iron roof....it's just so disturbing!

...this was done because the area is composed of different classes and they want to cater the different classes...

Yeah, I saw different classes of people there, from jologs to conios.

I just hate those conios in Rob. Pioneer who insulted my jacket.
I was wearing a yellow and black Dickies jacket tapos nung makasalubong ko sila tiningnan ako from head to toe and then nung nasa likod ko na sila sabi nung isa, "yuck pare, Dickies". I just hate that incident, kainis talaga!!! :mad2:

they could have added more floors to make it bigger...

we should have another thread....

MALLS WHICH WE THINK WILL NOT SUCCEED.....hehe ang sama no...

yeah... they could add more floors.... to accomodate larger store spaces... kasi naman ang liliit ng boutiques nila...let's say many are about 1/4 the size of a regular Megamall store wherein... about 5 customers could make their stores crowded already...

Yup Pau , ideally okay sa lugar na iyon ang at least 5 levels , since wala naman talagang kadikit na mall yun na walking distance lang. Para que ano pa na they demolish the old -hypermart if tipong provincial mall lang yung size na ipinalit nila.
Pero siguro they are still testing the waters , so lets give them the benefit of the doubt . Maybe , if the demand is really that must they will expand immediately , kasi yung BigR supercenter ( 1 level ) nila ay sa rear ng mall nakalagay palagi at malaki ang na-occupy and if you will construct a mall space on top of the supercenter , magiging malawak na yung mall .

btw, speaking of supercenters ( no memberships ) alin ba for you ang pinaka the best and why?

this may well be rank among the worst robinsons mall like townmall los baños and metro east

sm caloocan, sm divisoria, and sm fort bonifacio...this is the first time i heard of these 3 projects....

i doubt that they could still find a suitable land at divisoria though....

about sm marikina, according to the short video presentation at sm prime website for their 10th anniversary, sm marikina is slated for 2006.

according to that video presentation, 4 malls to be open on 2005 and another 4 on 2006

2005=mall of asia, san lazaro, valenzuela, molino
2006=sta rosa, marikina, clark,_____?forgot this one
ok so let me complete the list....

2005: mall of asia, san lazaro, valenzuela, molino(cavite)

2006: sta rosa, marikina, clark, lipa

2007: vito cruz

How many SM Malls are operational today?

I counted 35 SM Malls in this map.

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/SM_Malls.gif

make that 34... you counted SM Fairview twice....

and how about the SM Carriedo, is it still open? SM Cubao and SM Makati... I presume you didn't include since they are just Department Stores.. right?

hey, what's SM Super Center Sucat? :? thanks

Where will be the SM City Paranaque's location?

make that 34... you counted SM Fairview twice....

and how about the SM Carriedo, is it still open? SM Cubao and SM Makati... I presume you didn't include since they are just Department Stores.. right?

ok, it's 34. SM Cubao, Carriedo, and Makati are really not included since they're just department stores.

I made it into a list. Just correct me if i'm wrong.

Currently Operating SM Malls:

Metro Manila
-SM City Bicutan
-SM City Fairview
-SM City Manila
-SM City North Edsa
-SM City Southmall
-SM City Sta. Mesa
-SM Megamall
-SM Supercenter Sucat

Luzon Malls
-SM City Bacoor
-SM City Baguio
-SM City Batangas
-SM City Dasmariñas
-SM City Lucena
-SM City Marilao
-SM City Pampanga

Visayas Malls
-SM City Cebu
-SM City Iloilo

Mindanao
-SM City Cagayan de Oro
-SM City Davao


Future SM Malls:

Metro Manila
-SM City Marikina
-SM City Parañaque
-SM City San Lazaro
-SM City Valenzuela
-SM Mall of Asia
-SM Supercenter Vito Cruz

Luzon Malls
-SM City Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija
-SM City Calamba, Laguna
-SM City Lipa, Batangas
-SM City Meycauayan, Bulacan
-SM City Molino, Cavite
-SM City Sta Rosa, Laguna
-SM City Urdaneta, Pangasinan

Visayas Malls
-Bacolod, Negros Occidental
-Tacloban, Leyte

Mindanao
-N/A

ok, it's 34. SM Cubao, Carriedo, and Makati are really not included since they're just department stores.

I made it into a list. Just correct me if i'm wrong.

