SM Hypermarket opens
SM Hypermarket opened in Mandaue City yesterday its 26th outlet. A top official of the company said they will be opening four more Hypermarkets this year. SM Hypermarket external vice president Robert Kwee said in a media briefing yesterday that the opening of the SM Hypermarket Cebu is “a testament of the company’s optimism in Cebu’s economy and its people.” He said the Cebuanos’ purchasing power, although different from residents of Manila and Davao, is “good” and the company itself is optimistic that this new concept of retail would do well here. Thriving Kwee said Cebu’s economy is thriving, which is why they decided to pour in investments such as malls and hypermarkets here. “We are bringing our retail outlets closer to the community,” he said. The SM Hypermarket operations started in 2011 in response to the consumers’ “need for a holistic shopping experience.” The company said the new retail format, which is known as a “hypermarket retail format,” is to combine the features of a supermarket with those of a department store. The aim is to provide the consumer with a one-stop shop where most shopping needs will be satisfied “all in one go.” SM Investment Corp. (SMIC) converted underperforming warehouse club branches of subsidiary Pilipinas Makro Inc. into SM Hypermarkets. SM Hypermarket Cebu which was the former Makro Mandaue, sits on a 7,000 square meter shopping area that houses about 70,000 items. Apart from the huge grocery area, the shopping center also houses a drugstore, food court, hardware, home solutions and bills payment. With the opening of the SM Hypermarket here, Ricardo Castro, regional operations manager of SM Hypermarket said they are confident to grow by 25 percent to 30 percent for their ho-re-ca (hotel-restaurant-canteen) category, the main strength of the store, because of Cebu’s booming tourism industry. Retail “This store will give Cebu market ease and convenience when shopping,” Castro said. He emphasized that the hypermarket is a retail store. SM Hypermarket Cebu is the second hypermarket in the Visayas after Iloilo. Kwee said that company plans to open another hypermarket in Cebu at J Mall on A.S. Fortuna St., Banilad sometime this year. J Mall is the first mixed-used development venture of Everjust Realty Development Corp., a family corporation headed by Justin Uy, founder and president of Profood International Corp. The SM Hypermarket would the anchor tenant of the mall. The other three hypermarkets that will open this year will be in Metro Manila. Expected investment for each new hypermarket is at an average of P100 to P200 million, according to Kwee. SMIC’s retail group grew by seven percent or P31 billion in sales for the first quarter this year. Its net income for the period amounted to P913 million. SM Retail opened three new stores in the first three months this year bringing its total to 142 stores, consisting of 40 department stores for the non-food group; 102 for the non-food group, of which there were 30 supermarkets, 43 SaveMore branches, 25 hypermarkets and four Makro outlets. Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 20, 2011. |