SM Supermalls, the retail leasing arm of property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc., plans to open three new shopping malls and redevelop more than 10 malls existing malls in 2025 in line with the group’s growth strategy.
SM Supermalls president Steven Tan said in a interview late Thursday the new malls to be opened are located in Laoag, La Union and Zamboanga City.
Tan said the upcoming mall in Zamboanga will be the group’s second in the fast growing province after opening SM Mindoro in 2020.
More existing malls will also be up for redevelopment next year even as it continuous to upgrade its bigger malls in Metro Manila.
Tan said the ongoing renovation of Mall of Asia in Pasay City is nearing completion with the planned opening of sky roof that will house a FIFA-sized football field early next year.
The group has also started renovating SM Megamall and SM Aura.
“SM Megamall will have a garden on top and SM Aura has a new food hall,” Tan said.
SMPH will end 2024 with a portfolio of 87 malls in the Philippines and seven in China. It opened malls in Cebu and Caloocan this year.
The company plans to have 100 malls between 2026 to 2027.
Meanwhile, Tan is also bullish about the fourth quarter of 2024 as recently blockbusters movies have boosted mall traffic.
“The November has never been this good. We are happy with the results so far,” Tan said.
He said the recent blockbuster foreign and local movies shown in October and November not only boosted cinema ticket sales but also increased foot traffic across malls.
He said more blockbuster foreign movies are lined up for December and local Metro Manila Film Festival will likely sustain growth in the last month of the year.
“I’m quite confident for December,” Tan said.
He also further expressed confidence with the upcoming 2025 election.
