Showing posts with label SM Prime Holdings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SM Prime Holdings. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
The New ‘My SM’: How the Filipino Consumer Is Redefining the Mall Experience
Customers continue to be the transformation driver for SM Supermalls.
Following undisrupted foot traffic and positive business performance in the first half of 2026, the mall operating arm of SM Prime Holdings Inc. has noted three key factors that maintained market interest despite scaled consumption patterns earlier in the year.
"Filipinos kept showing up for family, passions, and the moments that matter," said Steven Tan, President of SM Supermalls. "SM remained a trusted constant, creating more ways to celebrate, connect, play, and discover, while evolving alongside how Filipinos now live. That is the heart of 'My SM' - evolving alongside our customers so every mall feels personal, inclusive, and built around what they love most."
Expanded and Reinvented Spaces
Above image: Pickleball dominates the sports landscape as SM Supermalls rapidly expands its nationwide courts to meet booming consumer demand.
In the first half of the year, SM cemented its status as the country’s largest mall-based pickleball destination, expanding its network to 86 courts across 29 malls. Driven by surging market interest in active lifestyles, SM Supermalls and the SM Active Hub continue to scale up facilities nationwide while hosting community events like the inaugural SM Active Hub Pickleball Trio Challenge, culminating in its July 2026 Grand Finals.
Above image: The new SM Seaside Cebu Arena elevates the Visayas entertainment scene as a world-class venue capable of hosting up to 25,000 guests.
Additionally, customers continually sought new and exciting entertainment concepts. With the launch of the SM Seaside Cebu Arena, the Visayan market has been enhanced with a new world-class entertainment venue that can host up to 25,000 guests. Rising worldwide act and Filipino pop girl group BINI inaugurated the launch.
SM Cinemas has also captured a revitalized market of movie-goers amid back-to-back blockbuster and sleeper hits from both big-name studios and indie production houses. The launch of its exclusive ScreenX format late last year provided local movie-goers with a unique and immersive cinematic experience that hosted 2026’s anticipated movies such as Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash, most recent sought-after screening being Spider-Man: Brand-New Day.
Above image: The country’s first SM Sensory Lab offers a safe and welcoming environment for mallgoers navigating sensory processing challenges.
Meanwhile purpose-driven concepts introduced a revolutionary approach to utilizing mall spaces. With the inaugural launch of the SM Sensory Lab done in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), SM has created a safe environment for mallgoers and visitors struggling with sensory processing challenges.
Above image: Mallgoers utilize SM’s nationwide Electric Vehicle Charging Stations for greener transit alternatives.
To further support the country’s pursuit of sustainable and modern transportation alternatives amid the fuel crisis, SM has also expanded its nationwide network of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations with 100% coverage across its 90 malls.
From sensory-friendly spaces to green transit, these reinvented facilities reflect how "My SM" is designed to accommodate every shopper’s unique needs and values.
Reimagined Customer Experiences
To meet growing customer appetite for first-in-market and unique food experiences, SM continually elevated its Food Hall concepts nationwide, promoting regional fare and local food businesses through high-foot traffic dining spaces.
Above image: Food lovers enjoy unique culinary concepts and elevated dining spaces at SM Aura’s newly reimagined Food Hall.
SM also expanded market access to global and local brands through a variety of new and exclusive food and retail launches.
Madrid’s famous San Ginés Chocolatería in SM Podium, Super Matcha in SM Megamall and Candid Coffee in SM Mall of Asia captured growing market demand for cafés and confectionary offerings. Additionally, the introduction of international clothing icons icons Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister expanded access for local fashionistas to fresh and trendy outfit options.
By bringing global brands and curated local food concepts to neighborhood hubs, SM ensures that "My SM" is as much a personalized lifestyle destination as it is a shopping center.
Enhanced Market Engagement
Above image: SM Supermalls drives massive social engagement with tens of millions of views through its interactive "Gala to the Max" campaign.
With the launch of its "Gala to the Max" campaign, SM sought to engage mallgoers by empowering them as storytellers, driving massive social engagement with tens of millions of video views. 
Above image: Geeks and anime enthusiasts live out their passions with exclusive interactive pop-ups at Animazing North’s 6th edition.
Pop culture fans and enthusiasts lived out their passions with exclusive pop-ups executed across SM Malls, such as the Pokémon Center pop-up in SM Mall of Asia and Animazing North’s 6th edition, featuring an interactive installation for Solo Leveling.
Reinforcing its role as a hub for cultural exchange, SM Mall of Asia hosted the NHCP’s HistoEx 2026 in celebration of Buwan ng Kasaysayan. The three-day exposition brought history to life through interactive exhibits, public lectures, and immersive installations celebrating the country’s maritime heritage.
