SM Prime opens 45th mall

MANILA, Philippines - SM Prime Holdings Inc. opens to the public today its 45th shopping mall in the Philippines and its first in the province of South Cotabato.

The three-level mall, located in Gen. Santos City, has a gross floor area (GFA) of 95,764 square meters and is already 80 percent occupied. It houses four cinemas with a combined seating capacity of 1,400 and parking slots for 1,500 vehicles.

“We warmly welcome our valued customers to SM City Gen. Santos, our first mall in the province of South Cotabato. With its thriving economy, GenSan provides an ideal venue for SM malls as we see a huge potential for growth in the city,” SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said.

GenSan is a highly urbanized first-class city and is one of the most populous urban centers in the country. It is the largest producer of sashimi-grade tuna in the Philippines, earning the title “Tuna Capital of the Philippines”.

SM City Gen. Santos brings the total number of SM Prime malls to 45 all over the country, with a combined GFA of 5.4 million sqm. It is the fourth SM mall to be opened this year, after SM City Olongapo in Zambales, SM City Consolacion in Cebu and SM City San Fernando in Pampanga.

 For the rest of 2012, SM Prime is scheduled to open SM City Lanang in Davao City and SM Chongqing in China.

By the end of the year, SM Prime will have 46 malls in the Philippines and five in China, with an estimated combined GFA of 6.3 million sqm.