SM Prime sees no mall saturation as 65th opens

Property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. is opening a new shopping mall in Cagayan’s capital city of Tuguegarao, further expanding its nationwide footprint as this marks its 65th domestic retail hub.

SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown, the first SM mall in Cagayan Valley, is set to open on Thursday, Oct. 12, adding 37,000 square meters (sqm) in gross floor area (GFA) to its portfolio.

With this additional retail space, SM Prime’s retailing gross floor area in the Philippines has breached eight million square meters.

“The opening of SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown will provide SM Prime a sturdier foothold in the northeastern part of the Philippines, along with our other mall in the region, SM City Cauayan in Isabela. We are very excited on how this new mall will give a unique shopping experience to this urbanized city in northern Luzon and how it will contribute further to the development of the province of Cagayan Valley,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in a press statement.

The new mall is located on the corner of Luna and Mabini streets, the main thoroughfares in this city.

SM Center Tuguegarao Downtown is set to open with 90 percent of its space already leased out to a number of household brands like SM Hypermarket, ACE Hardware, Surplus, Watsons, Miniso, Simply Shoes and BDO.

Earlier this year, SM Prime also launched SM City Puerto Princesa in Palawan, SM CDO Downtown Premier in Cagayan de Oro, S Maison at Conrad Manila in Pasay City and SM Cherry Antipolo in Rizal.

SM Prime said it remained committed to its role as a “catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities, thereby enriching the quality of life of millions of people.” —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA