Birds and bamboo at new mall

ROBINSONS LAND Corp.’s 43^rd mall is all about bamboo and birds and keeping things local.

Located in General Trias, Cavite, some 31 kilometers from Manila, the 56-hectare mall (with 33-ha of leased area) has a lot of open spaces and al fresco dining. It is following the lead of Robinsons Magnolia, which opened in 2012 and is considered the benchmark when it comes to the design of the new Robinsons Malls.

“Robinsons Magnolia is our peg — our base model — for all new malls,” Derrick O. Candelaria, lease director for new malls (commercial center division) for Robinsons told the media during the mall’s opening on May 26.

Robinsons Magnolia, located along Aurora Blvd., in New Manila, Quezon City, presents four levels with spacious interiors, al fresco dining, and an outdoor plaza.

“We also put emphasis on a lot of emphasis on details on the mall. It’s not your typical box-type mall because we value customer experience. We want our customers, when they enter, to feel that Robinsons really invested in our city,” he added.

The General Trias mall’s interior has bamboo and birds details because of its host town’s history. The town used to be named San Francisco de Malabon — after its patron St. Francis of Assisi, who is also the patron saint of animals; and Malabon which came from the word “labong” (bamboo shoots) which were abundant in the municipality. General Trias is also home to a wide variety of bird species such as the White-Breasted Water Hen and Little Egret, so the P2.5-billion property also has quite a few bird details and sculptures made by local artists.

The bird art extends to the mall’s toilets where the female facilities feature a metal bird sculpture upon entering. Each cubicle also has an artwork by a local artist in display.

“When you enter, you feel like you’re entering a spa and we have paintings on display — which is the genius of our design team,” he said.

Aside from the regular anchor tenants like Robinsons Supermarket and Department store, the mall also has stores that are unique to the province — case-in-point, the Calle Real Restaurant of Tanza, Cavite.

“We have a zone specifically for local tenants. The idea is to [bring in] local favorites from lowland Cavite,” said Mr. Candelaria. These stores are located at the second floor of the al fresco area.

Owned by Millie Lozada, the original Calle Real Restaurant, which features Spanish-Filipino food, opened in 1998 in an art deco heritage house that was build in 1922. Business has been good, so Ms. Lozada decided to open a branch inside the mall.

Located at the al fresco area, the Calle Real Restaurant is set to open a few weeks after the mall’s grand opening.

During the launch, Ms. Lozada said that they are “bringing in the ambience of the house” to the mall.

“We have a lot of brands here that you wouldn’t see in other malls in the vicinity,” said Mr. Candelaria, before adding that they consulted the locals regarding the brands they wanted to have in the mall.

“Caviteños are big on Levis. [On] the ‘Ramon Revilla’ outfit: Hanes, Levis, Converse shoes — that’s Caviteño,” said Rhamiro Fajardo, the lease manager for Robinsons General Trias who is himself a Caviteño, while pointing out the Levis store on the ground floor.

Currently, the mall is already 90% occupied, and during the launch 76% of the tenant stores were already open.

Mr. Fajardo said they plan on having 100% occupancy before the year ends. — Zsarlene B. Chua