SM opens P1.3B Northwing

Catering to a different client-segment, SM City Cebu recently had its soft opening of the much awaited high-end annex dubbed as the Northwing.

SM Northwing has 48 locators making SM City Cebu as the largest SM mall in the Visayas and the fourth largest mall in the country.

SM Shopping Center Management Corp. president Annie Garcia said that the Northwing was styled in a spacious and classy way meant to attract a different market segment than the mall’s usual client-base.

“The market is evolving and they expect us to evolve with them so we did this to be attuned to their needs,” said Garcia.

About 57% of the Northwing’s development is still undergoing construction and by mid-December 70% from the 187 is expected to open according to Garcia and by early next year Northwing will be having its grand opening.

SM Northwing has 107,049 square meters gross area that could accommodate 187 leasable store outlets offering different products lines from books, accessories, clothes, shoes, food and many more. It has seven floors including the basement and a parking lot that can accommodate to about 2, 000 cars. It will have an al fresco dining setting at its rooftop area and an entertainment center similar to a hotel lobby at the first floor.

Next year, a cyber zone or an I.T. zone will be opened in its second floor that will carry top brands of computer and software solutions.

 Despite its difference with the Southwing (main mall), the Northwing is not seen to affect its existing market-base as Garcia pointed out that it will be serving the needs of a specified market.

“We are enlarging the market so that we will be ready to serve the needs of different market segments.”

She said that the main mall will still cater to the middle-end of the market while the Northwing is more for the upscale market segment.

“Cebu is a very productive market for us and Cebuanos have continued to patronize us so we are continuously looking at other avenues that we can venture to serve the market and sustain the business,” Garcia underscored.

Proving how bullish they are with Cebu as a market, SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy outlaid the company’s expansion plans. In another interview, Sy confirmed that two more malls in the Southern and Northern parts of Cebu will be built in years to come. He said that at the moment, they are still eyeing feasible locations for these projects and the SRP is one location they are strongly considering.

Earlier this month, SM Prime opened SM City Taytay and SM Super-center Muntinlupa and they are scheduled to open three new malls and expand two existing ones in Marikina, Rosales in Pangasinan, Baliwag and two super-centers in Nagtahan and Vito Cruz in Metro Manila for 2008 as Garcia reported. By the end of next year, SM Prime will have 33 malls all over the country.

Always on the lookout for opportunities of growing the business, Garcia also shared that SM is also looking at China as another growth area as it is a huge market to penetrate having at least 20 million population. As a matter of fact, SM Prime has recently opened malls in Chengdu, Xiamen and Jinjiang. This move strives to gain a foothold in China’s fast-growing economy and use this as a platform for long-term growth outside of the Philippines, where they are one of the dominant shopping mall developers.