On October 1958, Henry Sy, Sr. established the first Shoemart store in downtown Manila thinking that “If I could sell a pair of shoes to every Filipino, I would be a successful man.”
He did much more than that. The shoe store he established grew into a department store that has become part of the lives of many Filipinos, then into retail stores that serve niche markets like supermarkets, home stores, toy superstores. In 1985, Mr. Sy established the first SM mall, SM City North-EDSA that led the way to the malling phenomenon in the Philippines. Today, SM’s 31 malls have become gathering places where people shop together, eat together, have fun together.
SM has since gone into other businesses like banking, real estate and tourism development. But shopping remains a great passion for many Filipinos, and as SM celebrates its anniversary month this October, we share with you 50 years of great shopping.