The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Luis Leoncio
The mall culture among Filipinos continues to thrive, as listed property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) opened last Friday its 60th mall in the country called SM City East Ortigas.
By next year, SM Prime expects to build 15 more malls for a total of 75 nationwide. The new mall has more than 80,000 square meters (sqm) in gross floor area (GFA), which SM Prime said will redefine shopping experience in the eastern part of Metro Manila.
“We are delighted to open SM City East Ortigas just in time for the Christmas holidays. This mall is set to redefine shopping and entertainment particularly in the eastern part of Metro Manila. Our new mall reinforces our commitment to continue expanding in the country, given the economy’s strong performance,” SM Prime President Jeffrey Lim said.
SM Prime malls in the eastern part of Metro Manila include SM Megamall in Mandaluyong, SM Center Pasig, SM Marikina, SM Taytay, SM Masinag, SM Angono and SM San Mateo in Rizal.
The presence of each mall in the area reflects the growth and progress of the city, Lim said.
SM City East Ortigas opened with 80 percent leased out in spaces including the two-level mall with the SM’s flagship retail brands The SM Store and SM Supermarket; and specialty stores such as Uniqlo, Watsons, SM Appliance Center, and Ace Hardware.
It will also have the Cyberzone, Wellness tenants, four digital cinemas and four Director’s Club cinemas, as well as numerous shops, and diners.
The mall also provides 650 parking slots.
SM Prime opened SM-Cherry Congressional last November 25 in Quezon City, with around 13,000 sqm in GFA, and SM City San Jose del Monte in Bulacan last April with 101,000 sqm in GFA and SM City Trece Martires in Cavite last May 2016 with 84,000 sq m in GFA.
SM Prime now has 22 malls in Metro Manila, 29 in Luzon outside of Metro Manila, five in the Visayas and four in Mindanao.
SM Prime also has six malls in China bringing its combined GFA to 8.6 million sq m.
“SM Prime remains committed to its role as a catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities that enrich the quality of life of millions,” Lim said.
SM Prime also expects to sign two franchise agreements before the end of the year for the establishment of stand-alone or separate cinemas in the provinces, the world’s first franchised cinema model.
“We’re anticipating two contract signings in two areas before the end of the year. One will be in Bataan, and the other will be in the Kalibo, Boracay, area. And the roll-out will continue as we have about 17 interested franchisees,” Edgar Tejerero, president of SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. said.
Tejerero noted that the basic two-cinema model is 100-seater each.
“We’ve noticed that the presence of piracy is quite high in the provinces because understandably, they don’t have access to movie houses so we decided to put up stand-alone cinemas… For somebody living hours away from a mall, for you to watch a movie, it will be the last of your priorities. So we decided to bring cinemas closer to them,” he added.
Tejerero estimated franchise fee for a stand-alone cinema at P25 million to P30 million.
In 2017, Tejerero further said the company would construct in SM branches various concept cinemas –café cinemas and children’s cinemas.
These will be located in SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, Mall of Asia, SM Fairview, SM Manila, SM Sta. Mesa, SM Marikina, SM Cebu and SM in Clark, Pampanga, he said.
Tejerero added three new SM malls would be built next year, located in Palawan, Cagayan de Oro and Urdaneta, Pangasinan.