Mini-mall trend fuels retail industry growth

CEBU, Philippines - Aside from the expected boom of commercial and residential constructions in Cebu, the real estate and retail sectors will also see a significant growth of mini-shopping malls in the metropolis.

Neighborhood community malls will be the next big thing in the retail and real estate sectors, although this concept has already been started in the last few years, said real estate analyst Eric Soriano.

"Neighborhood shopping strips is the way to go. We noticed less development of huge mega malls in the urban areas, but a 3,000 to 5,000- square-meter sized retail developments are now seen to be the trend," said Soriano.

Because of scarcity of huge real estate properties, as well as people's preference to shop and dine within the nearest shopping and leisure strip where they live, neighborhood mini-malls are seen to be a good alternative destination for Filipinos.

In fact, Soriano mentioned the declaration of a publicly-listed company which disclosed recently to open up 100 mini-malls around the country, which also got the attention of big retail giants to purchase a stake on this company.

Recently, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) acquired 34 percent of CityMall, a community mall developed by DoubleDragon Properties Corp., which is jointly owned by Mang Inasal founder Edgar "Injap" Sia II and Jollibee Foods Corp. chairman Tony Tan Caktiong.

Soriano said the owners plan to build 100 CityMall branches worth P24 billion nationwide in the medium term. The company said it wants CityMall to become "one of the largest independent branded community mall chain in the country" with floor areas of 5,000 sq.m. to 10,000 sq.m. which will be put up in prime locations nationwide, mostly in Visayas and Mindanao.

A combination of a mini-grocery store or express supermarket, specialty restaurants, boutiques, and convenient stores are the main tenants of the smaller shopping and leisure destination in a community, said Soriano.

However, while this concept is seen to expand across the country in short term, this is not seen to threaten the existence of sari-sari store concept in the barangays, villages, and large communities.

Although in Thailand, the availability of shopping strips has made the sari-sari store business less profitable.

In the Philippines, while mini-malls are being built going near to the market, sari-sari store business is still seen to flourish, especially if operators have developed a good relationship with their customers.

In the long-term though, Soriano said the Philippines would follow the footprint of Thailand, as urban areas, like Cebu will see lesser existence of sari-sari stores in the urban villages, while mini-malls will be the main destination for residents.

Besides, convenience stores which are usually open for 24 hours will also take a significant share of sari-sari store market in the long run. (FREEMAN)