MANILA, Philippines – The country’s largest mall operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. expects to grow its mall empire to 100 or double its present number in seven years as the company continues to capitalize on the robust Philippine economy and improved consumer spending.

SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim told The STAR that the integrated property firm of the Sy family is eyeing to reach the 100-mall milestone by 2022 or 2023.

By 2018, Lim said SM Prime is likely to add another 25 stores to its present network to bring it to 75.

The seven-to-eight-year expansion of the next 50 shopping centers will come at a faster pace than the almost three decades it took SM Prime to build its first 50 SM malls in the country.

SM Prime currently has 50 malls nationwide, with SM Center Angono in Rizal the last to open when it commenced operations late last year.

“Our mall expansion really depends on the economy. If the economy is good, then we will continue building. It is easy to build small-sized malls, but regional malls are different,” said SM Investments Corp. president Harley Sy.

SM Prime opened its very first mall in 1985 on North EDSA, developing a then-vacant swamp into a shopping center and turned it into what is now one of the most popular and iconic brands in the country.

This year, SM Prime intends to end the year with 55 malls with the opening of SM Sangandaan in Caloocan, SM San Mateo in Rizal, SM Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, SM Trece Martires in Cavite, and SM Seaside City Cebu.

Aside from its Philippine malls, SM Prime also operates five malls in China. The property firm plans to grow its China malls to nine by 2018.

Among its 50 existing malls locally, three are included on the world’s 10 largest malls – SM North EDSA, SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia. Together, these three malls alone have a combined gross floor area of 1.4 million square meters.

SM Prime is earmarking P330 billion in the next four years or until 2018 to pursue expansion in the Philippines and China.