Calasiao opens door to 3 new malls

FROM small town to “mall town”.
Calasiao, known for its tiny puto delicacy, will soon be home to several shopping malls, two of which, SM and Robinson’s, are among the biggest chains in the country.

The Magic Mall owned by Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim is already establishing a branch in the now first class municipality.
Robinson’s Mall of the Gokongwei-owned Robinsons Land Corp. has already started construction of its branch last September 30, according to Engr. Melanio De Vera, municipal engineer.
Robinson’s will occupy a 5.8-hectare land in Barangay San Miguel and the edifice alone covers 3.3 hectares. The two-story mall will be named ‘Robinsons Place Calasiao’, the 30th in the company’s chain of malls around the Philippines. Its amenities include four movie houses, food chains, shops, department store, and supermarket.
De Vera said he is planning to propose to the contractor, Albert S. Yu & Associates, to build an overpass across the highway going to the mall to prevent traffic congestion in the area.
Meanwhile, Magic Mall, located in Poblacion West covering a land area of about one hectare will resume construction on the first week of December after a few months of interruption.

SM Mall, on the other hand, will reportedly be built in Barangay Nalsian but the project has been put on hold pending negotiations with the landowners of the site.
De Vera said the entry of malls bodes well for the town in terms of generating employment opportunities, income from taxes, and increased economic activities from visitors.
“Ito ay magdadala ng malaking tax kung saan makikinabang ang mga mamamayan ng Calasiao, magdudulot din ito ng pagdagsa ng mga turista at makapagbibigay ng trabaho,” De Vera said.–Roselle Gale, University of Pangasinan-Phinma

Source: Calasiao opens door to 3 new malls

SM to open two new mall branches in Pangasinan and Bulacan

Leading mall operator SM Prime Holdings, Inc. said it is set to open two new mall branches before the year ends

SM Prime president Hans Sy said these are located in Rosales in Pangasinan and Baliuag in Bulacan.

Sy said these new branches are on top of the SM Marikina that they will officially open this Friday.

The mall, which sits on Marikinas riverbank, was designed by EDGE Interior Design Pty. Ltd., a foreign design consultant based in Australia.

"We continue to improve on the look of our malls to make them not just aesthetically appealing, but more importantly, environmentally friendly," said Sy.

SM City Marikina is a very bright mall with glass walls lining its facade to require less light bulbs and equipped with water treatment facilities.

It also has features to make it friendly to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and special needs such as handicap lifts, ramps, drinking fountains and available personnel specially trained to assist PWDs.

SM City Marikina, like the rest of the other SM malls, also has a breastfeeding station for nursing mothers.

Being its 31st mall in the country, Sy said, SM City Marikina, which is along Marcos Highway, occupies 60,000 square meters (sqm) of land and has a gross floor area (GFA) of 122,000 sqm.

Known as the countrys shoemaker capital, Sy noted that Marikina has became vital partners of SM during its growth years in the sixties as a shoe store in Carriedo, Manila.

Marikina was supplying 70 percent of the shoes we were selling at Shoemart. I would like to think that being one of its biggest buyers of shoes, we contributed to the growth of Marikina, Sy, SM's founder noted.

SM City Marikina is the first mall to be opened by SM Prime this year.

In 2007, the company opened three malls, which were located in Bacolod, Taytay and Muntinlupa.

SM Prime also acquired three existing SM malls in China, namely SM Xiamen, SM Jinjiang, and SM City Chengdu.

Sy also bared they will launch their expansion of SM Megamall and SM Fairview.