SM City Manila : Supermall in the Heart of the City

My family and I really love to go to the malls. We shop around, eat, relax and unwind and we often find ourselves wandering to farther places just to visit new malls. Recently, we decided to head out to the city of Manila and visited one of the most prominent malls in that area which is the SM City Manila. As part of the SM Supermalls, probably the best malls in the Philippines, SM City Manila boasts several offerings to its visitors. Let me share to you what we have observed.

One of the most important things for a mall is its accessibility to the public. Does it have easy access to public transportation? Is it near main thoroughfares? Can car owners easily navigate to and from the mall? SM City Manila is located in the heart of Manila and you can easily see it when you're near the Manila City Hall. Thus, jeepneys, buses and taxis are abundant. If you're not familiar with the area, you'll probably make a wrong turn somewhere if you're driving. So be careful and follow the arrows to the mall.

Let's talk about the parking space. There is a carpark building however, it's not as big as the humungous carpark building of SM North EDSA. It most likely allows hundreds of cars though but the driveways and the corners are narrow and if drivers aren't careful enough, collisions could happen.

Let's move on the more important stuff. Shopping in SM City Manila is very much the same as any of the other SM Supermalls. It has a department store, Cyberzone for gadgets and electronics, supermarket for your groceries and lots of other specialty shops located all over the 6 floors of the building. You'll find almost anything from clothes to car accessories and toys.

Dining won't be a problem since throughout the mall, there are fast food chains, fine dining restaurants and food stalls scattered around. And of course, an SM Supermall will not be complete without the SM Food Court where you can see different establishments offering different types of foods. You'll also find amenities such as the SM Cinemas and the amusement center.

We've noticed something that is possibly quite alarming though. There are a lot of shops, especially on the top floors, that have closed. Some of them has signs that a new shop would open soon however, most of them simply just closed due to bad business. We went there on a weekend which was supposed to be quite a busy time in a mall. But we were actually surprised to see very few people. The odd part here is that there isn't any competition from any mall with the vicinity. The place is near a very huge residential area and is it practically beside the Manila City Hall where a lot of people go to and pass through. The nearest big mall is most likely Robinson's Place which is still significantly far from SM City Manila to be a direct competitor..

In any case, SM City Manila is a good place to relax and unwind. Most importantly, it's nice to shop around. But I hope they'd plan how to attract more people so that the shops won't have to close down because they're not earning. As for me, I'd still go back there if I have the chance.

Source:
Wikipedia '" SM City Manila7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_City_Manila