SM Prime Holdings Inc. will open its 28th mall, SM City Bacolod tomorrow, the company said in a statement.  The Bacolod mall is SM Prime’s third shopping center in the Visayas and its first mall to open this year.  SM Prime said SM City Bacolod has a gross floor area of 59,023 square meters divided between two buildings that will house an SM Department Store, SM Hypermarket, a food court and four cinemas.

It is in addition to the existing SM City Iloilo and SM City Cebu. ‘Bacolod City was cited for having the most business-friendly local government unit in the Visayas for 2006. The city currently hosts several multinational BPO and ICT companies. Furthermore, it has a vibrant tourism industry, with the world famous Maskara Festival among its major attractions. Its local cuisine is one of the Philippines’ best.

These attributes make Bacolod City an ideal and suitable location for an SM Prime mall. And so, we open our doors in SM City Bacolod, the newest member of our still expanding family of SM Prime malls,’ SM Prime president Hans Sy said.  With a population of nearly 450,000, Bacolod City is the capital and the largest city in the province of Negros Occidental, the Philippines’ sugar bowl. It is home to a number of universities and colleges, and is the gateway to the other cities and towns within the province. 

Other malls slated for opening this year include SM Taytay, SM Muntinlupa and The Sunset Strip in front of the Entertainment Mall of the SM Mall of Asia. SM Prime is also expanding SM City Cebu, SM City Pampanga, and SM City Fairview.  Last year, the company opened SM City Sta. Rosa, SM City Clark, SM Supercenter Pasig, SM City Lipa, and the highly successful SM Mall of Asia. It also expanded SM City North Edsa with the addition of The Block. 

SM Prime is a subsidiary of listed investment holding company SM Investments Corp. which also has interests in banking, real estate development, and retail.  SM Prime, the country’s largest shopping mall operator, reported a 10-percent rise in net profit last year to P5.45 billion on the back of a 21-percent growth in revenues.