Friday, October 10, 2008

Top 5 Biggest Philippine Malls

Filipinos love for "malling" is fast becoming our way of life. It doesn't matter if we come to malls to splurge on goodies we love or just to sit by the benches and watch people walk by, going to malls has become a Filipino identity. So it is no surprise that some of the biggest malls in the world are found here in our country. And to think we're 3rd world! Oh yeah, I forgot. We were upgraded to 2nd World (read article here).


So here's the list of the Philippines most gargantuan shopping malls...

1. SM Mall of Asia (2006) - All Filipinos know that MOA is the largest mall in the Philippines. Although there have been so many questions if it is indeed the largest mall in Asia...well, no. It is 3rd largest mall both in the world and in Asia because the two largest malls in the world are found in China. So yup, it is the biggest mall in Southeast Asia!!! It has a total floor area of 407,101 sq m. I love MOA simply becuase it is true to SM's slogan "We got it all for you!". I love its clean white interiors and how it is so spacious even at its peak days!

2. SM City North EDSA (1985) - the first ever supermall in the Philippines is also the mall closest to my heart becuase this was where my family and I go to almost everyweek when I was little. I practically know where every shop is at SM North. Tagged as the flagship of SM Malls, it has a total floor area of 351,861 sq m. But wait, if you've been passing along EDSA or North Avenue this past few days, you'd surely notice that it is undergoing renovation. Rumors has it that by the time of its reopening, it will be the biggest mall in the Philippines! Beating the record set by MOA. By its completion, it would have a GFA of 460,000 sq m! Currently though, it is the 6th largest mall in the world.

3. SM Megamall (1991) - located in the busy business district of Ortigas is the Philippines' bronze medalist in the race for the biggest mall... the SM Megamall. I remember it to be the talk of the town when it was completed June of 1991. Above anything, it boasts of the first ever ice skating rink in the country. I remember when I was younger, me & my cousins would always beg our parents to take us to Megamall just to glide in the icy rink (when I say glide that means walking with the support of handrails and slipping every other minute...haha) . With a GFA of 331,679 sq m, it is the 7th largest mall in the world.

4. SM City Cebu (1993) - Queen city of the South would not let their most precious mall be left out of this list. Currently the 11th biggest mall in the world, SM City Cebu was opened Novemeber of 1993. After its redevelopment in 2007, the mall now has a GFA of 268,611 sq m. It was also one of the first Philippine malls to have an IMAX theater. I remember that the first and last time I went to SM Cebu was when I was 7 years old and becuase there was an Ice skating rink inside it, that was what I enjoyed the most about the mall. I was young, what can I say?

5. Robinsons Midtown (1997) - formerly known as Robinsons Place or RP as me & my friends call it, the lone non-SM mall in the list is the 240,00 sq m wonder loacted at Ermita, Manila. It is currently the largest Robinsons Mall in the Philippines after the addition of its Midtown wing. The record of the biggest Robinsons mall was formerly held by Robinsons Galleria at EDSA. The first time I've been here was when I was in college already and I would have never learned about it if not for my friends. I've got to say that its Midtown wing is really nice because it is spacious and I love my space when I'm walking inside a mall. Although, I am open for discussion if somebody would contest that Glorietta is the fifth largest mall in the Philippines. I was not able to get the exact GFA of Glorietta, that's why.



Just in case you would be asking me about Berjaya Times Square in Malaysia (dubbed as the biggest mall in SEA), here's my explanation. BTS is a mall and a residential building in one and if we would compare MOA's GFA to the GFA of the mall in BTS, MOA is much bigger. Berjaya only has 320,000 sq m... not even close...
Figures from Forbes, ECSU and wikipedia

By Joe with 24 comments

24 feedbacks:

how about Filinvest (festival mall)? hindi pasok?

wala akong update for two days ata kasi medyo masama ang pakiramdam ko.

this is an informative post! great idea. with matching pictures pa. I agree na SM's slogan "WE GOT IT ALL FOR YOU!" sm ang pinakapaborito ko.

thanks for another informative post! keep it up and goodluck palagi!

