MikeLigalig.com

Commentary: Mall giants
By Danny O. Sagun

Dagupan City (31 October 2008) -- The entry of mall giant SM in Pangasinan may be a welcome development for the people in general. But to local pioneers in the mall industry. It is sending an alarm.
CSI big boost Belen Fernandez admitted to newsmen during the Meet the Press forum of the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association (Patrima) at the Jolibee Lucao that the opening soon of an SM branch in Rosales poses a concern (read: threat) for her group as well as those of other business groups like Magic of former Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim and BHF of Balingits.

These three have been that bold and daring when they made 'malling' a fad here in this big province some two decades ago. Their respective business ventures had grown big they eventually branched out to other major towns in the province as well as in other places. They started with a medium size grocery or appliance store and soon after they built huge stores and eventually malls. Now you see CSI, Magic and BHF shopping centers dotting the four cities of Pangasinan and major towns.

With SM of the Sy family, now considered the richest in the country, invading the turf of our intrepid local mall pioneers, there is now the challenge whether they can really compete with a real giant.
Actually Gotesco almost made its presence felt right here in Dagupan City, the base of our three local mall pioneers. If not the financial pinch the Go family experienced during that Asian fiscal crisis during the last two years of FVR, a Manila-based retail giant would have entrenched itself here and made competition true to its meaning.
***
But does an outsider like SM really pose a threat to our locals?
We now recall the reaction of an SM PR girl when local press boys and girls met with her somewhere in Calasiao a few months ago for a get-to-know-you affair and asked her if her company was an anathema for the local players. Of course, she did not admit SM would be like that explaining that people tend to [patronize stores nearer to them, That is why SM has built branches in the province so that people would no longer to Manila, which CSI, Magic and BHF also did, putting up sores in various parts of the city and branching out to other towns.

The SM store in Rosales may attract people even from faraway places at its opening but very soon after shoppers would return to their favorite malls or supermarkets near them. That happened when NEPO on Arellano street opened some years ago. Heavy traffic ensued during its opening worrying our traffic men. They thought that scary traffic situation would go on forever. But after a week, things went back to normal. Shoppers have again gone to the various malls in the city and Nepo became just one of them.
It's now up to the locals to keep their customers around in spite of the presence of a new player, an outsider at that, in town. They can make their prices competitive-a few centavos less for every item is already a big come-on for many a customer. Why, a buyer from San Jacinto, for instance, would rather go to Mangaldan or Dagupan to avail of a few-centavo-discounts although his fare back and forth costs him actually more. That's our nature, we compare prices.
****

Some attractions (pakulo) also draw customers. Raffles, bargain sales, free concerts, with popular movie and TV personalities in tow, etc. keep customers happy. Of course, keeping the place tidy, neat and air-conditioned, and with enough parking places are the other ingredients being sought by buyers, shoppers, and plain sightseers (others, nagpapalamig lang).
Still, the concern of our local players vis-à-vis the opening of that SM branch in Rosales cannot be taken for granted. To think that the three pioneers have helped Dagupan and the entire province in many aspects—revenue generation, employment, infrastructure, redefined landascape, etc.-is enough reason for us Pangasinenses to feel biased and protective toward them. (PIA-Pangasinan)

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=82513.0