When the mall meets the sea: How SM City La Union redefines a province

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SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Months before October 17, 2025, the opening date of SM City La Union, banners had begun to pepper public spaces across the province. The quantity of announcements — on roadside billboards, building walls, and bus stops — felt almost like an election campaign, except this one came with corporate polish and sizzle.

Online, Ilocanos speculated about which brands were coming, and whether the already congested roads of San Fernando, the province’s capital, could handle the traffic. There was unease, but also excitement.

When the day came, 51,000 Ilocanos flooded the new mall, surpassing even SM City Laoag’s May 2025 debut by 29%. The crowd kept coming: 41,000 and 51,000 more arrived on Saturday and Sunday.

DAY BEFORE OPENING. Thousands filled the central hall for the mall’s blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremonies of several locators in SM’s 89th mall. This was before the mall was opened to the public on October 17, 2025 when more than 51,000 visitors were recorded that day alone. Photo by Lala Rimando

Outside, traffic slowed to a crawl. Inside, the province saw, for the first time, what its own SM looked and felt like, no longer the distant cousin to the malls in Baguio or Pangasinan. Even the skeptics paused to look, not at the mall itself, but at what its arrival meant for the province they thought they already knew.

The junction province

“La Union is very strategic,” said Hans Sy, son of SM founder Henry Sy, who flew in with several family members a day before the opening. “It’s like the junction. It’s in the middle of everything.” SM has previously opened malls in Baguio, Rosales, Tuguegarao, and Laoag — all in northern Luzon. (TRIVIA: What some of the richest Filipinos have in common)

That word — junction — has long defined the province. At the foot of Baguio to the east, La Union sits midway along the corridor linking Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte. Its soil is sandy, less fertile than the plains farther north where tobacco and rice thrive, but its geography favors trade. Goods from the mountains and plains converge here. Buses from Manila, or those plying north–south routes, make their stopovers here.

La Union is “ready for SM,” Sy stressed. Official statistics agree: The province’s economy is 81% service-driven, with low poverty (8.7%), a 99% literacy rate, and the region’s lowest loans-to-deposit ratio (14.4%) — signs of stability and spending power.

San Fernando, the capital, is a place shaped more by movement than by harvest. It hosts regional offices of national agencies, Region 1’s main public hospital, about a dozen private hospitals, nearly all universal, commercial and some rural banks, as well as some of the largest schools in northern Luzon.

To the north, San Juan thrives on surf and the Manila weekend crowd. To the south, Bauang stretches along the West Philippine Sea, once home to high-end resorts that hosted the country’s elite until the late 1980s. San Fernando sits between them, the weekday capital that handles the province’s governance and trade.

SURF-INSPIRED INTERIOR. Instagrammable and experiential corners are everywhere, including this one where visitors can try to balance on a surboard against a wall of painted waves. Photo by Lala Rimando  

The balance among these three towns mirrors La Union itself: leisure to one side, logistics on the other, bureaucracy in the middle. It is a rhythm of contrast. And the new mall now sits right at its center.

But like other century-old city centers, San Fernando’s is bursting at the seams. The MacArthur National Highway slices through narrow streets that loop around the Saint William the Hermit Cathedral, city hall, public market, and city plaza. Small groceries and hardware stores, still family-run, crowd the ground floors of aging buildings.

“Our city proper is beyond full,” explained La Union Representative Paolo Ortega. By nightfall, most storefronts close, leaving the city hushed except for pharmacies and ATMs glowing under fluorescent light.

Ortega said that around 2014, SM had originally looked at a possible site along the road leading to Poro Point Freeport Zone, a former American military base jutting into the West Philippine Sea. The area was just about six hectares, but the parties did not agree on the land price.

SM eventually settled three kilometers east of the old center, in Barangay Biday, along the Diversion Road built years earlier to reroute traffic. The current 9.8-hectare site was easier to consolidate and allowed room for expansion.

