Pedro Acharon Jr. joined Sy in cutting the ribbon to officially mark the launching of the grand opening day.
Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee arrived after the mass presided by several priests from the Diocese of Marbel.
SM City General Santos is SM Prime’s first mall in SOCCSKSARGEN or Region 12, which groups the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
It occupies almost a block of San Miguel Street corner Santiago Boulevard here, dubbed as the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.”
“We warmly welcome our valued customers to SM City General Santos, our first mall in the province of South Cotabato. With its thriving economy, General Santos provides an ideal venue for SM Malls as we see a huge potential for growth in the city,” Sy said in a statement.
SM City General Santos is already 80 percent occupied by various tenants, according to the statement.
The three-level shopping mall’s anchor tenants are SM Department Store and SM Supermarket. Other mall tenants include Watsons, Ace Hardware, Toy Kingdom, Breadtalk, Congo Grille, Classic Savory, Max’s, Tong Yang, Bench and Gymboree, among others.
SM City General Santos’ amenities include a food court, four cinemas with a combined seating capacity of 1,400 and parking slots for 1,500 vehicles.
General Santos, popularly called GenSan, is a highly urbanized first class city and the center of commerce and logistics of SOCCSKSARGEN. The city hosts a seaport and an airport.
SM City General Santos brings the total number of SM Prime malls to 45 all over the country, with a combined gross floor area (GFA) of 5.4 million square meters (sqms).[]