Above image: Runners take over EDSA for the Galaxy Manila Marathon, one of SM Active Hub’s major fitness events.
SM also supported active lifestyles through its SM Active Hub exclusive events, with tens of thousands of participants filling the streets for major running events like the Galaxy Manila Marathon on EDSA and the SM2SM race in Cebu.
Whether running a marathon on EDSA, celebrating fandoms, or creating viral content, shoppers are actively shaping their own "My SM" moments and sharing them with the community.
Above image: Bringing new retail and lifestyle experiences to Mindanao, SM Zamboanga officially welcomed shoppers in Q1 2026.
The mall operator launched SM Zamboanga as its latest retail property in Mindanao in the first quarter and plans to cap off 2026 with the opening of its upscale mall in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa before the year’s end.
As Filipino lifestyle habits continue to move toward wellness, connection, and meaningful experiences, SM Supermalls continues to adapt—giving every Filipino a space they can truly call "My SM."
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Sun‑Powered Spaces: How SM Is Transforming Malls into Energy Hubs
To reduce congestion to the power grid and improve power availability to the communities it serves, SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) has implemented the use of rooftop solar power systems across its properties and nationwide network of SM Supermalls.
Since its pioneering installation of solar panels over SM North EDSA in 2014, clean solar energy generated through SM is now large enough to power a city as large as Mabalacat, Pampanga or Mandaue, Cebu.
“The use of solar power enables SM Supermalls to elevate the service we provide to our customers by embedding sustainability into our daily operations,” said SM Supermalls President Steven Tan. “When Filipinos visit their most-loved SM malls, they are entering a space that actively helps preserve the environment through responsible resource management, reducing carbon emissions while ensuring more resources remain available for our surrounding communities.”
Maximizing space makes room for energy efficiency
SM currently utilizes 65 hectares of space for its rooftop solar panels—which is almost as big as the entire SM Mall of Asia complex, but has also applied innovative ways to maximize mall space for energy efficiency.
SM Group now generates the largest capacity of clean energy among property developers in the Philippines
Across the SM Mall of Asia's MOA Sky, solar panels have been seamlessly integrated into the walkway that wraps around the property—doubling as overhead covering for mallgoers strolling and enjoying leisurely walks.
By utilizing this space, SM generates enough power to run 1,000 escalators a day or power 1,800 homes for a month.
Another innovative application of means to harness solar power can be found in SM City Bicutan's solar-powered parasols decorating its Sky Garden. The understated use of the solar-powered parasols not only add to the Sky Garden's ambience but also provides functional use as nighttime lighting for customers of surrounding establishments.
The parasols efficiently provide five hours of nighttime lighting for only three hours of daytime charge, effectively reducing the need to use electricity throughout the evening until the mall's closing time.
"Our approach to building malls that satisfy our customers and stakeholders go beyond giving them what is expected. We believe it is up to us to be proactive in enriching the mall-going experiences of Filipinos by investing in seamless, sustainable solutions that allow us to preserve natural resources for many years to come," said Tan.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Take small steps for big change: SM Waste-Free Future illustrates doable actions for a cleaner, greener planet.
Becoming part of the solution toward better waste management practices has been made easier by SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) with The SM Waste-Free Future (WFF) Manual.
Launched at SM’s first Sustainability Expo, the 17-page visual guide offers a simple and easy-to-follow resource on how everyone can engage with waste management touchpoints available in their most-loved SM Supermalls.
"The easiest way to adopt sustainable practices is a two-pronged approach," said SM Supermalls Vice President for Corporate Compliance and Sustainability, Liza Silerio. "The first is building the avenues that make waste management accessible and easy to do. The second is ensuring that these are easy habits to build and practice in our daily lives.”
The manual combines text and visuals to enhance the "Learn - Practice - Champion" workflow, a three-step approach to make these practices easy to adapt and eventually pass on, with additional green tips and trivia. Understanding how even small, thoughtful steps can make a huge difference is key to helping reduce waste sent to landfills.
Back to Basics
To further understand the composition of our waste, SM Prime led a Waste Analysis Characterization Study (WACS) in its largest development–the SM Mall of Asia Complex. The top 10 most common waste items were identified:
PET Bottles
Plastic Cutlery
Single-use plastic
Plastic cups from coffee or milk tea
Soiled coffee paper cups
Soiled food containers
Food packaging and sachets
Soiled tissue or napkins
Soiled diapers/ sanitary products
Food waste
The SM Waste Free Future manual encourages everyone to properly dispose of waste by using designated Recyclable-Disposable-Compostable (RDC) bins made accessible in all SM Malls.
PET Bottles are categorized for the Blue "Recyclable" Bins to help return these to factories for recycling.
