Ayala Land builds community mall in Cainta

August 07, 2015  

Ayala Land Inc. is building a community mall in Cainta. 

The  80,000-square meter mall launched in the fourth quarter of 2014 will  be completed in two years and will be the next site of  Ayala Land’s supermarket joint venture with Puregold Price Club, Inc., Merkado. 

Ayala Land and Puregold officials earlier said each Merkado mall will cost P200 million to set up and will have  2,200 square meters  in average selling area. Merkado is operated by  AyaGold Retailers, Inc., a 50:50 venture between Ayala and Puregold.

Merkado piloted in UP Town Center on  Katipunan avenue.

Anthony Sy, AyaGold  president, said Merkado expects to break even in  three years.

AyaGold is  looking at a 14-percent gross profit margin in the  initial years of operations of Merkado.

The new business is seen to complete Ayala Land’s retail business formats after the addition of Wellworth, a department store and FamilyMart, a  convenience store. Both are   in partnership with retailer SSI Group, Inc. Japan’s Itochu Corp. is also a partner in FamilyMart. 

Cesar  Cudala, AyaGold general manager, is confident on the prospects of the supermarket business given the growth of the service sector that allows for added spendable income to consumers. 

“I think the fact that many of the major players are expanding in the retail means they share our opinion of a still untapped market. The business process outsourcing (BPO) business is growing till 2020 as evidenced by the boom in the construction sector. So long as it continues, we believe there is a market to capture,” said Cudala. 

In the first Merkado, the company expects to service the  A,B and C  income segments that live or work within a three-kilometer radius of the supermarket.  

Merkado  caters to the middle income segment and offers a wide range of fresh and grocery items, an extensive line of local and imported goods, and featured product lines from its own bakery and rotisserie.

Original article can be found here >>