Currently Operating SM Malls:

Metro Manila
-SM City Bicutan
-SM City Fairview
-SM City Manila
-SM City North Edsa
-SM City Southmall
-SM City Sta. Mesa
-SM Megamall
-SM Supercenter Sucat

Luzon Malls
-SM City Bacoor
-SM City Baguio
-SM City Batangas
-SM City Dasmariñas
-SM City Lucena
-SM City Marilao
-SM City Pampanga

Visayas Malls
-SM City Cebu
-SM City Iloilo

Mindanao
-SM City Cagayan de Oro
-SM City Davao


Future SM Malls:

Metro Manila
-SM City Marikina
-SM City Parañaque
-SM City San Lazaro
-SM City Valenzuela
-SM Mall of Asia
-SM Supercenter Vito Cruz

Luzon Malls
-SM City Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija
-SM City Calamba, Laguna
-SM City Lipa, Batangas
-SM City Meycauayan, Bulacan
-SM City Molino, Cavite
-SM City Sta Rosa, Laguna
-SM City Urdaneta, Pangasinan

Visayas Malls
-Bacolod, Negros Occidental
-Tacloban, Leyte

Mindanao
-N/A

SM City Urdaneta? :eek2: :eek2: at isa pang :eek2: yeheyyyy! may SM city na malapit sa amin hehe! grabe urdaneta is really growing. some time in the future it will surpass Dagupan na as the center of trade in commerce in pangasinan hehe. but i would rather have Urdaneta to be the center of trade and commerce in Eastern Pangasinan to complement Dagupan in the West :D also, according to the dpwh web site ata, they will be building a flyover in Urdaneta City to ease out the traffic in that City especially the crossing on MacArthur Hi-way.

What about SM Clark and SM Fort Bonifacio, are they only planed or proposed?

It seems wala talaga plan for a mall in Muntinlupa City , sana in the future magkaroon in a very good location na matao talaga. May prestige kasi talaga kapag may SM mall at syempre jobs din ang provide nun.

wow, there will come a time na puro SM...kahit san ka pumunta may SM...

What about SM Clark and SM Fort Bonifacio, are they only planed or proposed?
basta alam ko SM clark kasama sa video presentation nila sa website nila ....so i guess it was a new plan that was not included in the map which would have been planned earlier

How many SM Malls are operational today?

I counted 35 SM Malls in this map.

http://www.geocities.com/aaron_ofngol/SM_Malls.gif
wow interesting...sayang graduate na ko pag natayo na yung SM calamba....bat kaya walang SM los baños....meron na kasi robinsons dito kahit cheap mall lang siya

I read an article a long time ago regarding the number of SM malls. The daughter of Sy projected that the Philippines and the company can handle up to 40 SM malls distributed all over the Philippines. Dont know if it is still true today considering the population growth.

Jon

Well, as other cities grow such as Cebu, they might consider building more SM malls instead of just having one mall. So 40+ malls seems possible.

sm city batangas has already opened last week :D

i thought twas dagupan, coz sm also has a realty there, oh well....

sm meycauayan?? grabe ha, i mean marilao is just ryt next to meyca. so baka matagal pa to....

i saw the sm realty in marikina & its not located on the riverbanks, malapit cya sa san mateo boundary actually....

i think they should add one more sm in cebu, coz its also a megacity...

sm clark is part of the plan surely....

kawawa naman mindanao, thre are only 2 sm's, maliit pa

i heard about SM's plan of putting another one in Cebu somewhere south, probably near the south reclamation project. we'll see...

Actually in Iloilo, the old SM department store/supermarket along Iznart street is being (or has been) renovated into an SM Supercenter. So there are actually 2 SM malls in Iloilo, talo pa ang Cebu! And add to that the SM supermarket in Jaro, and you have 3 SM properties in one city. Medyo matipid kasi mag-shopping mga Cebuano, and they're loyal to their Cebu-based stores and brands. I remember back when SM City Cebu first opened, we were there to open a restaurant, and linalangaw talaga yung mall! Pero mga Ilonggo magastos, galit sa pera! :) That's why for a relatively smaller city, there are so many places to shop. So when SM opened SM City Iloilo madami kaagad tao at the new mall pero hindi naman nabawasan tao sa old SM Iloilo.

