I was informed today that one of my favorite dining spots is closing. Sbarro’s in SM City, if what I was told is accurate, will close as of today or tomorrow. They hadn’t been there that long, maybe less than 2 years? There are a lot of places selling pizza in the mall, and next door, but they had a good selection of products in addition to just pizza, and they had a great selection of slices. Plus they always seemed busy. I was really surprised and disappointed to hear this news.
Within the last year another big mall opened, SM Lanang Premier. It is on the other side of town, but it certainly competes with all the other shopping opportunities here in Davao. Abreeza, the upscale Ayala Mall, opened just the year before (or so). Add to that the new S & R, and the malls going up in nearby towns such as Tagum and Toril. There is a lot of competition for what seems to be very limited peso. Yes, there are many here that have the money, but many more that do not.
I’ve often wondered how some of the high end stores in Abreeza are making it. It seems, in any cases, they are not. I stopped in one once and asked the nice lady watching the store, with no customers, how things where going. She told me they have some “shoppers’ but not much sales. It will not surprise me at all to start seeing a lot of stores close all throughout Davao. They are going to have to decide, such as Sbarro did, which mall(s) they’ll be able to serve, if at all.
The lower end malls, such as Gaisano Ilustre and NCCC Uyanguren, seem to be fairly safe from this, as they are meeting the needs of those with limited income. It just doesn’t seem like there are enough families with middle to higher income to allow all these stores to survive.
I’m sure some will tell me that I’m wrong. They will state the fact that development continues even though there are those that have said what I’m saying for years now. Maybe they are right. I haven’t lived here that long yet. I just know what I’m seeing, and what I’m seeing right now doesn’t seem to be a good longterm outlook for many of these businesses. How long they can wait it out is really the question.
To some degree it seems the food establishments are immune to this. That’s why it’s even more of a shock to me that Sbarro’s is closing. It seems what expendable money people have here goes to food when they are at the mall. It’s OK not to buy any products, but food is almost always purchased.
As for SM Lanang Premier, there are some stores scheduled to open that have not. It looks the are waiting it out, for the crowds to pick up, before they open shop. It’s slowly filling up with new stores, but has a long way to go before it will be full. By then I expect there will be closures of some of the original stores. That mall, in particular, seems to have a long ways to go to be viable.
Sbarro still has a store in Abreeza. Why they chose that one over SM City, only they can say, but sales must have been better at Abreeza. Unfortunately I don’t go to Abreeza very often. It is far, and I don’t typically buy at the high end shops that they feature. They’ve got some nice restaurants there, but I can find things closer.
I’ll miss the SM City Sbarro’s. I just have to wonder if this is truly a harbinger of things to come.
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Aug 02, 2013 @ 19:10:27
mag transfer lang sila sa annex?
Aug 02, 2013 @ 19:25:23
It’s not my understanding that they moved to the annex but closed altogether.
I was by there today and the store was all closed up with the glass all covered. I saw no signage explaining anything.
I didn’t go through the Annex, but I would think they would have mentioned it and had a sign about it.
Aug 03, 2013 @ 17:57:29
I too wonder how some of the high market stores survive. It’s also weird seeing typically affordable-priced foreign stores become more expensive and harder to reach for the middle class group.
Not to go into it and I’m no expert, but I think another factor is that foreign franchises need to be 60% Filipino owned (a limited investing group) and making it harder for them to expand into the country plus forcing some to increase prices to justify profit.
Aug 03, 2013 @ 19:16:11
The local versus foreign ownership is simple by law, and you are right (as I understand it) it’s 60% filipino, but in practice it gets quite complicated. I’m no expert either. To some degree I see how some of the smaller businesses handle that, but larger corporations are another matter.
I know the rent paid at some of these malls is not cheap. Maybe cheaper than in the US, but still a good chuck of money to be laying out if the sales aren’t there. Labor certainly is an advantage here, but again if the sales aren’t there, there are lots of bills to pay.
And to your point of the inflated prices. Levi’s is a good example. They aren’t especially cheap in the US, but here a typical pair is about $100. Wow!
Aug 05, 2013 @ 00:53:27
The Gap’s another one. I was surprised how much higher the prices are. It was my go-to starving art student clothing store in SF because of the cheap deals. And I worked there for the discounts too. Very different here. It’s in the high end mid-class market.
Aug 05, 2013 @ 06:38:34
Anything US seems to bring high prices. Obviously the import fees play a part, but American goods are still highly coveted, rightfully or not.
Aug 08, 2013 @ 01:45:36
I WENT ON A TWO WEEK QUEST FOR A GOOD PIZZA IN THE PHILIPPINES, WAS ENTIRELY DISAPPOINTED SO FIGURED IT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP WHEN YOU LIVE THERE
IN LAWS MADE ME ONE THINK IT WAS THAT BANANA KETCHUP
SUPER YUK BUT I ATE IT AND SMILED
Aug 08, 2013 @ 07:51:18
There is good pizza here. La Toscana has very good pizza here in Davao, as do several other places.. Outside of the big cites it will be hard to find, if at all. You’ll only get Filipino pizza, which doesn’t do anything for me.
Aug 24, 2013 @ 08:17:06
ey! ’bout that SBarro closing in SM City Davao, you got it wrong, they just transferred to the Annex, one good reason is, its the perfect place for them, since SM City Davao “The Annex” caters to the mid-upscale tenants, and its suitable for a tenant like them. So might check it out and try it for yourself.
might as well try Picobello at JS Citimall, Ilustre at the top floor.. the place is cozy and their pizza is really good.
Their resto is around the hallway near elevator, you can ask. 
Aug 24, 2013 @ 08:59:02
That’s the second time it’s been mentioned they moved to the Annex. If so, they haven’t done a good job of it.
I’ve gone through the Annex twice since the closing & I don’t see them. They put no sign up indicating they moved, or even closed for that matter.
I’ll go through the Annex again this week & see if I can find anything.
Yes, I’ve been to Piccobelo many times, as well as La Toscana, Don Beppe’s & pretty much all of them. Sbarro wasn’t a destination but a place to eat when I was already @ SM.
Aug 24, 2013 @ 09:56:08
You can find the SBarro at ground floor SM City Davao – The Annex, just beside the Classic Savory. I Just ate there..
Aug 24, 2013 @ 18:34:49
Well maybe they didn’t open right away, or maybe I’m going blind. Thanks for the update.
Odd that the assistant manager told me they would only be at Abreeza and GenSan. I’m going to need to make an effort to get there and find out what’s what.
Aug 26, 2013 @ 15:02:43
As an update:
The Sbarro’s in SM City is closed.
I’m not sure when you mean just ate there, but they closed around the 1st of August. There is NO Sbarro in the Annex. The Annex is where Starbuck’s and Krsipy Kreme are located. The Classic Savory is in the main mall, right next to where Sbarro’s used to be. They are no longer there, or anywhere in SM City.
There is still a Sbarro’s in Abreeza.