Visited Cebu last weekend to be with my family as my sis is home from Canada. My family has been talking about the new North Wing of SM and despite the fact I had been there last month (June) didnt have time to notice the space.
Now I decided to check it out with shopper eyes.
Coming from Talisay City using the SRP (South Reclamation Project) road, SM City is a good 30 min. away. You enter into the SM City complex and the first thing a shopper driving a car would notice would be the weird criss-crossing of the lanes going to the north wing parking. One has to watch out and I did because it was my first time to drive my family's new '08 KIA Sportage. Same as SM MOA (mall of asia) parking was a pay as you exit type which is different from the other SM malls here in Manila where its a pay as you enter type like in Megamall, Manila, Sta Mesa & etc.
The new North Wing parking is much like any other SM Mall shopping (close to MOA set-up) but the beautiful thing about it is that its the open multi-level type which is a 1st in Cebu (I think ...)! It actually gives you a very scenic view of the Cebu harbour and the blue ocean . . . makes you really realize that Cebu is indeed a small tropical island. A pleasant surprise I guess for the locals.
Once parked, we made our way to the new wing and I realize that it shows a very different SM. It indeed looks more classy with the high-end shops (mass premium is the technical term as the shops still don't rival those of Rockwell or Greenbelt 4 & 5) located there (a lot are still under "construction") . What stands out is the spacious and clean atrium that welcomes you to the new north wing. Totally different from the crowded entrances in the mall, which honestly makes me hate going to SM at times. Its just too crowded.
The wing had a touch of Cebu with the Chika-an Restaurant branch being very prominent at the 2nd floor. And it had new store brands as well like Crumpler which only recently opened in Manila this year as well.
Truly, the new north wing has changed shopping in Cebu and has afforded Cebu's AB crowd another place to hang out besides Ayala Center Mall and show off their branded stuff which honestly in CEBU doesnt hold much because the locals really don't mind about imported brands because the City enjoys a lot of good quality locally made items! I will be visiting Cebu again soon and I will write about the shops more . . . but suffice it to say, its a HIT!
'Till my next write-up!
Mrs Jane B.
July 11, 2008
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Shopping Robinsons Galleria Style
With typhoon frank raging in Manila, my hubby and I decided to do our grocery shopping in one of our fave supermarket in Mandaluyong. Of course am partial with Robinsons Galleria for a lot of reasons . . .
Reason 1 : Parking never a problem
Although sale days maybe a challenge. The Galleria Mall always has parking. If you know the layout of the parking area, you do know there are nooks and crannies that have parking. The parking near the smkt alone has these special places.
Reason 2 : Fresh Produce is fresh
For a two-person fam like mine, and because I work for Unilever where I get free laundry, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and skin care products for free . . . what else do I buy in the smkt? Fresh food. Hubby works for Nestle Ice Cream, so milk, yogurt, juices are easily bought in the office . . . fresh food it is. Their variety of fruits and ready-to-eat fruits (those peeled and ready for chow) are superb though nothing exotic yet. Meats are fresh and they have a decent selection of fish (dead and alive -- in the aquarium). If I want a delicious "lapu-lapu sinigang", my hubby would go to Robinsons w/o hesitation. And yes, for those looking for fresh salmon, its the place to go too!
Reason 3 : No fuzz shopping
The store is well lit. Aisles are wide though there are areas that are a bit dead like the household section (I dont go there anyway because of my freebies!). The aisles are properly labelled and are updated so you wont get lost. Geez, years back I did the store layout of this store so I pretty much memorized the whole set-up.
Also, the store isnt crowded. I really hate it when I need to navigate with my cart trying hard not to bump someone else's. I'd like to be able to browse and do my shopping in peace. As I've said grocery shopping is therapeutic for me . . . I can get lost in a store and just wander around . . .
Reason 4 : Lines are manageble
Counters are always open and the stores seem to be able to manage the cashier line. We never get to wait too long. And that's a plus for couples like us who want to enjoy more time to do personal stuff on weekends!
As a whole for the Baluya's, Robinsons Galleria smkt is our fuzz-free and fresh supermarket! It also helps that its a good 10 min drive from our condo.
Well, our weekend shopping went ok despite the typhoon . . . so if you're in the Mandaluyong area, maybe you can check out this smkt and see if we're right.
More weekend shopping stories next week.
Mrs Jane B.
June 22, 2008
Reason 1 : Parking never a problem
Although sale days maybe a challenge. The Galleria Mall always has parking. If you know the layout of the parking area, you do know there are nooks and crannies that have parking. The parking near the smkt alone has these special places.
Reason 2 : Fresh Produce is fresh
For a two-person fam like mine, and because I work for Unilever where I get free laundry, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and skin care products for free . . . what else do I buy in the smkt? Fresh food. Hubby works for Nestle Ice Cream, so milk, yogurt, juices are easily bought in the office . . . fresh food it is. Their variety of fruits and ready-to-eat fruits (those peeled and ready for chow) are superb though nothing exotic yet. Meats are fresh and they have a decent selection of fish (dead and alive -- in the aquarium). If I want a delicious "lapu-lapu sinigang", my hubby would go to Robinsons w/o hesitation. And yes, for those looking for fresh salmon, its the place to go too!
