Mall reasons to move to the suburbs
November 26, 2005 | 12:00am
You know it’s a tight, outspoken community when people take their time out to complain about plants. That’s how people in Alabang are – perhaps not about all things, but certainly about their neighborhood mall. Alabang Town Center (ATC) general manager Javy Hernandez says they’ve gotten feedback about the plants around the mall, from complaints that one species was not "compatible" with another to a cluster of plants in a certain area being dead.
"It keeps us on our toes," says Javy of ATC’s text and e-mail hotlines. When asked whether the customers’ personal involvement makes their job harder or easier, he says, "Harder, but we like that our shoppers tell us what they think. They want the newest stores, the latest things, and when they don’t want something, they tell us, too."
One of the most powerful examples of customer involvement was when ATC decided to hold an activity that involved putting game consoles in the mall’s activity area. They never heard the end of it from mothers until the consoles were moved back up to their original area. Or when they started free belly-dancing classes one summer and they got numerous requests for it to continue, and now the program has been ongoing for two years.
That’s one thing Ayala Land people have been saying about ATC’s community – it’s not like any other mall in the sense that people feel they have a personal stake in it. Javy says it’s probably because the mall is surrounded by families living in residential subdivisions who feel the mall is an extension of their homes (a sentiment played up in their latest ad campaign). Unlike, say, Glorietta whose main market is composed of people working in Makati, ATC is literally a stone’s throw away from people’s front yards.
"Our customers are the biggest complainers, the most demanding, but they’re also the most loyal," he says. "They love the mall. Whether they’re happy or unhappy about something, we encourage them to communicate with us."
That’s why when some of the mall’s facilities showed the inevitable signs of aging, Javy and his young team in operations and marketing decided to do a facelift. Alabang Town Center has been around since the 1980s, starting with two cinemas, two restaurants, a supermarket and McDonald’s. As the cogon grass around Muntinlupa gave way to spanking-new subdivisions, the 17.5-hectare mall grew with the communities.
The last expansion was in 1999, when the wing Corte de las Palmas was added, an open area flanked by restaurants and coffee shops, a PowerBooks and designer boutiques. The renovation in fact won design awards and is considered by customers as the most relaxing area in the mall.
It was also here and the open, center area of the mall where facilities needed fixing, specifically the fountains. "They were starting to look old, the tiles were chipped and when we tried to match new tiles it didn’t look right. It was time to rebuild them and we completed this last August." Along with the new fountains, the 30 restrooms around the mall were renovated.
It wasn’t just the physical facilities of the mall that needed changing. It was also the way the tenants were clustered. As ATC department manager Maricris Rocha-Bernardino explains, the way to target customers now is not just through their demographics but also through their lifestyles. "Research is not so much based on age groups anymore but on how people live. It’s something we started and it seems to be working."
While dividing a mall into "zones" is nothing new, the way to go about it has brought about new discoveries in the way we shop and play. Hip Zone, one of ATC’s five zones, targets teens and the young lifestyle (regardless of age), which means the stores clustered here are boutiques offering their brands of shoes and clothing, plus music stores and food outlets. Fast-food restaurants and the food court of ATC are right smack in the middle of two zones – the Hip and Kids Zones – for children who want their burgers and for students on a tight budget.
In Hip Zone, they’ve also designed a hangout area where the seats resemble that of a club – plush sofas, wooden furniture, cushions and ottomans on an elevated podium – and listening stations for their favorite music.
Another zone that brings convenience to customers is ATC’s Motortown, an area where everything related to vehicles is here and an LTO office for renewing one’s driver’s license. "Unlike in other LTO branches where the lines are long, in half an hour you’re done here," says Javy. "There are no fixers and everything is by the book. There’s a lab for drug testing, two doctors to check your eyes. People from as far as Quezon City and Manila come here to renew their licenses. Operating hours are LTO hours, not the mall’s. And there’s also a smoke-emission testing area."
The Kids Zone is decorated like a huge play area for kids with cutout clouds hanging from the ceiling and stores keeping with the theme like a barbershop that has seats in the shape of airplanes, a party-needs store and clothing and accessories boutiques. Below is the Home Zone, a mélange of stores ranging from Asian style to modern to Victorian, and anchored by True Value because, as Javy explains, "It’s the moms who now buy the power tools and hardware stuff because if they left it to the dads they would never get it done." And that’s coming from a man!
There’s also the Sports Zone, anchored by Toby’s, which serves the needs of sports enthusiasts, whether they’re into badminton, soccer or tennis. A half basketball court is also a main feature in this area. Curiously, an Adidas boutique is situated not in the Sports Zone, but at the end of the Home Zone near Gourdo’s which specializes in dinnerware and kitchen accessories because, Maricris explains, "moms are as much into sports as they are into cooking and Adidas lets them dress up in sporty outfits for their kids’ soccer games or their own games."
Speaking of activities, ATC is known for its lineup of activities for the entire family. There are free tae-bo and belly-dancing classes (they tried tai-chi once but customers were bored by it; apparently suburban women like their activities with a lot more kick than imitating the direction of the wind). Ongoing for kids are the pony rides on weekends – ponies that were supposed to be up for auction until they proved to be such a hit with ATC customers.
"Generally Alabang is known for its outdoor feel," says Carol Torres-Mills, deputy general manager. "People like that about the mall. It has a nicer ambience, they feel much more comfortable and at home in this kind of open atmosphere."
For Christmas, ATC has lined up its usual extras – free concerts, fireworks and kids’ favorite, Thomas the Train. With foot traffic reaching 100,000 on weekdays and 30 percent more on weekends (a modest number compared to other, bigger malls in Metro Manila), the mall has surprisingly one of the highest return frequency of shoppers (nine times a month compared with the industry standard of four) and the highest spenders, too. "When you’re here at your leisure, you have time to have coffee, to have dinner, and to shop at your own pace."
