Mariana Zobel-Aboitiz: ‘Privileged, yes, but we work hard and learn’
As the eldest child of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Elizabeth Eder, you’d expect Mariana Zobel-Aboitiz to be leading a charmed life of wealth and privilege. Educated at Harvard and having cut her teeth at New York investment bank JP Morgan, early last year she wed Danel Aboitiz, son of Endika and Valeria Aboitiz, thereby uniting the billionaire Ayala and Aboitiz clans.
But the young and beautiful general manager of Ayala Malls The 30th is not just a globetrotting mall heiress but also a well-rounded, hardworking and savvy businesswoman whose diverse interests and passion for real estate and entertainment is reflected in Ayala Malls’ latest baby, The 30th, so named because it’s located at 30 Meralco Avenue, marking Ayala’s first commercial foray into the Pasig, Ortigas area.
Spanning two hectares and four floors, Ayala Malls The 30th features over 200 retail and F&B options — Ayala spent P2.5 billion on the retail component alone — and four state-of-the-art cinemas, two with recliners.
Sound familiar so far? What makes this mall different is that, beyond shopping, dining and entertainment, Zobel-Aboitiz envisions it as a hub for arts and culture. Pocket balconies on the upper floors will have seating overlooking The Corte, a 600-sqm central courtyard filled with greenery that will be the site of outdoor concerts and other cultural events.
“I love sitting outdoors and my family loves sitting outdoors despite the heat,” Zobel-Aboitiz laughs. “Given the lack of open public and green space in our country, malls should serve as a backdrop for arts and culture and different public events, so we’re excited to test that here and use the space we have outside the mall to do different things. We’ve lined up a number of music performances, bazaars, food get-togethers — different concepts that bring people together to do different things, against the backdrop of what we think is an amazing variety of the best retail and F&B options.”
Ayala Malls The 30th also serves consumers’ needs on all levels, from the glamorous to the mundane. After all, we don’t just shop, eat, and watch movies. We also need to do errands, get stuff repaired, get groomed, and in today’s milieu where traffic is a way of life, the more we can get done in one location, the better.
“Ayala Malls The 30th is a one-stop shop: you can go to Mass here, then watch a movie, then eat, then do your errands,” says Rowena Tomeldan, vice president and head of Ayala Malls Group, Ayala Land Inc. and president of Ayala Land Malls Inc. “Malls in general have gone beyond shopping, and most malls are really focusing on tailor fitting whatever they offer to the needs of their market.”
Hence, in addition to essential stops like National Book Store, Bench, and — for the kiddies — Lego’s fourth Certified Store, The 30th is anchored by a Rustan’s Supermarket, and features a Service Avenue with shoe, bag and watch repair, clothes alterations, LBC shipping, organic nail and waxing salon BeesWax, and 24-hour merchants like Mercury Drug.
“Each development of Ayala Land is very unique,” notes Aurora C. “AC” Legarda, senior division manager and area head of Ayala Malls Group, Ayala Land Inc. and vice president of Ayala Land Malls Inc. “Each is developed with a particular market in mind. For this particular project, since we’re surrounded by residential families, cosmopolitan office workers and students, we made sure all the market would be served here — not just basic needs but entertainment, shopping, a wide array of cafés, restaurants and even resto-bars so this can be the favorite go-to place for the market in the Pasig area.”
The number of cafés alone makes this mall a great hang-and-chill place. In addition to tried and tested names like Starbucks, Chatime, Jamba Juice and Serenitea, there’s Black Canyon Coffee & Thai cuisine; Cafe Moh, which will brew Korean third-wave coffee; new coffee concept Bluesmith; Yamato, a bakery-cafe from UCC; and Vampire Penguin, a shaved-ice concept from Sacramento that will be opening its first branch in the Philippines at The 30th.
Zobel-Aboitiz was pleased to see people taking out boxes of New York-style pizza from the S&R restaurant on opening day, as well as crowds drawn to eateries like Morganfield’s, a barbecue grill serving finger-licking pork ribs and sausage; Genki Sushi, the famous conveyor-belt sushi concept from Japan; Floating Island, which holds a special lure and nostalgia for anyone who’s ever visited a patient at Makati Medical Center; as well as popular choices like Pancake House, Max’s, and Ramen Nagi.
Upstairs will be — not just your typical food court or hall — but an actual restaurant row featuring 12 to 15 more gastro concepts that Zobel-Aboitiz calls an “experimental corner to do something different — new concepts in smaller formats that are riskier than the average mall.”
Aside from the cinemas, there’s a whole entertainment zone encompassing a videogame arcade and Mystery Manila, which features four “escape rooms” based on movies and TV shows like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Sherlock — great for team-building or just groups of friends who want to have fun by solving mysteries.
“Another thing that makes the mall really different and that I love is the intimate feel,” she adds. “We’re evolving as a company and looking at different formats and making sure that the formats we take on really speak to the community. Given that we’re in this dense, very mature residential area, it’s an opportunity to serve as a clubhouse for the area.”
On top of the mall will be 20 floors reserved for BPO offices (full completion is slated for August), with 45,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA) that can seat 9,000 employees at its height.
One thing Ayala promises: Ayala Malls The 30th will not be simply more of the same. “We don’t want another scoop of vanilla ice cream,” affirms Legarda.
“We’re not just filling up spaces,” adds Tomeldan. “We’re making sure that whatever we put here will be worth your time.”
