SM

SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM City North EDSA

There is no secret that SM has dominated the retail business in the Philippines. They also own land, and other businesses. SM was started by a guy named Henry Sy. He owned a shoe mart. But his business expanded and he shortened the name to SM. SM can be compared to Walmart in America, but on a much grander scale. SM is also the Best Buy, Macy’s, Trump, etc. all rolled into one. Not only do they monopolized the retail business in the Philippines, they rarely get competition.

On our trip, it became apparent that we wanted to complete the trifecta of the biggest malls in the Philippines. The three malls are listed in the top 25 Biggest Malls in the World. The top 3 are SM City North EDSA (#3), SM Megamall (#10), SM Mall of Asia (#11). These malls will take over the top spot one day as SM plans to renovate and expand their malls. In my opinion, SM Mall of Asia will be the largest because of the expansion potential. There is a lot of land in the surrounding area. SM Megamall and SM North EDSA are probably near its end for expansion because of the limited amount of space it has to work with. However, they are both bigger than SM Mall of Asia. Going to these malls is an event. You can actually walk the entire mall in about 4 hours, but you’d have to cover a few miles of walking and hurry up. All malls have hundreds of stores and eateries. It becomes overwhelming to choose what to eat. But the layout is smart and is designed for the shopper. For example, electronics takes over one section of the mall. Medical and relaxation services take over another section of the mall. Near these specialized sections, are the eateries. The malls are designed correctly! SM Megamall gets the most people averaging 800,000 people a day and almost 300 million per year. SM Mall of Asia is probably the best to visit for the overall experience. There are a lot of things to do at Mall of Asia. They have an IMAX, bowling alley, science exhibit. There is also an arena right next to the mall. Also, a Coney Island type of amusement park across the street. There are many more SM malls that fit into the top 30, but the only ones we went to were the biggest.