Ayala Malls present early Christmas gifts
Concerts and fireworks to cheer up shoppers
MALLS ARE no longer just places to buy clothes, housewares, or food items, but are now the venues for a wider range of human activities including entertainment.
“Malls have evolved from shopping. Now they have church and wellness areas,” Rowena Tomeldan, Ayala Land, Inc (ALI) vicepresident and head of Ayala Malls Group, told BusinessWorld on Nov. 9 at The Gallery, Greenbelt 5 during the Ayala Mall’s Christmas events launch.
For the coming holiday season, the Ayala malls — Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma, UP Town Center, Alabang Town Center, Abreeza, Solenad, and Market! Market! — have curated sets of Christmas presentations for their mall goers. For instance, actor-singers Sam Milby and Piolo Pascual will have concerts on Nov. 27 at TriNoma and Dec. 2 at Market! Market!, respectively.
The Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra will play Christmas tunes for mall goers in a series of concerts at Market! Market! (Dec. 3), Greenbelt (Dec. 10), UP Town Center (Dec. 17), and Alabang Town Center (Dec. 18).
Until Dec. 18, The Gallery at Greenbelt 5 will host a Designers Bazaar which is meant for children and children-at-heart who want to create DIY Christmas decorations.
The Ayala Mall chapels will also hold Simbang Gabi or Midnight Masses on Dec. 15 to 24.
“We have put together activities that the whole family can enjoy together... It’s all about the customer experience,” added Ms. Tomeldan.
TriNoma and Alabang Town Center will hold their annual fireworks display on all weekends of December and on Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, ALI has acquired majority stake, 51%, in Prime Orion Philippines, Inc., (POPI) the owner and developer of Tutuban Center in Divisoria Manila, which is famed for its bargain shopping.
Jose Emmanuel H. Jalandoni, senior vicepresident of the Ayala Land, told Business
World during the event that the shopping center, which sits in a 20-hectare property, is in a prime location, especially when the North and South PNRs and LRT lines are set for improvement plans.
According to previous BusinessWorld reports, the North South Railway Project will have a 56-kilometer commuter rail from Tutuban to Calamba, Laguna, and a 478-km longhaul rail from Tutuban to Legazpi, Albay. Mr. Jalandoni said they would accommodate daily foot traffic of 500,000.
“Ayala is not just higher end. TriNoma and Market! Market! target the broader market, and I think Tutuban fits in that market,” he added.
Using ALI’s investments, POPI will convert the property into mixed-use developments, which will have “office buildings and hospital in the next couple of years,” said Mr. Jalandoni. —