It all started with shoes. So it was fitting that as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, SM should open its first supermall this year in Marikina, the shoe capital of the Philippines.

Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, SM Prime Holdings president Hans T. Sy and SM Supermarket president Herbert T. Sy welcomed the first wave of shoppers. The inauguration underscored the long relationship between SM, founded by Henry Sy Sr. as a shoe store in 1958, and the dynamic City of Marikina.

The mall was blessed by Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes. The ribbon cutting ceremony was led by the city’s top officials—Mayor Fernando, MMDA Chairman Fernando, Vice Mayor Marion S. Andres, Rep. Marcelino R. Teodoro (First District), and Rep. Del R. de Guzman.

Welcoming the officials was the Sy family, led by Henry Sy Sr., Felicidad Sy, and Teresita Sy-Coson.

The 125,000-sq m mall is on riverbank site along Marcos Highway, Barangay Calumpang. It is SM Prime Holdings’ 31st supermall.

The mall is meant to be a growth catalyst for Marikina City. Its progressive government has city ordinances on waste management, vehicular traffic management, repair of road and bridges, construction of new arterial roads, and rehabilitation of Marikina River.

At the center of all programs is the creation of the Riverbanks Center, which has been declared as the city’s business, finance, and commercial triangle.

SM City Marikina is located in the Riverbanks Center.

It has a mix of SM mainstays like the SM Appliance Center, ACE Hardware, the Surplus Shop, Watsons, and top homegrown and international brands.

It also has local and international fast-food chains, and at specialty restaurants,eight cinemas.

For the techies, there’s Cyberzone.

It has more than a thousand parking slots, a jeepney terminal, a four-meter wide pedestrian overpass from the LRT Santolan Station.

It is also eco-friendly, where a leisurely walk to and from the riverside is encouraged through an interlnked walkway, accessible even to the physically challenged.

SM City Marikina’s design team includes Jose Siao Ling and Associates, architects; D.A. Abcede and Associates, project managers, and BF Corp., general contractors.