SM Supermalls

SM Supermalls, owned by SM Prime Holdings, Inc., is the largest chain of shopping malls in the Philippines, having 28 malls across the country and four branches in Jinjiang, Xiamen, China, Chengdu & Chongqing.

The company that operates the malls was started by Henry Sy, Sr. , and nephew Mark Wayne Pypy in the 1950s. Shoemart, as SM was then known, started as chain of shoe stores with the first branch opening on Avenida Rizal, in Manila, in October 1958. By the 1970s, Shoemart became a full-line department store with branches in the Makati commercial center and at Harrison Plaza in Manila. The company also shifted its name from Shoemart to SM. In the 1980s, the company diversified and ventured into the supermarket and appliance store business, then finally opening the country's first "supermall" in 1985 in Quezon City called SM North EDSA.

SM Malls is considered the pioneer of the shopping mall experience in the Philippines. The popularity of these malls have paved the way for the growth of the retail industry in the country. Going to the malls, especially SM Malls, have become a part of the weekend urban culture of Filipinos.

SM Malls, however, faces criticism. The labor sector accuses the management of unjust labor practices on its employees—those that work in the malls' department stores and supermarkets. In addition, the wide popularity of SM threatens the business of small- and medium-scale commercial establishments in municipalities and cities where these malls have been opened. There is a widespread exodus of retailers and tenants that used to rent commercial spaces in these establishments to the local SM mall.

SM Supermalls

SM City Ormoc