SHOPPING MALLS can continue to charge parking fees after the Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the National Building Code (NBC) does not require department stores to provide their customers with free parking.

The western Visayas region will have its own version of the iconic Mall of Asia when SM City Bacolod opens its door to the public on Friday March 2. It is SM Prime Holdings’28th supermall, and will serve customers in this dynamic hub of trade, education and government services in Negros Occidental.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the listed holding firm controlled by shopping-mall magnate Henry Sy, has entered into a management agreement with Singapore-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide Asia-Pacific for the operation of the two hotels to be built within the SM Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City.

Tessie Sy-Coson, guest speaker at the recent “Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum,�? appears to be pursuing her mission relentlessly. I met Tessie way back in 1991 when J. Walter Thompson first handled then still-to-be-launched SM Megamall and my team in account management was strategizing what was to be the first advertising salvo into the brand-new exciting world of malling in the Philippines.

Pink is the new black. Women’s hemlines rise and fall faster than stock prices, jeans yo-yo between flared and skinny, and black becomes the “new black” before another color takes its place again. Frivolous as it seems, shopping is about power, and no one is better qualified to talk about its how’s and why’s than SM, Inc. President Teresita Sy-Coson, whose success hinges on knowing the consumer psyche.

Retail giant SM Malls is planning to build one or two more shopping malls in Cebu with an investment of at least P1 billion (US.5 million) for just one mall, an official said.

Cebu could look forward to more investments in its retail sector as SM Prime Holdings disclosed plans to build another shopping center here.

Malls and retailers are considering a moratorium in building malls in the metropolis, claiming a ‘glut’ in mall spaces. The ‘over-supply’ in retail spaces has been driving prices of mall spaces down, putting pressure on expansion plans and bottom lines.

Just you thought you had the mushrooming SM Department stores all accounted for (total of 28 in the country,according to latest tally)Henry Sy and family had to open a store in the Agana Shopping Center in Guam add to this International outing their SM Shopping Centers in China and you can definitely say SM stands for ”so many”

GREAT grocery shopping goes to Rizal province as Savemore Supermarket opens a new store at the Angono Binangonan Center in Angono, Rizal. The Savernore chain, which is owned and operated by SMSupermarket, was introduced in 1998.as an independent store created to serve the needs of those who find themselves far from an SM mall. Savemore now has outlets in Manila,Cebu, and Iloilo.Shoppers can expect the same quality, service, and prices of SM Supermarket at Savemore. With its spacious aisles, modern interiors, fast check outlanes, and friendly service, Savemore sets the standard in shopping convenience and pleasure.