SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is taking its famous slogan “We’ve Got It All For You” to the next level as the country’s biggest mall developer transforms its shopping centers into lifestyle destinations, with the opening of SM Seaside City Cebu seen as further heating up competition among malls in Cebu.
SM Seaside City Cebu, the country’s fourth largest mall, opened on Friday. — www.facebook.com/smsscitycebu/
SM Prime profit jumps 15% to P4.2 billion in Q3
Ayala Land, SM Prime joint master plan for Cebu property nearing conclusion
SM Prime bets big on Cebu after increasing investment in South Road properties
“Right now, it’s not just about shopping. People do come here to enjoy life,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy told reporters last Thursday on the sidelines of the opening of SM Seaside City Cebu.
The son of the country’s richest man Henry Sy, Sr. considers the SM Seaside Complex in Cebu as his newest playground, with the company planning to introduce a lot of firsts in 30 hectares (ha) of land at the reclaimed South Road Properties.
SM Prime’s latest addition to its network of 56 malls around the country is SM Seaside City Cebu — its biggest mall outside Metro Manila at 430,000 square meters and its third biggest shopping center in the Queen City of the South.
“Before it was only shopping, making sure we got everything,” Mr. Sy said, alluding to the company’s slogan. “Today, it’s not just about buying things. It’s a lifestyle and there will be a lot of arts and culture mixed up into shopping.”
SM Prime plans to build an oceanarium in the property after inking a deal with the developer of the Manila Ocean Park. The first Kenneth Cobonpue Park will likewise rise on the complex. By middle of next year, the development will also host the Seaside Tower, a 114-meter viewing tower offering a 360-degree view of Cebu.
“We have records showing about 80% of tourists who go to Manila go to Mall of Asia. If we could do that also, get tourists that come to Cebu to come here,” Mr. Sy said.
SM Seaside City Cebu will feature an “interactive wet and dry playground,” as part of efforts to make the property a family-friendly destination.
MORE MALLS IN CEBU
The SM Seaside development in Cebu will introduce large-scale integrated commercial development, with designs and amenities comparable to those in Metro Manila and highly-urbanized cities in Southeast Asia, said Claro dG. Cordero, Jr., head of research and valuation at real estate advisory firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
“It will alter the retail landscape by being able to host several large international stores and retail chains, signaling the phase of a maturing retail market,” Mr. Cordero said in a mobile phone message.
“The competitors should definitely revisit their expansion/growth models and outlook on Cebu in order to capture this new wave of growth and maturing consumer market in Cebu,” he said.
Robinsons Land Corp. is building its third mall in the city, while Ayala Land, Inc. has embarked on a multi-billion redevelopment plan for Ayala Center Cebu.
Cebu-based Gaisano also has several shopping centers in the province.
With the proliferation of malls in Cebu, fears of saturation have been raised, but the SM Prime executive was quick to dismiss such concerns. He said a fourth SM mall may be built in Cebu before the end of 2018 when the company targets to have 75 malls nationwide.
“In Singapore and Thailand, there are malls one after the other.
Singapore land prices are so high and yet they are surviving,” Mr. Sy said.
“We are going into that stage. People are going to the malls for shopping. I’m still confident. We have a good future,” he said.
Once known as “shoeboxes” because of their box-type architecture, SM Prime’s malls have become “sexier” of late, undergoing a major transformation to cater to a new breed of shoppers, Mr. Sy said.
With Filipinos starting to embrace e-commerce, Mr. Sy is aware of the challenge to bring families out of their homes and into their malls.
“Filipinos, as they are, really are avid shoppers. If we don’t give them the chance here, they will just go abroad. Sayang ang opportunity (We’ll waste the opportunity),” Mr. Sy said.
“We believe in Cebu. I see a very strong future in Cebu. I don’t know how to explain it but being a businessman you have a gut feel — the same with our gut feel in Mall of Asia,” Mr. Sy said.
SM Prime is also expanding SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, which is set to reclaim the tag as the company’s biggest mall once it completes the addition of 100,000 square meters of retail space in two years.
Apart from the new shopping space, the expansion plan of SM Mall of Asia will include a rooftop botanical garden, a football field, a vast lifestyle area, a Galleon Museum and a theater for the performing arts.