Disposable items and containers such as plastic cutlery, single-use plastic, plastic cups from coffee or milk tea, soiled coffee paper cups and food containers, food packaging and sachets, and soiled tissue or napkins, diapers, and sanitary products are for tossing into the gray "Disposable" Bins.
Finally, all food waste with no packaging and cutlery are guided to the green "Compostable" Bins.
As one of the fastest-growing solid waste streams in the world, Electronic Waste (E-Waste), ranging from batteries to broken gadgets and technological accessories, gets special mention. SM Supermalls promotes proper disposal of e-waste through special bins in SM Cyberzone areas as easy drop-off points for recycling or processing before disposal of small, used, and defective electronic devices.
Take-action, join the movement
Every first Friday and Saturday of the month from 10:00am to 2:00pm, mallgoers can bring their trash and convert it to cash. Trash-to-Cash encourages household segregation by bringing clean and dry recyclables in designated Trash-to-Cash areas in exchange for economic incentives. The program promotes sustainable systems and the advancement of the circular economy.
To further divert plastics from the environment, SM implements its Plastic Waste Collection program across all of its properties. Since its integration in 2019, 70,000 kilograms of clean, empty, and dry consumer plastics have been collected.
Through SM Cares, SM Prime’s corporate social responsibility arm, regular coastal cleanups are organized for communities to mitigate the problem of marine pollution by removing waste before it spreads further in the seas. Last year, volunteers were able to divert 200,000 kilograms of marine litter from the ocean through three major coastal cleanups organized nationwide on top of weekly cleanups done by SM Estates.
Another Coastal Cleanup drive has been scheduled this year on March 22 across SM La Union, SM City Urdaneta Central, SM City Tanza, SM City J Mall, SM City Daet, and SM City Consolacion for World Water Day.
"Communicating waste management practices clearly and easily helps our stakeholders support our vision for a Waste Free Future. When we all come together and choose to help save our planet, even the smallest actions toward the right direction yield great results," said Silerio.
The Water Stewardship Journey Continues for SM Supermalls
For three decades, SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime) has steadfastly advanced responsible water stewardship for a more resilient water future through SM Supermalls, its operating arm.
SM Prime invested in its first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the late 90’s with SM Southmall. STPs are essential for protecting public health and the environment, along with supporting community development. Since then, STPs have become a standard fixture in all 89 malls, reducing water waste and pollution, and safeguarding water resources.
SM Supermalls embeds water conservation practices across its operations. Recycled water is used in water closets for flushing, cleaning, and watering greens. Additionally, efficient low-flow fixtures and water-saving technologies prevent unnecessary consumption at scale.
"SM had always been conscious of its environmental impact on shared social good. Our water journey is rooted in our commitment to maximize what we borrow from the environment, creating resiliency for future generations,” said Liza B. Silerio, SM Supermalls Vice President and Head of Sustainability and Resilience.
Today, SM is evaluating centralized STPs that can serve multiple developments and allow for inter-building treatment systems, lowering operational costs, and enhancing process efficiency. "Part of our water resilience framework is building long-term capacity for water disruptions. Since the standardization of STPs across our malls, SM took it a step further and scaled its water sustainability efforts," said Silerio.
A first in the industry, SM City Baguio's Rainwater Treatment Facility has already processed almost 20,000 cubic meters of rainwater into potable water since it was launched, providing 30% of the mall’s total monthly clean water requirement since 2023. This translates to saving the equivalent of 12.7 million, 1.5-liter mineral water bottles or almost eight Olympic-sized swimming pools of freshwater from the grid.
Leveraging the mall’s nationwide reach, SM further campaigns sustainable water use through consistent awareness and engagement, SM creates public awareness and education campaigns through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, SM Cares to activate future water stewards in the community.
This proactive and efficient approach resulted in SM malls receiving multiple industry distinctions such as the Bantayog ng Lawa Award from the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) and the first ever Gawad Taga-Ilog Award bestowed upon a private entity by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
"We’ve come a long way since the 90’s. It’s heartwarming to be recognized by our community and peers, but we continue to work harder for future generations because water is a universal human right. By implementing these sustainability measures, SM aims to move forward with greater purpose and greater possibilities," said Silerio.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
SM City La Union Boosts Climate Resilience with Rainwater Catchment System
With climate change driving heavier rains and more frequent floods, proactive flood prevention has become a key part of building resilient communities.
SM City La Union, now the 30th mall of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) that features a rainwater catchment facility, expands its network of climate-resilient infrastructure nationwide. For SM Supermalls, catchment facilities are designed to collect and store large volumes of stormwater, preventing runoff that could otherwise overwhelm drainage networks.
