Written by Tribune
Tuesday, 24 July 2012 00:00
The Sy-led SM Mall branch in General
Santos City, the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines,” will finally open for
business on Aug. 10.
The blessing will be on Aug. 9 and
only for top company officials, tenants and selected guests, a company source
said.
Giant tarpaulins announcing the
opening date has been posted in various places in the city as well as in
neighboring towns of South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces.
SM General Santos, which has been
under construction for about two years, is expected to further invigorate the
local economy, Avelmar Manansala, city hall media affairs officer, said.
The local government unit is bullish
the entry of SM Mall will attract more investors in the city, the economic hub
of Region XII, he added.
“It will have a positive impact as
more jobs will be generated, it will be good for Region XII,” he said.
Manansala said local fruit and
vegetable producers would benefit from the operation of the SM Mall as they
have been tapped as suppliers.
The entry of SM in the city was also
seen to attract more investors.
Recently, executives from Ayala Land
Inc. were in town for an “exploratory visit” and paid a courtesy call to Mayor
Darlene Antonino-Custodio, Manansala said.
In Mindanao, Ayala Land operates the
Abreeza Mall in Davao City.
The mayor told the Ayala executives
that local mall players are also becoming aggressive with the entry of big
Manila-based mall operators in the city, he said.
Currently, local mall operator KCC is
building Veranza, an expansion of the KCC Mall of GenSan, and is reportedly set
to open later this year.
The Gaisano Mall here has also
renovated and expanded its shopping store.
In late 2009, Robinsons Place General
Santos, reportedly with an investment of P2 billion, opened its doors to the
public.
From the outside, the view of the SM
Mall here, which sits in an eight-hectare property leased from the Salazar
family, is almost complete.
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