The SM experience in Guam

I first visited the Philippines in the ‘80s, and since then I’ve been fortunate enough to return countless times, and to live there for a while. It’s always a pleasure to visit the country.

I love shopping, but I don’t always get to do enough of it in Guam. I’m the publisher at a leading communications company in the Micronesia region, and somehow my time disappears. We publish five publications — two for the business market, two lifestyle publications, and one for the military market, not to mention specialty publications and other projects. When I travel — whether it’s to London where we also have a home, New York or Manila, I carve out some time for shopping.

Henry Sy began his retail and property empire as a seller of shoes, and Shoemart still carries a reference to that in the group’s name. Obviously, any woman who goes into SM can’t help but be drawn to buying shoes, and I’m no different. I’ve also learned that, if I like a shoe style, I buy more than one pair in different colors or finishes — it’s more efficient for me if I only have a day or so to shop.

But I confess: I’ve a weakness for SM bed linen and I always bring back some. And on my recent visit I also bought seven pairs of jeans for my husband. You can get them tailored in-store to the required length very quickly — that’s rare these days.

There’s an SM now in Las Piñas where I lived in the ‘90s, and an even bigger store in Mall of Asia, but my Filipino friends know my favorite store is SM Makati.

I do sometimes get out of Manila when I’m in the Philippines — it’s pleasant to take a leisurely drive that ends with lunch — but I was born and grew up in London, so I’m happy to spend most of my time in Manila.

Guam has come a long way in terms of its retail offerings and malls, but obviously large populations and big cities like Manila, plus steady streams of tourists, allow stores like SM to flourish.

It’s the choice as well for prices that are attractive, and some of its specialty offerings. In the past few years we have started to see English chocolate in Guam, too, but not as many lines as I find in Manila, so I’ll usually check out the chocolate kiosk when I’m in the SM mall.

Given the chance, I prefer to walk to SM from wherever my Manila engagement takes place, rather than take a taxi. I hardly walk in Guam. The pedestrian walkways in Manila are relatively new, and make it easier. I’ve been to Manila a couple of times to attend conferences; work comes first, but I’ve also managed to introduce a few first-time visitors to the store.

Now we have an SM in Guam (I’ve bought bed linen there, too). The store is not as big as some, but it is light and airy and seems at home in the Agana Shopping Center, where it is the key department store. I chatted briefly with Henry Sy at the opening of the SM store. His pride in Guam’s SM — a project with obvious personal significance — was evident. The store also donated some of its proceeds to the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross at the VIP opening — tough not to shop with that incentive!

The Sys have maintained investments in Guam when it hasn’t always been easy, so the island community is grateful to them for that. They also do not publicize their donations to the community, though I think it’s known they support the University of Guam. And I was asked to personally interview friends of the Sys in Guam — Ken Jones and Bob Jones — for an upcoming book about the life of Henry Sy. The relationships between the two families continue. It’s always a pleasure to visit with the Joneses, who are pretty instrumental in the development of Guam in a variety of fields. During the interview, I learned a lot about those early days, and Henry Sy and his involvement in the commercial history of Guam. We should talk to our elders and hear how it was when times were hard, and they were all starting out, and what chances they took.

And the Sy children are very friendly — Elizabeth is the one actively involved in their businesses in Guam — and it’s always nice to see them; they are upstanding citizens of their country and contribute a lot to Guam, too. The members of the second generation are pretty much involved in the group now. It seems to me that each of them has developed his or her careers within the group in line with their own interests.

But I’m really grateful to them for that irresistible bed linen.

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Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Publications, which publishes Guam Business, the Marianas Business Journal, Marine Drive Magazine, Beach Road Magazine and R&R Pacific.