16 May A history of Shopping Malls in Cagayan de Oro
Dubbed as the City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro is one of the fastest growing cities in the country evidenced by big time businesses and shopping areas popping from anywhere. It is known for its towering malls where tourists would initially think of going to and provides the first steps towards knowing the city better.
Today, there are already five major malls in the city namely Ororama Supercenter, Gaisano City Mall, SM City Cagayan de Oro, Limketkai Center, Centrio Ayala Mall and now underway, SM CDO Downtown Premier, all of which make up the giant places for any kind of Kagay-anon shopping. But as a shopper, have you given any thought how long these malls are standing? What mall was built first and what mall comes last? Let’s find out how old these shopping malls are and are they really there the whole time without our awareness?
Ororama Cogon Branch
source: tsadagyud.com
Established on July 6, 1969, Ororama was the first ever shopping mall to open in the city. It started as a little store along Osmeña St. and was known for providing the best quality of the product being offered to Kagay-anons with affordable prices and outstanding customer service. Ororama has perhaps anything one is looking for from grocery items, fresh food and glassware items to school supplies and trendy fashion styles for both men and women. From 15 employees in 1969, Ororama now has more than 500 employees.
As of today, there are three Ororama branches that are located in Cogon, Carmen and the TLP (Total Lower Price) store at Market City, (Agora) Lapasan.
Other Branches
- Ororama Carmen Branch – The all new Ororama Carmen is now made bigger with an entrance along Vamenta Boulevard. It opened last March 18, 2016.
- Ororama Supercity Puerto – Soon to open.
- TLP (Total Lower Price) Store – March 18, 2011
Gaisano City Mall
source: explorecdo.com
This mall is the second oldest mall in the city which opened in1989 along Corrales Extension cor. C.M. Recto Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City. Despite being second to Ororama to open in CDO, this mall is the first one to introduce underground car parking in the city. It also the 8th largest mall among all Gaisano Malls in the Philippines covering 55,100 square meters.
Other Branches
- Gaisano Osmeña – located at Osmeña Osmeña Street, Cagayan de Oro City. According to a forum thread on Skyscrapercity.com, Gaisano Osmeña was built on August 22, 1976 which was then made of woods. In 1978, it was upgraded to concrete within a 500 square meters of area. And in 1981, the building was expanded to 600 square meters.
- Gaisano Cogon – located at Corner Daumar St., Cagayan de Oro City. In a forum thread on Skyscrapercity.com, Gaisano Cogon’s old 3-storey building was built in 1984, with 1,004 square meters.
- Gaisano Carmen – located at Max Suniel Street, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City and opened last August 23, 1993.
- Gaisano SukiClub – located at Yacapin – Daumar Street, Cagayan de Oro City and opened last November 22, 2008.
- Gaisano Mall Bulua – located at the National Highway, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City. Established last September 23, 2011.
- Gaisano Mall Puerto – An ongoing project located at Upper Puerto National Highway. Opened last February 9, 2015.
- Gaisano J.R. Borja – located at J.R. Borja Street Corner Daumar Street, Cagayan de Oro City.
- Gaisano Arcade – Cugman – located at National Highway, Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City.
Limketkai Mall
source: LKK Center Offical Page
The third mall to open in the city, Limketkai or simply referred to as “Ketkai” has the distinction of being the biggest mall in Cagayan de Oro City as of this year.
Its main mall area is now under one roof and is fully air-conditioned covering around 66,000 square meters of floor area and space for all the stores. It also has a large parking area that can accommodate 1,200 vehicles.
SM City Mall
source: pinoyexchange.com
SM City Mall is the first SM Supermall in Northern Mindanao. Opened to the public last November 15, 2002, it is located at Masterson Avenue in Pueblo de Oro, Uptown Carmen.
The mall has undergone a major renovation which was finished by the first quarter of 2012. With a total gross floor area of more than 87,000 square meters of 5.2 hectares of land, this mall is the 3rd biggest mall in the city since 2012.
SM CDO Downtown Premiere
source: tsadagyud.com
SM CDO Downtown Premier opened its doors to the public last May 12, 2017. It is SM Prime Holding’s 61st mall in the country, the sixth in Mindanao, and the second in Cagayan de Oro. It is located at an intersection of Claro M. Recto Avenue and Osmena Street.
SM CDO Downtown Premier houses a mixture of shopping, leisure and entertainment stores and venues. It will soon serve shoppers in Cagayan de Oro and nearby cities and provinces in Northern Mindanao.
Ayala Centrio Mall
source: Centrio Official Page
Ayala Centrio Mall was opened last November 9, 2012. It is a three-storey mall located at Claro M. Recto Avenue corner Corrales Avenue, Cagayan de Oro and is owned by the Ayala Corporation. It is a beautiful complex of a shopping mall with a variety of top-tier retail brands for shopping, stores, restaurants and dining concepts, a hotel, an office building and a condominium tower that makes Ayala Centrio Mall the region’s shopping and dining destination for residents and tourists.
It is also said to be the 2nd largest mall in Cagayan de Oro since 2012.
S&R Membership Shopping
source: filipinohomes.com
Opened to the public on July 28, 2016, S&R Membership Shopping Cagayan de Oro is the first ever S&R warehouse in Northern Mindanao. It is located along CDO-Iligan Road in Brgy Kauswagan and has a wide parking area for 260 vehicles.
City Mall
source: CDeO Encyclopedia
A new mall will soon to rise in Cagayan de Oro and will be known to the public as the City Mall. It is a community mall owned by Commercial Centers Inc., (CMCCI) and will have several branches in Cagayan de Oro. As of this writing, there are already two branches of City Mall spotted in the western portion of the City.
One is located just beside West Bound Bus Terminal, along Opol-Bulua Diversion Road and the second one is located in Iponan along the national highway.
Construction of these two City Mall branches is still ongoing.
Paseo Mall
source: palafoxassociates.com
Paseo Mall is a six-storey, high end, a shopping mall that will feature three modern cinemas and a 3000-seating capacity state of the art grand plenary hall called Zealep Convention Center. Paseo Mall is estimated to have a gross floor area of at least 80,000 square meters. The mall’s retail area will also cover the hotel’s lower floors which are composed of three levels.
It has been more than 2 years since the development of the Paseo Del Rio has been stopped, according to some reports, the project has been temporarily stopped because of some problems in its location.
These establishments are just some of Cagayan de Oro’s silent witnesses to its progress and productivity over the years. No matter how encouraging their humble beginnings may be, it is up to us, the people of this city to maintain its continuous growth and be recognized as one of the Philippines’ finest.
No Comments