Tessie Sy-Coson and SM shine in PRA Awards

MANILA, Philippines - It was a shining moment for SM’s Retail and Shopping Center group when it received several major awards during the Philippine Retail Association’s 17th Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the Year Awards night held recently at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center.

Leading the way was SM Group’s Tessie Sy-Coson who received the prestigious PRA President’s Award.  She was recognized as Philippine Retailing’s Woman Visionary Leader for her “insightful vision and commendable leadership  that made SM the largest and most successful retail conglomerate in the Philippines.”

“As one of the proponents of this award, I always advocate to give credit to whom it is due,” says former PRA president Mars Chua.  “Like her father, she has received so many recognitions and awards — both international and local — but none from her own peers and from the industry where she started and truly belongs.”

The SM Group received several awards during the event such as the Hall of Fame for the SM Store in the Full Line Department Store Category; the Foreign Fashion Apparel Award for Forever 21 in the large store category; the Foreign Brand Category Killer for Ace Hardware; and the Shopping Center of the Year (Small Category) for SM Center Muntinlupa.

This is the ninth year that PRA, the largest organization of the country’s top retailers and prime movers in the retail industry, is handing out the President’s Award to salute the industry’s leaders and visionaries who paved the way for this generation of retailers.

Coson’s father, SM founder and chairman Henry Sy, Sr. was the first PRA Presidential Awardee, honored as the Father of Philippine Retail. She and her siblings were growing up when their father started his business, and they were involved when they were very young.

In retail, Coson oversees the growth of the business, which includes the SM Department Stores and affiliates totaling 300 stores nationwide.  SM’s retail group was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame of Retail Asia’s Asia Pacific Top 500 Awards, a distinction given to retailers who have been awarded the Best of the Best Award for three consecutive years.

She likewise works closely with SM’s mall operations through SM Prime Holdings, where she sits as adviser to its board of directors; and is chair of BDO Unibank, Inc.

Coson has received numerous awards, including being named one of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business for 10 years, and Forbes Asia’s Power Business Women list for the past three years.