Are You Ready to Shop
Until You Drop?

If you have the stamina and loads of cash to spend then Santa Rosa Shopping is welcome activity for you. Me, I think I am like most guys..we are not that much into shopping. I go to the mall with a specific item to buy. Upon entering the mall, i normally go to where the item is on display. Go there and pay, soon I am already on my way out of the mall's doors. It will take me about 10 minutes to do that. Still, I like the bonding and interaction I have with my kids and wife when we are inside the mall either for just eating out or having our grocery there. At the end of the day, I guess that what shopping does for me. Will definitely never exchange those moments for anything else.

SM Santa Rosa - you must have been out of the country since childhood if you do not know what an SM mall looked like. Owned by one the business tycoons and the richest man in the Philippines - Henry Sy. Yes, Sta. Rosa have a SM ( Shoe Mart ) Mall. One of the indicator that you have a good market base and a good place, you'll attract this biggest chain of store in the country. We are a staple customer of this mall and it is hard to imagine living in Santa Rosa without this mall especially on weekends.

Vital Stats of this Super Mall (source: www.smsupermalls.com):

The ultimate shopping destination south of the metro, SM City Sta. Rosa boasts of over 180 stores ranging from apparel, housewares, state of the art appliances, and hi-tech gizmos. Strategically located in a 170 hectare patch of land, SM City Sta. Rosa has 3,351 parking slots which make parking 100% hassle free.

A popular attraction is the 50 sq.m butterfly garden right at the heart of the mall. With over 20 different species of butterfly at any given day, the butterfly garden is a welcome respite from all the stress brought about by daily activities.

SM City Sta. Rosa also has the SM Department Store, SM Supermarket, Ace Hardware, Watson’s, SM Appliance and Our Home as its major anchors. Kids and adults alike will definitely find time to have fun at Tom’s World and Quantum. While moms and dads can sit back, relax and check out the latest movies in any of SM City Sta. Rosa’s four (4) state-of-the-art cinemas that can accommodate more than 2,000 people.

Gastronomic feasts await the food lover at more than 20 food outlets which offer lip-smacking affordable food choices. SM City Sta. Rosa also has the SM Foodcourt which can accommodate large families and offers a wide variety of dishes that appeals to the Filipino palate.

For that all important company event, school graduation and holiday bazaars, SM City Sta. Rosa has the Event Center, a 3,000 sq.m. Hall that has a capacity to hold almost 5,000 people.

SM City Sta. Rosa, with its wide variety of shopping, dining and entertainment options, brings to the family maximum shopping pleasure which only SM Supermalls can offer!

Target Mall - this mall is in the center of Balibago Complex of owned by the Canicosa family. I consider this mall as the "Factory Workers" shopping paradise. It caters mainly to the Factory Workers who were dropped by their Service Buses near it. There is a FX Terminal in front of it that provides transportation to employees residing in Santa Rosa to their places of work in Manila or in Batangas.

Rey-Sal - more of a grocery supermarket type. If you have a sari-sari store, this your choice to get wholesale price for later resell at retail price.

South Supermarket - one of the earliest established grocery supermarket in Baragay Balibago along National Highway. It's popularity dwindled as the big malls entered the scene or probably due to the management did not coped well with the fast pace of change happening in the city. I saw a sign on their fence saying that they will be moving to Santa Rosa Estates near Paseo. I do hope they start anew and revive their brand in the eyes of their loyal and potential customers.

Waltermart - this is probably my mall of choice as long as I live in San Lorenzo South Subdivision because of its proximity...I can jog my way to this mall in about 30 minutes..maybe I can trim it down to sub-20 mins as I get myself back into my ideal weight. Through the thick and thin I will stand by this yellow colored mall. I really thought that this is the same Wal Mart in the US....I learned it was not after about three years. The grocery is good if not better than SM Sta. Rosa minus the food stalls after the cashiers' counters.Then there is the Abenson where we go and buy our home appliances.It also have Mercury Drug, McDonalds, Goldilocks, ATM Machines, Abenson, Handyman, Expression and other useful stores as far as I am concerned.