People never seem so frenetic in this southern mall as they are in others. Then again, this is suburbia and being laid-back is a birthright.
"It keeps us on our toes," says Javy of ATC’s text and e-mail hotlines. When asked whether the customers’ personal involvement makes their job harder or easier, he says, "Harder, but we like that our shoppers tell us what they think. They want the newest stores, the latest things, and when they don’t want something, they tell us, too."
One of the most powerful examples of customer involvement was when ATC decided to hold an activity that involved putting game consoles in the mall’s activity area. They never heard the end of it from mothers until the consoles were moved back up to their original area. Or when they started free belly-dancing classes one summer and they got numerous requests for it to continue, and now the program has been ongoing for two years.
That’s one thing Ayala Land people have been saying about ATC’s community – it’s not like any other mall in the sense that people feel they have a personal stake in it. Javy says it’s probably because the mall is surrounded by families living in residential subdivisions who feel the mall is an extension of their homes (a sentiment played up in their latest ad campaign). Unlike, say, Glorietta whose main market is composed of people working in Makati, ATC is literally a stone’s throw away from people’s front yards.
"Our customers are the biggest complainers, the most demanding, but they’re also the most loyal," he says. "They love the mall. Whether they’re happy or unhappy about something, we encourage them to communicate with us."
That’s why when some of the mall’s facilities showed the inevitable signs of aging, Javy and his young team in operations and marketing decided to do a facelift. Alabang Town Center has been around since the 1980s, starting with two cinemas, two restaurants, a supermarket and McDonald’s. As the cogon grass around Muntinlupa gave way to spanking-new subdivisions, the 17.5-hectare mall grew with the communities.
The last expansion was in 1999, when the wing Corte de las Palmas was added, an open area flanked by restaurants and coffee shops, a PowerBooks and designer boutiques. The renovation in fact won design awards and is considered by customers as the most relaxing area in the mall.
It was also here and the open, center area of the mall where facilities needed fixing, specifically the fountains. "They were starting to look old, the tiles were chipped and when we tried to match new tiles it didn’t look right. It was time to rebuild them and we completed this last August." Along with the new fountains, the 30 restrooms around the mall were renovated.
It wasn’t just the physical facilities of the mall that needed changing. It was also the way the tenants were clustered. As ATC department manager Maricris Rocha-Bernardino explains, the way to target customers now is not just through their demographics but also through their lifestyles. "Research is not so much based on age groups anymore but on how people live. It’s something we started and it seems to be working."
While dividing a mall into "zones" is nothing new, the way to go about it has brought about new discoveries in the way we shop and play. Hip Zone, one of ATC’s five zones, targets teens and the young lifestyle (regardless of age), which means the stores clustered here are boutiques offering their brands of shoes and clothing, plus music stores and food outlets. Fast-food restaurants and the food court of ATC are right smack in the middle of two zones – the Hip and Kids Zones – for children who want their burgers and for students on a tight budget.
In Hip Zone, they’ve also designed a hangout area where the seats resemble that of a club – plush sofas, wooden furniture, cushions and ottomans on an elevated podium – and listening stations for their favorite music.
Another zone that brings convenience to customers is ATC’s Motortown, an area where everything related to vehicles is here and an LTO office for renewing one’s driver’s license. "Unlike in other LTO branches where the lines are long, in half an hour you’re done here," says Javy. "There are no fixers and everything is by the book. There’s a lab for drug testing, two doctors to check your eyes. People from as far as Quezon City and Manila come here to renew their licenses. Operating hours are LTO hours, not the mall’s. And there’s also a smoke-emission testing area."
The Kids Zone is decorated like a huge play area for kids with cutout clouds hanging from the ceiling and stores keeping with the theme like a barbershop that has seats in the shape of airplanes, a party-needs store and clothing and accessories boutiques. Below is the Home Zone, a mélange of stores ranging from Asian style to modern to Victorian, and anchored by True Value because, as Javy explains, "It’s the moms who now buy the power tools and hardware stuff because if they left it to the dads they would never get it done." And that’s coming from a man!
There’s also the Sports Zone, anchored by Toby’s, which serves the needs of sports enthusiasts, whether they’re into badminton, soccer or tennis. A half basketball court is also a main feature in this area. Curiously, an Adidas boutique is situated not in the Sports Zone, but at the end of the Home Zone near Gourdo’s which specializes in dinnerware and kitchen accessories because, Maricris explains, "moms are as much into sports as they are into cooking and Adidas lets them dress up in sporty outfits for their kids’ soccer games or their own games."
Speaking of activities, ATC is known for its lineup of activities for the entire family. There are free tae-bo and belly-dancing classes (they tried tai-chi once but customers were bored by it; apparently suburban women like their activities with a lot more kick than imitating the direction of the wind). Ongoing for kids are the pony rides on weekends – ponies that were supposed to be up for auction until they proved to be such a hit with ATC customers.
"Generally Alabang is known for its outdoor feel," says Carol Torres-Mills, deputy general manager. "People like that about the mall. It has a nicer ambience, they feel much more comfortable and at home in this kind of open atmosphere."
For Christmas, ATC has lined up its usual extras – free concerts, fireworks and kids’ favorite, Thomas the Train. With foot traffic reaching 100,000 on weekdays and 30 percent more on weekends (a modest number compared to other, bigger malls in Metro Manila), the mall has surprisingly one of the highest return frequency of shoppers (nine times a month compared with the industry standard of four) and the highest spenders, too. "When you’re here at your leisure, you have time to have coffee, to have dinner, and to shop at your own pace."
People never seem so frenetic in this southern mall as they are in others. Then again, this is suburbia and being laid-back is a birthright.
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