La Union was no stranger to malls before SM arrived. San Fernando already had community centers such as CSI Mall and Manna Mall, while nearby Bauang hosted smaller strip complexes serving weekend tourists. In 2021, Robinsons Place La Union opened a 4-level mall along the highway, with 35,000 sqm of gross floor area and a 9-level parking building for almost 500 vehicles.

ELYU VIBE. One wing of SM City La Union highlights the the “Elyu vibe.” Filament lights are used, and some interiors have a distressed design to promote relaxation and reduce stress. Pendant lamps made of seashells, rattan or bamboo by local craftsmen remind visitors of provincial life. On the upper ground level, SM executive Rona Carreon says they used industrial materials with mesh and neon lights to separate it from the other sections where the vibe is more corporate or similar to other box malls. Photo by Lala Rimando  

What distinguishes SM City La Union is scale and scope: 51,000 sqm of leasable space across 3 levels, 1,104 parking slots, and a 5,000-sqm transport terminal. With a reach closer to a regional hub than a neighborhood arcade, Ilocanos who once traveled an hour uphill to SM Baguio or two hours south to SM Rosales felt that, finally, they had one of their own.

“We’re not really only just after the town,” remarked Sy. “We’re making it a destination for the other people from the nearby towns.” SM City La Union expects up to 25,000 mallgoers on weekdays and 30,000 on weekends.

A mall by the Diversion Road

SM City La Union stands inland, but its design nods to the province’s coastal identity. Its ceilings ripple like waves, sunlight floods the atrium, and greenery softens the concrete.

INSIDE THE MALL. Greenery and curved ceilings soften the mall’s vast interior, echoing the natural contours of the coastal province. Photo by Lala Rimando

“We saw that San Fernando is already an economic hub. We just needed to blend in the ‘Elyu vibe,’” said Rona Vida Correa, SM’s Regional Operations head for Northern Luzon. “Elyu,” from the first letters of “La Union,” nods to the slow, easy, affordable lifestyle that has long drawn surfers and weekenders.

WHERE JOY GATHERS. Artist Isaiah Cacnio’s grand LED staircase is called “Where Joy Gathers.” Each step glows in ocean hues, or ripples like waves. Photo by Lala Rimando

Inside, shoppers pause at Where Joy Gathers, Isaiah Cacnio’s LED staircase glowing in ocean hues. Outside, Magwayen’s Chrysalis, Leeroy New’s bamboo-and-plastic sculpture, greets visitors at the entrance.

MAGWAYEN’S CHRYSALIS. The art installation by artist Leeroy New uses discarded water containers, bamboo ribs, and translucent sheets that shimmer like waves under the La Union sun. Photo by Lala Rimando

NOD TO THE SEA. Filipino artist Leeroy New’s spaceship-inspired canopy is a sculptural nod to the sea that has long defined the province’s identity. This tangle of bamboo, rattan, and upcycled plastic bottles greets visitors near SM City’s side entrance. Handout

A unique feature is the Sandbox, a 1,000-sqm open-air plaza of sand, benches, play equipment, and a small stage for events. “Our goal is [to make] this a hub where people not only shop but also learn and connect,” Correa said.

ONLY IN LA UNION. The Sandbox area is a 1,300-sqm open-air plaza covered in sand, a playful reimagining of a seaside hangout several hundreds meters from the actual La Union beaches. Volleyball, frisbee, sepak takraw, sunset concerts, dance parties, and other outdoor activities are held here. Photo by Lala Rimando

National and regional brands mix with local tenants, such as Arkus Balay, Kayu Café, Bebo’s Bombay Burrito, Rufilita’s Bakeshop, Seawadeeka, The Lewis House, and La Gula Desserts. The country’s first J.CO Reserve also opened here, featuring a copper ceiling painted with ocean motifs.

When asked about SM’s image as the “big, bad capitalist,” Correa described a corporate strategy rooted in what she called “progress that includes people.”

Years before the mall opened, SM Foundation had donated a new two-storey, four-classroom building to a nearby public elementary school and granted scholarships to its students. “We also continue the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan program with the Department of Agriculture to train farmers here and give them direct market access,” Correa said, referring to the produce under “Bonus” brand sold in the SM grocery.

