Glorietta

Glorietta is a shopping mall complex in the Ayala Center, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. The mall is owned by Ayala Land and operated through its subsidiary, the Ayala Malls. The mall is divided into five sections (named Glorietta 1–5) and contains many shops and restaurants, as well as cinemas, a gym, arcades and a large central activity center, often used to stage events.

For the communities in California, see Glorietta, California.
Glorietta
Glorietta 5 (right) facing Glorietta 4 (left) across Courtyard Drive, April 2014
LocationAyala Center, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
Opening date
  • Old Glorietta 1 & 2: 1991
  • Glorietta 3: 1992
  • Glorietta 4: 1998
  • Glorietta 5: 2009
  • New Glorietta 1 & 2: November 5 and December 7, 2012
DeveloperAyala Land
ManagementAyala Malls
OwnerZobel de Ayala family
No. of stores and services500+ shops and restaurants
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft)
No. of floors
  • Glorietta 1, 2, and 4: 4
  • Glorietta 3: 3
  • Glorietta 5: 8
Public transit access 3 Ayala
BGC Bus:  WX01   EX01   L01   NX01   NR01  EDSA Ayala
 E  33  35  Ayala
 14  15  16  Glorietta 5
Websiteayalamalls.com/malls/info/1/Glorietta

Glorietta 1-4 is integrated with the nearby Greenbelt, SM Makati, Rustan's Makati and The Landmark. Glorietta 5 is fully detached, located in front of the lot formerly occupied by an open parking area between Hotel InterContinental Manila and Rustan's Department Store. The tenants affected by the October 19, 2007 explosion were given an option to relocate there.[1]

History
A shot of the central atrium area during an electronics event

Glorietta was originally a park centrally located in the Makati Commercial Center complex. The park, with its outdoor stage for event hosting, was built in the 1970s. The Makati Commercial Center complex, which included several independent small arcades and the Quad cinemas plus retail outlets. In the early 1990s, Ayala Corporation decided to redevelop Makati Commercial Center into a new development named the Ayala Center in 1991. The plan called for the redevelopment of Glorietta and the surrounding buildings into a single shopping mall.

The new Glorietta mall opened in 1992 with a gross leasable area of 250,000 m2, envisioned as one of the largest malls in the Philippines. The mall was divided into four sections: Quad 1 - which retained the original four Quad cinemas and would operate until 2010; Quad 2 - which had a theme park named Glico's Great Adventure and was soon to become the main setting for a deadly explosion in 2007; Quad 3 - which would soon be the home of international restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Fridays; and Glorietta 4, a new hub for entertainment with a Timezone branch and seven additional cinemas, and was also home to Oakwood Premier (now Ascott Makati), a premier hotel that stood on top of the mall and became the setting for the Oakwood mutiny, a political siege led by the Magdalo Group which occurred in 2003. All four components were home to a variety of shops and restaurants. While Quad 1, 2, and 3 all opened in 1992, Glorietta 4 opened in 1998, just six years later, as a result of the construction of Oakwood Premier. With the opening of Glorietta 4, Quads 1, 2 and 3 would be renamed Glorietta 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

Tenants that set up shop in Ayala Center prior to Glorietta's development, most notably Mercury Drug, Automatic Center, Jollibee, Max's, and McDonald's also found a new home in Glorietta. The department stores surrounding the mall, SM Makati, The Landmark, and Rustans, were utilized by Glorietta as its anchor tenants for its supermarkets and department stores.

By the mid- and late 1990s, Glorietta gained popularity as a premier mall. It has an air-conditioned atrium with water features, an indoor children's playground, and an activity center that hosts concerts and shows.

The mall was known as Quad until 1997, when it adopted Glorietta as its present name, though the Glorietta name was used as a secondary branding since 1992. Glorietta is the Spanish word used to describe the public meeting place in Spanish colonial-era designed towns throughout the Philippines.

Other new buildings were also constructed between 1999 and 2005, making Glorietta bigger than its original construction plan.

Glorietta Building complex in 2008
Glorietta 5 and the under-construction One Ayala Avenue on the background
The rebuilt Glorietta 1 & 2

In 2010, Glorietta 1 and 2 were demolished for redevelopment with a new mall, hotel (Holiday Inn and Fairmont Suites) BPO offices and condos (Park Terraces and Garden Terraces). Glorietta 1 was opened on November 5, 2012 with a new activity center, as Glorietta 2 opened on December 7 of the same year. Glorietta 3 is planned to be demolished to finalize a redeveloped Glorietta mall complex, hailed as the crown jewel of Ayala, but was pushed back to a later date for undisclosed reasons.

