“Doing a mall is not only construction of the physical place: what is important is the merchandising mix. We strive to serve the convenience of the public. We want shopping at our malls to be a unique and an enjoyable experience.” –Henry Sy

When SM Prime Holdings opened its eighth SM Supermall in Iloilo City in 1999, the city earned the nickname, “Mall Capital of the Western Visayas.” No other shopping center in the region rivals SM City Iloilo; combine all the malls in Iloilo, Bacolod City, Roxas City, San Jose de Buenavista, and Kalibo and it still does not match SM City Iloilo. The closest competition, however, would have to be SM City Bacolod, which opened in 2007.
Even with Robinsons Malls setting up shop in both major cities of the region, Iloilo City remains king when it comes to malls in the region—but Bacolod City may soon snatch the title.
According to a report in BusinessWorld, Property developer, the Megaworld Corporation, is investing P1.2 billion to construct a lifestyle mall within their 34-hectare Upper East Township project in Bacolod City. Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Tan said in a statement: “We are curating an architectural masterpiece that depicts the cosmopolitan vibe of our Bacolod City township. This is just the first mall that we are building in this township because there is still more room for future expansion.”
Megaworld expects to complete the mall by 2021.
The beauty of modern capitalism is it brings unlimited economic progress to cities.

***
Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