It’s about being “a good neighbor,” she said, and a “partner,” not an adversary. “We always tell our teams that we want to help the businesses in the mall — and the communities outside — to evolve.”

San Fernando Mayor Hermenegildo Gualberto called the mall “a sign that San Fernando has arrived.” At full operation, he said, the complex will employ about 2,000 people, nearly 80% of them locals.

Traffic remains his concern. “We’re trying to manage it. The traffic, we are prepared for it. Hopefully our strategies in managing traffic would work,” Gualberto said. The city continues to reroute vehicles to keep the narrow Diversion Road moving.

An extension of the Tarlac-Pangasian-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) to San Juan, bypassing the clogged roads of San Fernando, is expected by 2028. The TPLEx has already cut travel time from Manila to northern Luzon and boosted tourist arrivals in La Union to over 540,000 in 2024.

Sounds of change

A fixture on tourist itineraries, Halo-Halo de Iloko is a converted ancestral home filled with Ilocano art and dishes. Founder Xavier Mercado built it long before “Elyu” became a hashtag. Now, he watches mall traffic pull away younger diners.

“When I first heard that an SM mall would be built here, I was a mix of emotions — excited, nervous, and a bit skeptical,” Mercado said. “I was worried that people would flock to the new mall and forget about my humble establishment.”

Since the opening, he said, “I’ve actually seen a decrease in customer flow and sales. I think it’s because SM brought in a lot of new choices of restaurants.”

FOOD HALL. Neon signs and tropical greens frame the mall’s expansive “food hall,” where locals and tourists gather for long meals and slow conversations, Elyu style. Photo by Lala Rimando  

Yet he sees the development as a turning point. “For me, the SM mall symbolizes progress and convenience,” he said. “It’s a sign that our city is growing and moving forward. But it’s also a reminder that we need to adapt and evolve to stay competitive.”

Mercado hopes large corporations and local government will treat small entrepreneurs as collaborators. “Local entrepreneurs like me are the backbone of this city,” he said. “We’re not just competitors, we’re partners in growth.”

For Nicole de Leon, a 28-year-old content creator who relocated to San Juan from Manila, the mall’s arrival was more about practicality than spectacle. “From the perspective of buying essentials, I think that the mall provides convenience,” she said. “The locals are able to purchase a lot of their essentials or maybe some of the things that they want that they couldn’t buy before.”

“A lot of stores have opened up that weren’t available here before,” she added. “As a girl, the variety of makeup now available here means I don’t have to them online. I can come here, test out the product. When I’m buying foundation, I can try what shade fits my skin.”

Beside the complex, Annabelle Tan lives close enough to hear its pulse. “Too much noise,” she said. “Party sounds, all day, especially at night. And not just on weekends. Their speakers are massive.”

Still, she noted its benefits — more jobs, more housing demand. “Transient demand is rising,” she said.

Her insurance clients, she added, often mention how small shops outside the mall are losing customers. Some are still recovering from Typhoon Emong, a Category 4 storm that damaged many houses and buildings in July. “Many are still recovering,” she said. “And now SM is here.”

By 7 pm, the old city’s shops are closed. But along the Diversion Road, headlights still stream past the mall’s façade. Inside, a movie begins. Outside, vendors sell grilled corn and fish balls under the blue light of the sculpture.

“Bulabog is real,” Anna Belle said earlier, half-amused. It is the soundtrack of adjustment — the hum of a place discovering that progress, too, has volume.

La Union was never built for stillness. Its name, after all, means union: of mountains and sea, of weekdays and weekends, of past and promise. The province, once known for its waves, is learning a new rhythm on land. – Rappler.com

Lala Rimando wrote about Philippine business, and managed newsrooms, including Newsbreak, ABS-CBN, Rappler, and Forbes, for over 25 years. She’s now based in La Union, taking care of her mom with dementia, and working on the multimedia biography of the late John Gokongwei.