*SM City North Edsa: World's third biggest mall and biggest in RP* The world's third biggest shopping mall is scheduled to open in Quezon city tomorrow, a vote of confidence in the economic prospects of the Philippines amid a global economic crisis, its owners said yesterday.
The launch of the 90,000-square-meter annex will make SM City North Edsa mall the third biggest in the world with a gross floor area of 425,000 square meters, SM Prime Holding Inc. said in a statement. The company, a holding firm of the country's richest Henry Sy, also owns the world's fourth, seventh, and 11th biggest malls. SM Prime, which recently opened two other malls, will also open today a mall in Baliwag, Bulacan. The launching comes as the onset of the Christmas season and the decline in fuel and food prices have tempered pessimism among Filipino families, according to results of the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey. Consumer confidence in the country, while remaining negative, improved -40.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared with -52.8 percent in the third. ******** THE Philippines earned that title of having the world's third-largest shopping mall with the addition of The Annex shopping mall within the SM City North Edsa, With new feature will give 90,000 square meters of added gross floor area (GFA) to the main mall. As a result, SM City North Edsa expands to 425,000 square meters (sq. m), surpassing the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, which has a GFA of 407,000 sq m. Henry Sy-led SM Prime Holdings (SMPH) spent around P1.4 billion to build The Annex, which is scheduled for soft opening today. "Our expansion of SM North Edsa is reminiscent of its ambitious beginnings. Back in 1985, it was the largest and the only mall of its kind with a GFA of 120,000 sq m. It was launched at a very challenging period in the country's political history. This year, amidst serious global challenges, we open The Annex. This speaks of how we view the longer-term prospects of the country," said SMPH president Hans T. Sy. Based on the study earlier made by the Eastern Connecticut State University, ranked number one as the world's biggest mall is South China Mall with a GFA of 660.000 square meters and operated by Dong Guan China. At second place is Jin Yuan, located in Beijing, with 560,000 sq m. The other malls of the Sy group like the SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall and SM Cebu, corner the fourth, seventh and eleventh rankings, respectively, in the list of the world's biggest malls. The Annex at SM North Edsa consists of six floors and a basement area, 70 percent of which has already been awarded to various tenants. Its major tenants include SaveMore Supermarket, Ace Hardware and an SM Cyberzone which is the venue of the BusinessMirror-sponsored third Philippine Sudoku Super Challenge to be held on January 31, 2009. It is estimated that the opening of The Annex at SM North Edsa will provide employment to close to 3,000 people which includes direct and indirect employees. In 2009, SM North Edsa expects the opening of Skygarden, which offers another exciting and environmental element to the mall complex. SMPH is spending around P10 billion as capital expenditure next year, bulk of which will fund the building of malls both here and abroad. *More high end shops and restos to open at SM Annex! at the Philippines' Largest Mall, SM North Edsa! Under Renovation *Main Building Future Renovation *Cyberzone Building Soon to open Anchors *IMAX Theater *Sky Garden Bringing SM North's gross floor area to 500, 000 sq. m by the end of 2009.* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gimik" group. To post to this group, send email to gimik@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to gimik+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/gimik?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
