It’s a “Mall” world after all
Photo by Stitch
Especially here in the Philippines! Why do I say this? Well, in a recent news article that I read, the Nielsen Media Research reported that around 80 percent of the Philippines population go to shopping centers and around 36 million visit shopping plazas once or twice a month. This in spite of the fact that 40 percent of the country’s 90 million people live on less than 100 pesos a day.
The article continues with the report that we have the 3 of the world’s 10 largest malls, 2 of them in Manila, and going to the mall is such a regular activity that “malling” has become a commonly used verb in our vocabulary.
I’m sure you’ll all agree that malling is almost like part of our bloodstream. Even here in Answers, I see some mall rats asking and answering questions related to malls and malling. Pikoi06 asked the community if it’s true that the 3rd largest mall in the world is in the Philippines. Trojan answered him comprehensively by sharing that the SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the third largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross floor size. In short, it’s huge! It’s so big they actually rent out golf carts to shoppers for their convenience.
One of the things I noticed is that most of the questions about malls centered on favorites. Of course it’s a very subjective topic yet it’s exciting to find out what someone’s favorite mall is and why. BokBok asked this to the community and we had a number of people naming various malls and sharing why that was their fave. Personally, I really like Glorietta and Greenbelt because it’s very accessible and everything that you need seems to be there.
Vbcarina, who was planning a trip to the Philippines, asked what malls do teenagers usually go to for shopping and princess gave her some tips on some bargain places to get great buys. Bruce4peralta on the other hand asked what the community thinks is the best shopping mall in the land. Vibrant_girl got the best answer, and it’s not just one mall because she explained how various malls have different specialties so there’s really a list of “best” malls (that’s how mall-crazy Pinoys are, hehehe).
It’s the weekend already so I’m guessing most of you have made some plans, maybe dine out with the family, gimmick with your friends, date with your significant other, maybe watch a movie, or maybe you plan to do a little shopping since it’s payday today. Whatever the activity, my guess is this will be done in one of the malls. If that’s the case, maybe we’ll bump into each other because I’m planning to drop by the mall too, hehehe! Happy weekend everyone and happy malling!
basing to our previous visit to the philippines, by curiosity we observed the people while at the same time buying some necessary things for our short visit.
in fact like you said 80% are going to the malls but not everybody are doing their shopping. in fact all sort of people are present in the mall itself, mainly those pickpockets which i almost got done. some of these people are there since they have nothing to do else but stair to people, no jobs no activities, what else they can do but visits the malls. others they go to refresh themselves since it is airconed, while others visits plaza’s.
in europe we do a lot of window shops before buying things, we compare prices we discuss with friends, we canvass who is the best shop for cheap prices.
maybe if we come home next year we might be interested to visits between plaza’s like you said and malls if prices are more interesting, i noticed that some shops has the same price as europe and when we think about it analyzing the salary it doesn’t correspond to the prices, life is lower compare to the prices of things. has to be updated base to the life level of the country of course if they want to sale.
Malls as far as I am concerned gives much of us filipinos FIRST a temporary relief from the reality outside the mall. Free TV always discuss politics, entertainment, war, crime, often mentioned in the media that the country is poor, etc. Malls gave us a little bit of the feel and environment we often see in foreign movies, TV, Foreign magazine etc. For example when my cousin who was based in Singapore came home for a visit and we met in the Mall of Asia and she commented that it was like the Malls in Singapore (would you agree?). Second it is convenient to window shop or purchase in airconditioned comfort rather that the hot and humid weather in the Philippines like in Divisoria or Escolta.
Notice how people at the malls in the Philippines usually carry one bag of stuff or in most cases no bag at all. That’s because most people go to the malls to hang out, window shopping and eat and that’s about it. It gives people an opportunity to dream about things they can (or cannot) afford
I hardly even see people at malls carrying an adidas store plastic bag or something, they’re always empty handed 
It’s a “Mall” world after all…
“Especially here in the Philippines! Why do I say this? Well, in a recent news article that I read, the Nielsen Media Research reported that around 80 percent of the Philippines population go to shopping centers and around 36 million visit shopping …
@dessie lopez - Thanks for sharing this Dessie.
I agree with you, the malls in the Philippines can serve different purposes for different people. Although many people frequent the malls, just a few actually shop, most of them I think go there to eat and cool off, especially on the weekends. It’s a common practice here as well to window shop first before buying anything, just to be sure we get the best value for our money. Next time you visit, make sure you drop by the different malls here. Not sure which ones you got to see already but in the south of Metro Manila, you have Alabang Town Center, Festival Super Mall, and SM Sucat, in Makati you have Glorietta, Greenbelt, Landmark and SM, in Pasig/Mandaluyong you have SM Mega Mall, Podium, Shangri-la Mall, and Robinson’s Galleria while up north you have SM City and Trinoma.
@Ian Endangan - I agree with your thoughts Ian. Although Pinoys would brave the heat to shop for bargains in Divisoria, they go to air-con malls to enjoy the ambiance and comfort the place offers. I agree with your cousin that the malls here in Singapore are very similar to ours although siyempre, iba pa rin ang sa atin, hehehe.
@Joe - Hi Joe, I believe we all agree with that. That’s why there’s so many restaurants, fast food joints and food carts in our malls, because people usually go here to eat. In fact, I understand some malls make sure there’s a restaurant in every floor so that it will drive people to check out the different areas of the malls. Of course people still go shopping (that’s why malls are always jam-packed when there are midnight sales) but it’s not the top of the list of activities why people go to the malls.