SM to open four malls in provinces for 2017

The country’s largest chain of malls looks to further cement their lead as SM Prime Holdings is poised to open four new malls this 2017.

SM CITY EAST ORTIGAS. The last local SM Mall of 2016 was opened in December 2. Image grabbed from SM Prime

A report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that SM Prime will focus on shopping malls and residential spaces. Alexander Pomento, Vice President for Investor Relations, said that they will open four new malls in Cagayan Valley (SM Tuguegarao), Palawan (SM Puerto Princesa), Rizal (Cherry SM Antipolo), and Misamis Oriental (SM Premier Cagayan De Oro).

Cagayan De Oro will have the largest gross floor area among the four malls, topping out at 152,000 square meters, according to Pomento.

A report from Rappler had SM Prime Holdings poised to open six malls this year, which would have included SM Urdaneta in Pangasinan and SM Center Ormoc in Leyte. SM has not yet released any statements as to why it would be cut down to four.

SM last had a mall opening in China, opening their seventh mall in Tianjin. The last SM Mall to be opened locally was SM City East Ortigas on December 2.

The four malls scheduled to open this year would not only increase SM’s reach, it would also open employment opportunities for people in the provinces. SM Prime Holdings employed some 370,000 people as of the end of 2016.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler, SM Prime Holdings