SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, developed by SM Prime Holdings on a 42-hectare reclaimed site along Manila Bay and opened in 2006, is one of the largest retail and entertainment complexes in Southeast Asia, integrating a shopping mall, arena, convention centre, and waterfront esplanade into a single destination that functions as a commercial and social hub for Metro Manila’s 13 million residents. The SM Mall of Asia Arena, a 15,000-seat venue hosting international concerts, NBA exhibition games, and major sporting events, and the SMX Convention Center, the Philippines’ primary venue for international trade exhibitions and conferences, generate consistent traffic independent of retail missions. The MoA Eye observation wheel and the bayfront Esplanade with outdoor dining and an amusement park extend the property’s function into evening and leisure hours. The EDSA Carousel and ferry connections to Cavite province give the property regional catchment extending well beyond the National Capital Region.
IKEA Philippines, whose 65,000 square metre flagship directly connected to the MoA complex is the largest IKEA store in the world, anchors the home furnishings and lifestyle goods category and drives substantial destination traffic from across Luzon. The SM Store anchors the department store floor. SM Hypermarket anchors the grocery and daily-needs category. SM Appliance Center anchors the consumer electronics and home appliance category. Jollibee, KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, BreadTalk, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Krispy Kreme give the property a comprehensive international and Philippine F&B floor. Bench and Penshoppe, the Philippine-founded fast fashion brands, give the property a locally-rooted fashion identity alongside H&M, Mango, Zara, Uniqlo, Bershka, and Pull&Bear. Chris Sports, Toby’s Sports, and Sports Central serve the Philippine sporting goods categories. Watsons anchors the pharmacy and personal care category. Muji and Miniso give the property Japanese minimalist and value lifestyle identities.
What distinguishes SM Mall of Asia from a conventional Philippine mall is this stacking of functions on one bayfront site: shoppers come for the SM Store and IKEA, concertgoers and sports fans come for the Arena, conference delegates come for the SMX Centre, and evening visitors come for the Esplanade and the MoA Eye, giving Pasay City and the wider Metro Manila household several distinct reasons to visit that rarely coincide at a single Philippine property.
