SM City JMall to open in October

CEBU, Philippines — SM Supermalls will open its fifth shopping mall in Cebu, SM City JMall, located in Mandaue City, set to open on October 25, 2024.

This was announced by SM Supermall president Steven Tan in his visit to Cebu to grace the opening of Food Hall, located at the third level of the SM City Cebu.

“SM City JMall is a little bit different because it’s a well-curated mall. We handpicked tenants to tweak concepts to make it more special and different,” said Tan in an interview.

The retail giant SM acquired the JCentre Mall from Ever Just Realty Development led by Cebuano businessman ‘Mango King’  Justin Uy, which was officially announced in early 2023.

JCentre Mall officially closed its doors on January 31, 2023, to give way for SM to re-develop the place.

Today, SM Supermalls targets to offer a different SM mall experience with the opening of SM City JMall, added Tan.

According to Tan, because the size of SM City JMall is not as big as other major SM malls like SM City Cebu and SM City Seaside, the company has to conceptualize a different offering to the dynamic retail market in Cebu.

“There’s even an Izakaya Row,” he revealed.

Izakaya is a traditional Japanese bar where alcoholic drinks are served with different affordable snacks and dishes.

SM City JMall will be the group’s 87th mall excluding the smaller SM malls also located strategically in big communities around the country.

Retail Outlook

Despite the rise of online shopping which initially threatened the growth of ‘brick and mortar’ retail concepts like malls, Tan remains optimistic about the promising outlook of off-line retail business in the Philippines.

For SM Supermalls, he said the company has to catch up with changes in the retail landscape considering the inevitable presence of online shopping.

SM mall chain is banking on the experiential shopping strategy, saying “You cannot replicate the human interaction online.”

Besides, he added that SM’s presence in China also gave them the idea that the ‘brick and mortar’ retail concept can co-exist with online shopping.

While SM is growing its physical retail presence in the Philippines, Tan mentioned that the company is also actively bolstering its presence in the online market.

“In SM, we have SM Malls online which is currently [available] in Manila. We give the customers the choice,” Tan explained.

In Cebu, SM has a lot of projects. “There might not be new malls that will be opening. But we have a lot of re-developments happening,” he mentioned the undergoing re-development of SM City Cebu which will be completed by 2025.

Under the SM City Cebu re-development project is the entry of more new brands to the mall, and new retail concepts, among others, he added.

He emphasized the importance of good local brands, which can compete with global names, “we have a lot of Filipino products that can compete globally.” — (FREEMAN)