New malls on the block

Time was when the idea of a quality family outing meant going to Sunday Mass together, eating out in a fine-dining resto and, if the budget permitted, watching movies or even shopping for clothes and other family needs.

You could just imagine how tiring it was to have a good time during those days. Jumping from one place to another just to do all those is quite unthinkable in this day and age. But that was exactly how good times meant then. Our grandparents had no complaints and why should they? Those were golden years, which gave rise to famous landmarks such as Botica Boie, Selecta, among other places, where one could hang out and meet friends over a cup of coffee. For kids, cheap thrills it was to go around the stretch of Dewey Boulevard (Roxas Boulevard) aboard the famous double-decker buses of Matorco.

But through the years, as the Filipino family’s recreational weekend habits adjusted to what their pockets dictated, these famous landmarks had to give way to malls, malls and malls! They say that our fascination with malls began when the pace of life became so fast that we needed to do everything in a hurry. Convenience, some say, is the father of fast food, off-the-rack clothing and of course, malls! We had all become mall rats precisely because working had possessed us all. We needed a place where everything could be had in a jiffy leaving us more time to work hard for the money. Cool!

Malls have mushroomed and many are still being built. Most market analysts are saying that despite the worldwide economic crunch, there is still some money to be made in malls. Richard Masangkay, real estate officer of Cuevasville Realty & Development Corp., concurs that convenience is the main selling point. He says that this is the reason his company is on a lookout for emerging regional economies, which can host malls.

He explained that as the regional economy grows, people become engrossed in earning more. They are thus forced to limit their movement in their respective work areas. "They manage their time wisely because wasting it means less money in their pockets. You don’t expect these people to spend in gas or transportation to go malling to Manila. So the solution is to bring the malls to them," Masangkay explains.

He says that Cuevasville’s first foray in the mall business, Cuevasville Plaza, has been attracting a lot of tenants even before its construction began. "This goes to show that if a region is progressive, in our case, Cavite, there will always be a market for malls," he says.

He adds that Cuevasville is taking advantage of the recent economic boom in Cavite. The province, for one, is one of the least affected by the current economic crisis. Its years of growth, which it has nurtured, have given it enough cushions to weather such economic fallout.

Cuevasville Plaza is a four-story building that sits on a 32,000-square meter lot. It boasts of first class amenities: it is brownout-free, assuring shoppers of non-stop air-conditioning convenience, state-of-the-art cinemas, elevators and escalators.

Masangkay says that "First and paramount is that consumers must be given their due.

You can’t cheat them by giving them substandard amenities. One has to really spend a lot to please them. To give you an example, we spent over P30 million just for the electrical wiring of this mall. We have to have that peace of mind that our customers are safe within the confines of our mall."

Another ingredient which Masangkay believes will contribute to the success of mall business is location. Cuevasville Plaza, he says, is located on the busiest section of the Zapote stretch which hosts a slew of various commercial establishments such as banks, public market, convenience stores, medical center, food, drug and other shops. The area has average consumer traffic of about 1,500 per hour on off peak and roughly 2,500 per hour on peak hours.

Masangkay is convinced that there is still room for more malls. In fact Cuevasville is to hold the groundbreaking of its Imus mall soon. In the pipelines are malls in Lucena, Quezon and one in Cabanatuan.

Now we ponder. How faster can life be in the future and what lies ahead for the mall business? What is next to malls is the name of convenience? Will there be a time when it is no longer necessary for us to get out of our houses?

I’ll give you a clue: On-line shopping. Cool!