Last year Ayala closed 2016 on a triumphant note by opening Ayala Malls South Park in Muntinlupa. This year they’re opening five more malls: mixed-use development Ayala Malls Vertis in April right beside TriNoma in Quezon City (with 40,000 sqm gross leasable area [GLA]); Ayala Malls Marikina Heights opening in May (13,000 sqm GLA); Ayala Malls Cloverleaf in Balintawak, QC, opening in October (38,000 sqm GLA); Ayala Malls Feliz on Marcos Highway, which will be their largest opening in November 2017 (79,000 sqm GLA); and One Bonifacio High Street across Shangri-La Fort in Bonifacio Global City (22,000 sqm GLA).
Here, Zobel-Aboitiz talks about what it’s like growing up as a Zobel de Ayala, how she once worked on the set of JJ Abrams’ TV series Lost, and how her life changed when she became a new mother.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR: What have you learned from your grandfather (Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala) and your father (Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala) about business and life?
MARIANA ZOBEL-ABOITIZ: I get a lot of everyday wisdom from them, so it’s hard. It’s pretty simple, though: work hard, and learn — learn from the best. We also have a very professional organization so it’s not a traditional family business. We have a lot of professionals that are really specialized and good at what they do, and their view is you have to stack up to the best in the industry if you’re going to be working in it.
What were your childhood dreams?
I had always wanted to work in the entertainment industry, in business still: production. As a younger person I found it exciting. My family has a big affinity for movies, but as I got to high school and especially college, it became clear that business was what I was interested in.
Did you work when you were a student, do summer jobs for Ayala?
Not for Ayala. Their policy is to get experience outside first, so I worked in a lot of different industries. I worked in a TV show for six months abroad, Lost in Hawaii, as a PA (production assistant). Then I thought I wanted to be in the movie business, so I worked for Sony Pictures for a summer, and then I settled in banking for a few summers, then when I graduated I worked in banking.
What did you take up?
I did a course called PPE at Harvard, so philosophy, politics and economics. Not very practical, but I find it practical. When I say it, people are like, “Oh, you didn’t take up business?” But for me it’s interesting to learn about how the world works, like the very beginnings of capitalism, society, politics. But I love business and when I was working for an investment bank in New York for a few years (JP Morgan), I found myself always reading through the papers looking for the real estate news or industry. And so when I moved home, I worked for Ayala Corp. for about two years in corporate strategy, and then I moved to our residential group for a year and a half, did a few projects there, and then I moved to malls.
So you really have a well-rounded view of the business.
Well, I really want to specialize in real estate. For me it’s an interest that’s enjoyable and I’m learning a lot, so I’d really like not to jump around too much.
Did your dad and grandfather come to the opening?
My dad was here this morning. He loves the mall business, so he comes to a lot of the openings, whether I’m working on it or not.
Living abroad, how did you maintain a connection to home?
Well, I’d try to come home for Christmas break when I could. In the beginning it was hard because when you’re at the bottom of the totem pole you have to do your hours, but just general interest, my curiosity — it’s always been home for me, so it’s always been my primary interest.
Growing up, did you feel privileged?
I think, definitely. I recognized all the opportunities that we had. But I think the way my parents’ thinking was, “You have all this opportunity, let’s see you make the most of it.” But I definitely recognized I had it easy in a lot of respects, never had to worry about tuition or any of that.
Were you and your three siblings ever spoiled?
They gave us so much, but I think that they kept our values intact and kept us grounded. They opened a lot of opportunity — they opened a lot of doors when it came to education and our exposure, travel. But then priority was always first in studies, then in work, so as long as we did well in those, they would treat us as well.
How were you disciplined or brought down to earth?
They would make sure we met certain targets doing well in school and work, and give and take, depending on how well we did.
You just got married last year. How did you meet your husband (Danel Aboitiz)?
We met here in Manila through mutual friends. Luckily his cousins are good friends of mine, so now I have great in-laws. (Laughs)
Do you have a baby?
We do. I gave birth a month ago. We have a baby boy.
How are you finding marriage and family life?
It’s fun. Luckily my husband and I are both on similar work schedules, so we’re pretty busy at work. Now we’re learning to adjust to life with a baby. I realized in this past month, I’ve really shifted as a consumer, so I’ve gone from “young, married, fun,” to now worrying more about the baby’s needs, and what it is to be a mother, and a shopper, and a mother in a shopping environment.
So who do you go the most to for advice: your mom, your dad or your lolo?
My lolo I turn to more for stories — he has interesting stories — but my mom and dad both are great kind of advice givers in their own respects, but I also have two family members that I work with: my cousin, and my brother — both coincidentally named Jaime — but they’re great to go to because we all had similar experiences: we all worked abroad, and have now moved home to work with Ayala, so we connect on a whole different level. So when they give me advice, they understand the context that I’m in.
Who did you learn the most from about the mall and retail industry?
Actually, AC, Rowena, all of the Ayala Malls leadership, most of them have been there since the beginning, and they’re great examples because they’re all mothers as well and they’ve all experienced childbirth alongside mall openings, so they’re all great examples.
What is your vision for Ayala Land and Ayala Malls?
I think it’s building on the vision that the leadership has set out already. I love the format of Ayala Land in developing estates rather than stand-alone developments because it really gives us a chance to make a mark on what it means to live when you can develop a whole area as opposed to just one building. For me I’d love to continue to see Ayala Malls as more of a backdrop for culture and arts. We say it a lot and do it a lot already, but I’d like to test it in different ways.
* * *
Ayala Malls The 30th is located at 30 Meralco Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. For more information, follow Ayala Malls The 30 th on Facebook @ayalamallsthe30th and Instagram @iloveayalamallsthe30th.
* * *
Follow me on Facebook (Therese Jamora-Garceau), Twitter @tjgarceau and Instagram @tj108_drummergirl.
