MindaNews / 5 January — 2025 started with the closing of BookSale stores in Davao, leaving book readers brokenhearted. It ended with another bittersweet moment as the homegrown Victoria Plaza, bidding goodbye to Dabawenyos after 32 years.
Nostalgia poured over social media through the weeks, as many took one final glimpse of the mall they grew up with, doing shopping, groceries, meals for one last time, and taking photos for posterity. The store posted videos of its customers sharing fond memories. Here in MindaNews, Yas Ocampo wrote about how almost everyone grew up with many first experiences in Victoria — gaming arcades, carousel, toy stores, shopping, tambay with schoolmates and friends.
There is still more to write and reminisce about. But it’s also bittersweet to see a homegrown original closing in the upswing of bigger malls.
Victoria Plaza opened its doors to the public on Araw ng Dabaw, March 16, 1993. Its first owner, the late Robert Alan Limso, chose a perfect date, as it ushered a new experience for a city looking towards progress. Victoria Plaza was a new player in Davao’s shopping retail market, which at that time had two Gaisano shopping centers, the NCCC Supermarket owned by the Lim family, Felcris superstores owned by the Yap family, Mantex and Datu Complex.
But Victoria was unique, it was the first mall for Davao City, the second in Mindanao after Limketkai in Cagayan de Oro which opened in 1991. It had that fountain in the middle of the mall that enthralled shoppers, especially kids. That fountain area on occasion would be converted to a stage to host performances from celebrities and music artists from Manila and also from the city.
Of all the performances that were staged in that place, I only managed to catch a glimpse of one performance — the legendary duo of Max Surban and the late Yoyoy Villame. They tickled the masa crowd with their signature humorous songs and banter.
No one seems to have remembered, but Victoria at one time had an art gallery. There were monthly exhibits from Davao’s visual artists, the likes of Vic Secuya, Abe Garcia, Ben Bañez, Brenda Barba, Paul Corpus, and a lot more artists from Ford Academy of the Arts and PWC. There were also exhibits from artists from Manila. It was an eye-opening experience, as during those times, paintings could only be found in spaces of hotels, banks and schools.
Sadly, a decade after its opening, the gallery closed. Performances in VP were few and in between, then the fountain was dismantled years later. We learned that VP was possessed by PNB as Limso defaulted over their loans. Eventually, it was overshadowed by the arrival of Gaisano Mall, NCCC Mall, SM City Ecoland. These malls offered more. Felcris adapted with convenience stores.
VP was stuck, it lost tenants and retail stores in the next decade, spaces became occupied by thrift shops and phone gadget stores. But it still had its loyal customers. It also had loyal tenants like the Kodak Center owned by the Go family, who are my schoolmates. It became a fixture there, the go-to place for a photo-edit, passport photos and the likes.
Victoria also evolved into something in the past decade. It became a shared space for people taking a break between work and home and school. The food court became a tambayan for senior citizens after going the rounds of grocery and meds, or just the need to hang out with old friends.
A unique shared space in Victoria is the stairway and ledge between the grocery and the rest of the mall. Here, senior citizens, couples, families, students, anyone will congregate there, relaxing after going around the place or waiting for the rest of the group who are still going around the place.
That’s something that will be hard to find, that shared space. Other malls don’t have that kind of quality like the Victoria food court. It was wide and relaxed, no loud music, no full-blast air conditioning, and no expensive coffee. It had a cafeteria feel to it. You can talk and not be distracted by the lights around. There were also less expensive meals there. Now I miss the binignit.
Then there’s the restaurant area behind VP. Those meal experiences with family, friends, officemates. Ah Fat Seafood, Emerald, Probinsya, Sen Ton Wan, a mix of Chinese and Filipino restos. Sen Ton Wan has closed, others have already established other branches.
All these experiences will be part of memory. NCCC acquired Victoria in 2019, but in 2025, they agreed to a buyout from Robinsons Land Corporation. In its place will be high-rise office buildings.
I wonder why in the name of progress in this city, there are more buildings built but less parks, museums, and shared spaces?
As news of its closure came out a few months ago, we went to Victoria for those bargain sales, kitchenware at its department store, the books at Jas Bookstore.
It’s the end of an era. Shared spaces. Shared memories. Somehow that will be missed by all Dabawenyos.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Tyrone A. Velez is a freelance journalist and writer.)