3 of the SM malls you stated here were part of the world's largest shopping malls, according to one site that I had visited.

ay sya nga pala yung mga blog roll links mo medyo mali yung ibang syntax sumobra sa http://, sana may time ka na ma fix. thanks :)

@ glad: no, almost but not quite.

@ claire: haha. Thanks for the comment...

@ redlan: since google awarded me with a PR i don't think I deserve, I'll just take it as a challenge to post more good contents on this site. Sana nga lang mapanindigan ko yung PR 3 ko...

@ Jaycee: I'm gald you told me about that, nagpalit kasi ako ng template and i was kinda in a hurry to replace my blogroll. I've already fixed that now, though...

come on. lahat deserving sa award na yan. kaya goodluck and keep it up!

yeahhhh i agree.. moa is bigger than the BTS...

kosa here
thanks for visiting my site

hey! great pictures of the malls...my co-worker said she lost her way when she went to SM and got tired finding the exit. hehehe...

yeah, i've just published my new post so you can catch it later..hehehe...

beautyandshop

SAM :) asan ba tagboard mo hindi ko makita hahahah :))

Hey, I love this post.

Care for a link exchange with The Asian Traveler? Let me know. Thanks. :)

masarap balikan ang mga panahong mga musmos pa tayo. mahilig ka pla mag malling sa megamall.

i like going to malls... but i'd like it even more if i had enough money to buy watever i want there :D haha

@ redlan: haha. salamat...

@ kosa: do come back again

@ saem: will be anticipating that...

@ sam: wala akong tagboard eh, kamusta na ang buhay?

@ asian traveler: sure, why not?

@ st. charles: oo naman. nostalgic post nga toh eh...

@ lily: tell you a secret. i have a dream of going to a mall and spending a large amount of money in one day!!! dream lang naman yun... pero sana magkatotoo...LOL

Wow! The biggest Mall-place I've been to would be Bluewater which is in Kent... I've just had a look on wikipedia, and it's floor area is 154,000 metres squared - not quite as big as some of the malls you were talking about lol. Thanks for answering my questions by the way - I'll keep the stuff you said about the wigdets in mind(: xox

you should check out the blog of this dude - www.bisean.blogspot.com because he is arguing that the biggest malls in southeast asia are the berjaya times square in malaysia and the siam paragon in bangkok!

totoo kaya?

WOW!!!

ayos kuya...

yan ang palatandaan na di pa talaga ganon kahirap ang Pinas, nasa atin ang ilan sa mga pinakamalalaking mall sa buong earth..

ahehe..

salamat po pala sa pagdalaw sa aking Pink ng blog...

Wow blue ang blog mo...
JS prom po tayong dalawa *joke*

pwede pong magexlink? ahehe *sabay ganon*

@ abbie: glad you stopped by. do come back, ok

@ the spool artist: i don't wanna argue about it since forbes already published this report. MOA is clearly at number 3 of the world's biggest mall...

Thank you for visiting my site, though

@ marlene: that's what I thoguht too when I saw your pink blog. Puwede tayong magpartner sa JS. LOLx. Ex-link? Ayoko nga! JOKE lang. Sure I'll add you up.

sm north edsa is close to my heart too. my aunt was a home owner of philam homes so sm north is the nearest mall to the house were i grew up in. you could just stand outside our gate and you will see the main building of sm.

daming malls sa pinas no? :)

ikutin kaya natin lahat ng mall sa Pinas, from south to north? what u think? hehehe

very informative...glad to know these things...at mdalas ko pala napupuntahan tong mga ito...saya! :)

@ michy: actaully, yung mga lola ko is somewhat close to SM North too, kaya everytime we visit them, I knew we they would be dropping us at the mall for a quick stroll.

@ Marcopolo: that's a good idea. problem is i have nof unds for that yet. LOL. poor kid...

@ edelweiza: buti ka pa. My work being on night shift, restricts my malling :-(

cool! thanks for the list. and i never knew that philippines is already a second world country.

You're right that we love going to mall and even without buying anything we can go there just to relax or for pleasure. I am wondering how SM Cebu and Robinson's Midtown looks because I'm not been there ever since so my plan now is going to that place and see in personal why these malls are perfect to be in top 5. Thanks for sharing this.

shopping mall in Philippines – where you can shop all you want