Property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. said it will open up to five new shopping malls this year, while expanding its
convenience-store venture under Alfamart brand, but at a pace determined by the market.
Hans T. Sy, company president, said the new malls would include its SM Megacenter branch in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, the mall it had acquired sometime late last year.
Sy said the expansion activities also involve buying existing malls, such as the Megacenter the Mall, but quickly rebrand them.
The said mall, a five-story commercial building, was previously owned and operated by CHAS Realty and Development Corp., and started operating in 1998.
“So, just like the one in Cabanatuan, they open there, and everybody knows it’s a Megacenter. So I did not really change it to SM City or SM Center. I just put an SM in the name,” he said.
“First thing I look into is the location. It’s all about location. If the location is good, chances are it’s not limited on price alone,” he said. The other malls SM will open this year include one each in San Mateo in Rizal, Sangandaan in Caloocan, Tianjin in China and possibly SM Seaside Cebu, which will become one of its major shopping malls in the country.
Its Tianjin mall has an area of 530,000 square meters, or equivalent to 10 community malls, while the Cebu mall has an area of 430,000 sq m.
Meanwhile, SM Retail has opened its 30th Alfamart store last week. Expanding it further depends on the market.
Joey Maria Mendoza, SM Retail head for supermarkets, said Alfamart, an Indonesian brand, ended 2014 with 22 stores and opened eight more during the first two months of the year.
He said, however, that the company is still playing it by ear when it comes to further expanding the venture.
“It’s a model in progress,” Mendoza said, adding that the pilot-test may reach 100 in order to determine the viability of the business.
“In a convenience store, it takes a while before you hit critical mass to know if it’s worth it or not,” he said.
Alfamart stores measure an average of 150 square-meters, operate 24 hours a day and typically located in “high-density places that would provide a good mix of potential customers.”
“Before, convenience stores did not focus on dine-in customers. Then they put in hotpots and now, even outside the stores, you’ll find seats,” he said.
Established in 1989, Alfamart is one of Indonesia’s leading convenience-store operators, serving more than 2.5 million customers daily at 7,000 stores.