When I started working at OpinYon’s Pacita office a decade or so ago, a major shopping center smack in the middle of Pacita Complex was then considered as the city’s shopping mecca.
At the time, it was the closest San Pedrenses could get to a shopping mall. And while most of the space was occupied by a major supermarket chain, the complex was a vibrant one, filled with restaurants and kiosks selling anything, from computer parts to hardware supplies to a discount store.
But all of that has changed – first, when the city’s first major mall, the Robinsons Galleria South, was opened just a stone’s throw away from the entrance to Barangay Landayan and the Santo Sepulcro Shrine in 2019.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck a year later, and malls and shopping centers suffered the effects of the restrictions and community quarantines that were enforced at the time. At the time, I didn't think even Galleria South would survive the crisis.
Fast forward to 2025, and Galleria South had regained its status as San Pedro City’s premiere shopping mall.
For that major supermarket along Pacita Complex, however, it was another story.
In the past months, most of its tenants had quietly moved away and closed their doors due to dwindling foot traffic (the latest to close shop was a Japanese discount store where I first found the thrill of buying cheap items).
The main hall of the supermarket has all but turned into a quiet ghost town, the space mostly occupied by marked-down furniture items.
And while a new doughnut chain opened a branch inside recently, I had this sinking feeling that it won’t be long – perhaps a year or two – before the owners of that supermarket chain finally decide to either close or repurpose the business. The question is, into what?
There have been suggestions to turn that space (and the large vacant lot directly next to it) as a transport hub, although I recall from past OpinYon articles that another considered area for the proposed San Pedro Transport Terminal are the empty lots near Galleria South. (Given that those areas are much nearer to the soon-to-be Pacita station of the North-South Commuter Railway, it makes much more sense in retrospect.)
I remember this OpinYon Laguna article, written back when Galleria South was opened, that there had been concerns that the new mall will draw foot traffic away from other commercial establishments along the National Highway and force many establishments – particularly small enterprises – to close down.
It appears to me that this supermarket chain may as well be the first major victim of the urban blight caused by the “mall culture” that has now become more and more a part of life in San Pedro City.
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