IN celebration of its 30th Anniversary, SM Supermalls held its very first Partners Summit at the SMX Convention Center. The two day event, Bricks Click, Creating the New Marketplace featured a Retail Forum on the first day, and a Gala Night, where it awarded its top partners on the second.
 
The event was SM’s way of thanking those who have been part of the SM Family – some since it opened its first mall in SM City North EDSA, some in later years, and some as part of a new generation of corporate leaders.
 
Fifty four companies were honored in the Top Partners, Most Innovative Store Design, Green Retail and Best in Marketing categories during the Gala Night. There were also awards for the Most Popular Brand through an on-line poll.
 
“Much has happened since we opened our first mall thirty years ago,” said SM Prime Holdings President Hans T. Sy in his keynote speech during the Retail Forum. “The retail landscape has become more global and competitive, technology has forever changed the way we live and do things, and customer tastes have changed along with the times.”
 
Challenged by on-line formats and social media, Mr. Sy, who is an engineer, went on to cite the qualities which brick and mortar companies like shopping malls share – strength, durability, value, sustainability, and the ability to withstand the test of time. He also went on to say how companies and relationships are built one brick at a time.
 
By working closely together, SM and its partners have changed the Filipino lifestyle forever. “Our malls are indeed called cities, places where families and friends gather together to eat out, have fun, and even do their business transactions, and hear Sunday Mass,” says Mr. Sy. “We have become part of the lives of millions of Filipinos.”
 
Reinforcing the bricks click concept were Francis Kong in his talk on Retail Innovations, the Disney Institute’s Wing-Hoe Tan on Surprising and Delighting Customers, and Samsung’s David Kang on how On-Ground and On Line Can Work Together. A panel discussion featuring Google’s Aitor Maguregui, Samsung Philippines’ Heirbert Dimagiba, the Max Group of Companies’ Mark Gamboa, and McDonald Philippines’ Margot Torres shared their insights on key experiences and best practices in navigating the digital and in-person landscape in the Philippines.
 
It will be remembered that SM opened its first shopping mall SM City North EDSA. Ever the visionary, SM Founder and Chairman thought of building malls in the Philippines when he saw the shopping center development in the US during his business trips abroad in the 1950s and 1960s. 
 
Although there was a major political and economic crisis at that time, the mall was an instant success, and the rest, as they say is history.
 
With this, SM looks forward to the next thirty years. “All in all, we plan to develop four to five new malls in the Philippines each year,” says Mr. Hans Sy, “with our long term goal of having 100 malls around the country.”