Paseo de Sta. Rosa Country Market-my wife love's this market, specifically the wet market. The Wet Market is just one feature of Paseo de Sta. Rosa. Greenfield Development painstakingly improve on this area bit by bit to what it is today. We normally go there during Sunday mornings. Have our breakfast at Jollibee. I usally have my Hot Choco and Tapsilog and my free STAR Newspaper...Nice way to start the day! Then off we go to the market which has been relocated at the back lot of Paseo de Sta. Rosa to give way to additional developments. Just to give you a background and milestone of this place (source: www.greenfield.com.ph ):

Developments: Paseo1 (devt: 1996, launched: 1997), Althea (1997, 1998), Country Market (1999, 2000), Paseo 2 (2001, 2002), Adelaida (2001, 2002), Paseo 3 (2005, 2006), Paseo 1 extension (2007, 2007), Country Market Renovation (2007, 2008-phase1), Transport Terminal (2007, 2008), Paseo 4 (Sept. 10, 2008, July 2009)

Major Brands/Institutions: Nike, Speedo, Adidas, All Flipflops, Levi’s, Café Breton, Starbucks, Kanin Club, Brothers Burger, Pancake House, Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich Pizza, Shakey’s, Razon’s, Yellow Cab, Mecury Drugstore, National Bookstore, Ateneo Graduate School of Business

Project Description:

Paseo de Sta. Rosa is Greenfield City’s primary icon and the lifeblood of its commercial and lifestyle center. With a vibrant 16.3 hectares of sophisticated retail mix and 4.36 hectares more for expansion, Paseo remains the popular choice of the affluent resident families, the academic community at Sta.Rosa, professionals of the nearby industrial parks and tourists of key destinations traversing the Tagaytay-Balibago Road (Nasugbu, Calatagan, etc.). If you’re thinking New Orleans Quarter’s Bourbon Street minus the strip clubs come nightfall, The Promenade is the place to go. An outdoor bar & restaurant hub that houses El Simon, Spirits and Sitio Bar among others, it is designed to delight customers with lively music events held regularly at Adelaida. At daytime, tourists and transients have their fill of superior dining experience at Poquito Mas or choose from a variety of cuisines offered by the strip of casual dining and food shops. For more specific needs, travelers may enjoy the convenience of Gana Phil Language Center, Safari Rent-A-Car or the handful of travel service centers and banks. If they are nearing the end of their trip, Banig Handicrafts & Novelties or Ellene Art Gallery might be interesting stopovers.

On a more regular basis, residents enjoy hanging out at Quantum for amusement or shopping at brand outlets such as Nike, Speedo, Havaianas, Crocs, Dunlop, Slazenger or Levi’s. When done shopping or sports house hopping, families may take pleasure in this pedestrian-friendly, streetscape character, and comfortably walk over to Paseo 2’s service establishments, go for a light meal at Razon’s or Yellow Cab, or pick up some fresh produce at the neighboring Country Market.

On most days, members of the Ateneo Graduate School and the academic community may be seen brainstorming for case studies at Starbucks or preparing their presentations while enjoying Café Breton’s famous crepes. When they don’t have the luxury of time, grabbing a quick bite at Jollibee, Chowking or Pancake House before an exam is tastefully expedient. In a similar fashion, executives from the surrounding industrial parks frequent Kanin Club for business luncheons or munch Brothers Burger over light-hearted office discussions.

For the local and long-route travelers, Paseo’s Transport Terminal provides a professional transit system combined with an organized mix of convenient passenger-centric retail. Dry goods, meat, poultry, marine produce, household cleaning and personal care products are housed within a modern Mediterranean complex of Open Space layout where food stalls and fastfood stores abound.

As the new growth center gets bigger so does Paseo de Sta. Rosa, on which same complex will rise additional blocks for a hypermarket, drive-through chains, parking and who knows what else.

The above list are just the tip of the iceberg. There's more Shopping Malls and other stores to explore/describe here. I'll definitely add more soon...stay tuned and come back to this page from time to time.

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