I just came from Neve Ecija and was able to peek at NE Cabanatuan Mall. It's okay naman, interesting design, colorful and well-maintained. But unless Cabanatuan's population increases drastically next year (and it seems likely, considering the agricultural boom), kawawa siya when SM opens.

there was a news tidbit at inquirer yesterday that states that robinsons is chANGING IT'S STRTEGY OF JUST LEASING OUT MALL SPACE INSTEAD OF BUILDING NEW MALLS BECAUSE THEY LACK THE STRATEGIC LANDBANK THAT SM HAS

actually, not only landbank but twas part of their mistake na magtayo ng mga malls na katapat mismo SM!! imagine nasayang talaga, like the case of starmills, rob nova & dasma, the competition couldnt had been disastrous if they were quite apart, hindi yung naglalaban ng tapatan, hello??? matatalo talaga ng SM...

ang aking SM review... since parang kabute kung umusbong mga SM...

to date;

the nicest SMs are:
SM makati and baguio

lowest earner:
SM sucat

highest earners are:
SM megamall
SM north edsa
SM pampanga
SM iloilo
SM southmall
SM manila
SM fairview

ugliest SM:
SM North (basta its very un-organized)

most anchors (ung mga SM owned stores) present:
SM southmall
SM megamall
SM fairview

most number of cinemas:
megamall (12)
manila (12)
fairview (12)

overrated SMs:
megamall
north edsa

ano pa ba?!

pinaka-coño na SM:
the podium
megamall

ano pa...

what do you mean by overrated...?

i think the ugliest is centerpoint not the north edsa

actually, not only landbank but twas part of their mistake na magtayo ng mga malls na katapat mismo SM!! imagine nasayang talaga, like the case of starmills, rob nova & dasma, the competition couldnt had been disastrous if they were quite apart, hindi yung naglalaban ng tapatan, hello??? matatalo talaga ng SM



Pati rin daw yung Robinson Sta.Rosa , didikitan din ng SM Mall na itatayo doon according to my friends from Sta. Rosa.

Puro SM na yata discussion , sa mga non-chain malls naman na operating na , alin ba ang pinaka-OK overall para sa inyo?

i think the ugliest is centerpoint not the north edsa

I do think Centerpoint is the ugliest in MM, but this is bound to change soon since they already started with it's renovation.

sino diyan ang bored?
nood kayo ng fireworks mamya 8 pm sa Glorrieta 4 at 9 pm sa Greenbelt. :D

what do you mean by overrated...?

very much mentioned, pansinin....parating bukang-bibig ng mga tao...

i think the ugliest is centerpoint not the north edsa

omg its so ugly i forgot about it.... hehehe

greenbelt pag umuulan.... dibat kay basa?! ...i like how the roof was designed to minimize the wetzones....

omg its so ugly i forgot about it.... hehehe

hahaha...!!! :D what are they doing for renovation...? they should cover up all their older, boxy, cemented malls with that new cladding stuff. would easily make them look cleaner, classier and more modern. especially Megamall, North EDSA and Centerpoint...

yeah.. Robinsons does put up malls on a wrong location which is directly in front of SM.... the Gokongwei's wanted kasi to take away some profit from SM... by competing with them head to head....

Robinsons Novaliches is the least profit earning Robinsons... it doesn't get their quotas met... at palugi sya... they are not closing it kasi kahiyaan na lang if they surrender to SM.... inside the mall.. many shops already closed especially when SM Fairview Annex opened up... I think the only part in Robinsons that is profiting is BigR (soon to be renamed Robinsons Supercenter).... eh paano ba naman ehh.. pag sale sa Robinsons.. parang regular day lang sa SM....

.... eh paano ba naman ehh.. pag sale sa Robinsons.. parang regular day lang sa SM....
parang di ko yata na-intindihan...pa-elaborate naman

I do think Centerpoint is the ugliest in MM, but this is bound to change soon since they already started with it's renovation.
well, for me the ugliness of it lies part because it's so small for an SM supermall....parang bitin ppag pumunta ka

Robinson's got quite lucky with their Ermita location kasi matao talaga ito with lots of tourists despite the presence of SM City -Manila na buti na lang at malayo-layo sa kanila , kaya lang parang madilim at disarray yung Robinson Ermita , may parts na maganda , may parts na ugly .

i actually like robinsons manila