SM Supermalls Invests In The Next Generation Of Filipino Leisure

With new flagship destinations, lifestyle concepts, and spaces designed with community in mind, SM Supermalls is rethinking what a day at the mall can look like.

The mall has always been, and still is, a fixture of Filipino life. Yet it’s the things that people look for when they visit one that continues to change. Shopping remains part of the conversation, but so is dining, hobbies, fitness, entertainment, cultureCultureshared traditions, beliefs, values, customs, arts, and social practices that define the identity and way of life of a community, society, or nation.Go to Culture Glossary, and the delight of savoring an entire day with nowhere else to be. SM Supermalls is responding to this evolution by expanding its destinations and creating more spaces for Filipinos to gather and discover together. 

Following the recent opening of its 90th mall, SM City Zamboanga, another major milestone is on the horizon. SM Nuvali is set to open this November along the fast-growing South Luzon corridor, designed as a flagship eat-and-play destination and featuring the country’s first LED cinema screen experience of its kind. Further south, the newly opened 25,000-seat SM Seaside Cebu Arena adds a major entertainment venue to the Visayas, giving the region a world-class space for live concerts and other large-scale events.

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How SM Supermalls Offers Experiences For Every Interest

The evolution is also visible in the ways people use SM properties today. More than 40,000 runners participated in the Galaxy Manila Marathon and SM2SM Cebu events this year, while pickleball continues to gain ground across the country, with 102 courts now open in 32 malls nationwide.

Culture has its place, too. Initiatives such as Museo del Galeon, Art for Everyone, and AweSM Festivals make local art and heritage part of the regular mall experience, while campaigns like Gala to the Max turn an ordinary visit into something more interactive and participatory.

These experiences form part of “My SM,” an overarching movement centered on making the mall experience more personal to how Filipinos gather, play, and live today. The idea is broad enough to accommodate every kind of community, whether it’s creatives, fandoms, geeks, furparents, or those drawn to active lifestyles. 

Meet The SM SuperMakers: Curating A New Kind Of Roster

As more space is given to lifestyle and leisure, the brands within SM properties are evolving in tandem. SM’s tenant footprint expanded by four percent in the first half of 2026, reaching more than 23,000 tenants nationwide.

“Food, leisure, and lifestyle concepts are leading the demand right now,” shares Hanna Carinna T. Sy, Senior Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Leasing at SM Supermalls. “We’re actively curating a mix that keeps shoppers staying longer, discovering new brands, and coming back more often.”

The same idea applies to the digital space through SM SuperMakers: SM Supermalls’ always-on creator community on TikTok. Rather than a campaign-based creator pool, SuperMakers gives creators an ongoing platform to discover, experience, and share what’s happening across SM in their own voices and styles.

Joining is straightforward: creators create original content around an SM experience, event, discovery, or moment, post it on TikTok using #MySMSupermakers, and tag @OfficialSupermakers as a collaborator. Standout creators and content may be considered for reposts, features, exclusive experiences, creator gatherings, and future campaigns and briefs.

In this way, SuperMakers gives My SM another dimension. Instead of SM telling people what’s new or worth checking out, creators get to experience these spaces for themselves, so they can tell authentic stories through the lens of their own communities.

Growing With Purpose

For all the emphasis on leisure, SM’s role in its communities is a lot more than what happens inside its malls. The company partners with roughly 900 small businesses daily, hosts trade fairs for nearly 3,000 local entrepreneurs, and continues to pursue sustainability initiatives including nationwide plastic collection and solar power integration.

“All of these efforts aren’t just about building better malls—they’re about creating real, lasting opportunities for every Filipino,” explains Steven T. Tan, President of SM Supermalls. “Our goal is to keep evolving alongside our shoppers, making sure SM remains a space where communities can connect, celebrate, and create memories together, showing our purpose in every experience we deliver.”

What visitors get, then, is a vision of the mall that feels increasingly expansive. It can be a place to discover a new restaurant, catch a concert, pick up a new sport, encounter art, meet fellow fans, create content, support a local entrepreneur, or simply spend time with people who matter. In an everchanging and dynamic landscape of Filipino leisure, SM is betting that the future of the mall lies not only in what people can buy, but in the many immersive possibilities they can experience once they arrive.

All photos courtesy of SM Supermalls