Reason 3 : No fuzz shopping
The store is well lit. Aisles are wide though there are areas that are a bit dead like the household section (I dont go there anyway because of my freebies!). The aisles are properly labelled and are updated so you wont get lost. Geez, years back I did the store layout of this store so I pretty much memorized the whole set-up.
Also, the store isnt crowded. I really hate it when I need to navigate with my cart trying hard not to bump someone else's. I'd like to be able to browse and do my shopping in peace. As I've said grocery shopping is therapeutic for me . . . I can get lost in a store and just wander around . . .
Reason 4 : Lines are manageble
Counters are always open and the stores seem to be able to manage the cashier line. We never get to wait too long. And that's a plus for couples like us who want to enjoy more time to do personal stuff on weekends!
As a whole for the Baluya's, Robinsons Galleria smkt is our fuzz-free and fresh supermarket! It also helps that its a good 10 min drive from our condo.
Well, our weekend shopping went ok despite the typhoon . . . so if you're in the Mandaluyong area, maybe you can check out this smkt and see if we're right.
More weekend shopping stories next week.
Mrs Jane B.
June 22, 2008
GARAGE Sale Anyone?
Been planning to do a garage sale a couple of months back. So I took the courage and started shipping since Dec stuff I havent used for the past 3 months and tag them for my sale. A lot of the stuff are clothes and bags, and yes towels and shoes . . . and this weekend I finally got to do it! My parents helped by preparing the place where I was going to sell and even set-up streamers for my sale. So this weekend I went home to Cebu to celebrate my mom's 60th bday and run my garage sale.
I tagged, listed and priced my items the night before and had a pre-sale viewing for my relatives which proved to be a lot of fun as my cousins and aunt tried on stuff. Of course I made money that night already . . . he he he. Proceeds of my sale is going to our home renovation fund.
The garage sale itself lasted only 7 hrs, the Cebu heat was on but despite that people still enjoyed digging into the clothes, trying on the belts and shoes, and haggling with me on the flat iron with steamer I got as corp give-away (unused complete w/ manual). I got rid of years of corp bag give-aways which the shoppers wanted to use as school bag for their kids. Very good deal since I was selling the bags from P25-50. One guy bought 5 bags!
It was pretty good that we have single pricing strat implemented. Yeah, a garage sale with pricing strat! What I meant was, to simplify, we had one price for every item, like pants/skirts/shorts all at P100, the used bath towels which were our bestsellers were selling at P10 each. It worked for us. Easy to remember and account for.
Second, proper visibility of items. We hung the mens poloshirts and dresses to call attention but what sold out were the cheap collarless shirts. The colorful laundry baskets we used allowed the shoppers to dig in and really get lost in all the merchandise. The pricing of the products were visible so shoppers knew exactly how much the items cost. This did not however stop them from haggling.
Lastly was the music! We had our old karaoke playing loud music to announce something was happening in our area. Ha ha ha, it was really loud but it created the festive mood that allowed the shoppers to concentrate on the find and not on the extreme heat of the day. I was so tempted to sell our karaoke too, but I need this for my next sale.
Truly it was a fun experience for everyone! We couldnt believe we could sell off the items. Because of this Im going for round two soon . . . And so the saying goes, "someone's trash can become someone else's treasure . . ." Did I get this right?
'Till my next shopping write-up.
Mrs Jane B
June 15, 2008
I tagged, listed and priced my items the night before and had a pre-sale viewing for my relatives which proved to be a lot of fun as my cousins and aunt tried on stuff. Of course I made money that night already . . . he he he. Proceeds of my sale is going to our home renovation fund.
The garage sale itself lasted only 7 hrs, the Cebu heat was on but despite that people still enjoyed digging into the clothes, trying on the belts and shoes, and haggling with me on the flat iron with steamer I got as corp give-away (unused complete w/ manual). I got rid of years of corp bag give-aways which the shoppers wanted to use as school bag for their kids. Very good deal since I was selling the bags from P25-50. One guy bought 5 bags!
It was pretty good that we have single pricing strat implemented. Yeah, a garage sale with pricing strat! What I meant was, to simplify, we had one price for every item, like pants/skirts/shorts all at P100, the used bath towels which were our bestsellers were selling at P10 each. It worked for us. Easy to remember and account for.
Second, proper visibility of items. We hung the mens poloshirts and dresses to call attention but what sold out were the cheap collarless shirts. The colorful laundry baskets we used allowed the shoppers to dig in and really get lost in all the merchandise. The pricing of the products were visible so shoppers knew exactly how much the items cost. This did not however stop them from haggling.
Lastly was the music! We had our old karaoke playing loud music to announce something was happening in our area. Ha ha ha, it was really loud but it created the festive mood that allowed the shoppers to concentrate on the find and not on the extreme heat of the day. I was so tempted to sell our karaoke too, but I need this for my next sale.
Truly it was a fun experience for everyone! We couldnt believe we could sell off the items. Because of this Im going for round two soon . . . And so the saying goes, "someone's trash can become someone else's treasure . . ." Did I get this right?
'Till my next shopping write-up.
Mrs Jane B
June 15, 2008
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