During heavy rainfall, the catchment temporarily holds stormwater, allowing gradual discharge through proper channels. Collectively, SM City La Union’s underground rainwater catchment system can provide a total capacity of 760 cubic meters
Each drop contributes to a safer, more sustainable future for all. Mapping every opportunity to achieve Water for Tomorrow, treating and reusing water as a supplemental water source also significantly decreases freshwater consumption. In 2024, SM Prime achieved a 26.23% increase in recycled water volume, rising from 4.42 million cubic meters in 2023 to 5.59 million cubic meters.
Social resilience is equally important as the physical infrastructure. SM Cares raises awareness on water conservation and adopting sustainable practices in daily life, helping to empower community action.
“Our rainwater catchment systems go beyond flood control — they help create safer spaces for our communities. We hope to show how climate-smart infrastructure and innovation can protect lives, livelihoods, and progress,” said SM Supermalls President Steven Tan.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
LOOK : SM Prime Embarks on a Unified Waste Management Program for an #SMWasteFreeFuture
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, is embarking on a unified waste management and segregation campaign in response to the growing global crises on waste. SM Prime aims to bring all its property groups and stakeholders toward an #SMWasteFreeFuture.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), humanity generates more than 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, of which 45 percent is mismanaged. Without urgent action, municipal solid waste will double to almost 4 billion tons each year by 2050. On December 14, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste.
The following year, UNEP inaugurated the First International Day of Zero Waste, to bolster actions to address the global pollution crisis. It aims to encourage global action and bring the world’s attention to zero waste.
Strong foundations
SM Prime’s founding leader, Henry Sy, believed that “business growth and social development must go hand in hand.” The company follows this guiding principle and has formed a sustainability policy that commits to the following: Resource Conservation and Efficiency, Disaster Resilience, Climate Advocacy, Social Integration, and Transparent Reporting.
Anchored on these sustainability commitments are the SM Supermalls’ Environmental Programs on Waste Management. Through its corporate social responsibility arm, SM Cares, SM Supermalls has pioneered longstanding programs such as the Trash to Cash recycling market, and provided support to the annual International Coastal Clean Up, among other national events.
(Photo caption) The largest haul and biggest participation to-date: The 38th International Coastal Clean-up had 17,000 volunteers across 15 SM Malls in 12 locations nationwide. It is an annual community-driven partnership between SM Supermalls, SM Cares, the DENR, LGU’s and the volunteers from the SM community.
(Photo caption) Scaled to perfection: One of the first recycling markets the country, Trash-to-Cash’s valuable example that waste can have monetary benefits. The recycling market is held every first Friday and Saturday of the month in all SM Supermalls to encourage waste segregation and recycling among SM customers, tenants, and the community. The recycling market is open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
In the hotel and tourism sector, SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation (SMHCC) has taken the lead in mitigating global food waste by implementing sustainable initiatives across its properties in the Philippines. Their key initiatives include the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Sustainable Diner Program, that aims to transform and help the food service sector minimize its impact on the environment thru resource efficiency, plastic refusal and food waste management and contribute to the world’s future food security.
(Photo caption) Closing the loop: SMHCC’s sustainability efforts are anchored on the 7Gs or Seven Green Goals, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). The overall thrust for sustainability is cascaded to the rest of properties, ensuring that it is embedded at every step of the hotel’s operations, ensured by property Sustainability Champions.
To support these programs, SM Prime also recently unveiled its waste-to-fuel partnership with GUUN Co. Ltd. (GUNN) to implement the Japanese technique of reducing landfill impact. The technology converts non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle packaging into alternative fuel.
(Photo caption) No time to waste: Sorting through the amount of trash at the GUUN Facility in Cebu. Unfit for recycling and reuse, the waste material recovered avoids the landfill and is then reconverted to fuel resource.
A Vision for an #SMWasteFreeFuture
To mark the International Day of Zero Waste on March 30, 2024, SM Prime is releasing its vision for an #SMWasteFreeFuture. “As a community, we strongly believe in our ability to contribute to solving today's waste issues,” said Hans “Chico” Sy, Jr., President of SM Engineering Design and Development Corporation (SMEDD) and SM sustainability champion.
SM Prime’s announcement of its vision of an #SMWasteFreeFuture demonstrates the company’s strong commitment and sustainability stewardship, by inviting its stakeholders to engage in activities that will help spread zero-waste awareness and work for a sustainable and environmentally responsible approach on waste management.
“We understand that this may seem like a daunting challenge to overcome However, by joining forces, we can create a world that our future generations truly deserve – if we have the courage to take on this journey together,” said Sy.
SM Prime remains committed to its role as a catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities, thereby enriching the quality of life of millions of people. SM Prime is pursuing the next horizon on integrated property development and onward to building sustainable cities of the future.
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