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Manila Malls May Become E-Commerce Storage Amid Retail Slump

People gather at the SM by the Bay amusement park in the SM Mall of Asia complex in Manila, the Philippines, in 2019. — People gather at the SM by the Bay amusement park in the SM Mall of Asia complex in Manila, the Philippines, in 2019.
Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

By

Siegfrid Alegado and

August 12, 2020, 11:00 PM UTCUpdated onAugust 13, 2020, 3:39 AM UTC

Property developers in the Philippines are considering novel alternative uses for shopping malls as people stay home and prefer to buy things online.

SM Prime Holdings Inc., the nation’s biggest landlord, is leasing out some of its parking lots for longer-term car storage, while a unit of Ayala Land Inc. plans to convert areas in its shopping centers to e-commerce backend facilities and medical clinics.