A new roofdeck on top of Glorietta 1 and 2 was built, dubbed as Top of The Glo, after a naming competition held in their Facebook page. Under Mitsubishi's partnership, a Japan-inspired retail area will open at the roofdeck with HalloHallo as its anchor. The roofdeck retail area will have a GLA of 2,500 square meters. An events area will be built for MNL48, the Philippines' version of Japanese idol group AKB48.[2][3] The roofdeck is connected to the 4th level of Holiday Inn and Suites Makati and via a walkway to Glorietta 4 Cinemas at the same level. The Glorietta 2 section of the roofdeck, which is dubbed "Japan Town," opened in June 2019.

Almost all of the tenants in Glorietta 5 were closed with Bo's Coffee, Baskin Robbins, Anytime Fitness, and some other tenants left at the mall. The entire ground and second levels of Glorietta 5 were replaced by a flagship Uniqlo store, bigger than its existing store at that wing. The Uniqlo flagship store opened in October 2018.

In August 2019, a remodeled Food Choices area in Glorietta 4 was opened. The section opened with more food shops, and the area was extended into the location formerly occupied by Automatic Centre and BLIMS Fine Furniture. Consequently, both these stores were moved to the former location of National Bookstore's third floor location in Glorietta 1 as part of the remodeling project. BLIMS re-opened at its new location in April, while Automatic Centre opened their relocated store in June.

A future walkway will connect to the new Ayala Mall built in the One Ayala complex, located in the former Hotel InterContinental Manila site. The main atrium at the center of the mall was closed for a major renovation in early 2019 and reopened on November in the same year.

Incidents

2000 Glorietta 2 Explosion

On May 17, 2000, thirteen people were injured in an explosion at Glorietta 2. Police said the blast originated from a restroom of a restaurant and affected Timezone, a nearby game arcade center, as well as the ceiling of the bridge connecting Glorietta 2 to the then Park Square 2. Two rival gangs were seen fighting near the restaurant shortly before the blast occurred.[4]

Oakwood mutiny
Main article: Oakwood mutiny

On July 27, 2003, Magdalo soldiers led by Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes IV took control of the Oakwood apartments in Makati. Glorietta, where the Oakwood Premier stood, was also closed during the siege.

2005 Valentine's Day bombings
Main article: 2005 Valentine's Day bombings

On February 14, 2005, a passenger bus was bombed in Makati, near Glorietta. Four people were killed and 36 injured. On the same day, a mall in General Santos City was also bombed. Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility, with spokesperson Abu Solaiman saying on a radio interview: "This is our Valentine gift to Gloria".

2007 Glorietta 2 Explosion
Main article: 2007 Glorietta explosion

On October 19, 2007, an explosion in Glorietta 2 killed eleven people and injured a hundred others. Initially, authorities termed it a liquefied petroleum gas explosion in a restaurant, but later began investigating the possibility that the explosion may have been a C-4 bomb.[5][6] The explosion destroyed much of Glorietta 2's main lobby and vehicles parked outside.

Several days later, October 23, 2007, senior government officials expressed "a high level of certainty" that the explosion was an accident,[7] but the bomb theory has not been totally ruled out. This was brought on by the inability of experts to find bomb components after four days of rigorous investigation. It is believed that the explosion was caused by underground structures in the mall that might have triggered the blast, pending further investigation.

Fire incidents
Glorietta 4 (2007)

Two days after the explosion, October 21, a fire broke out at noon in the kitchen of one of the restaurants in Glorietta 4. It was put out by firemen an hour later.[8] The authorities announced that this incident was in no way associated with the earlier Glorietta blast. Glorietta 4 was closed, right after this disaster, while the authorities indicated that it was business as usual in the open areas not affected by the fire.

Glorietta 3 (2016)

On November 20, 2016 at around 8 in the evening, fire struck a restaurant in Glorietta 3 which was raised at Fire Alarm Number 1. People within the entire Glorietta Mall were evacuated which caused a minor stampede due to the fear of a repeat of the 2007 Blast. After more than an hour the fire was declared to be under control by the authorities with no injuries and casualties. The mall was closed for the rest of the evening to give way for investigations such as arson as well as to allow for the management to assess the damages.[9]

Awards

• Shopping Center of the Year (Philippine Retailer's Association and Department of Trade & Industry, 2002 & 2004)

See also

References
  1. "Glorietta 2 shops to relocate to Glorietta 5". Yehey News/Manila Standard. Yehey! Corporation. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  2. "Philippines Latest News".
  3. Mendoza, Red (June 28, 2017). "Hallohallo to Build 'Entertainment Complex' at Glorietta".
  4. "A record of mall explosions in RP". GMA News.TV. GMA Network. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. Gutierrez, Jason (2008-10-20). "Military explosives may have been used in bomb blast". Inquirer.Net. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  6. "C-4 bomb component used in Glorietta blast - PNP chemist". GMANews.tv. GMA Network. 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  7. Lim Ubac, Michael (2007-10-24). "Glorietta 2 blast likely an accident -- PNP". Inquirer.net. Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  8. "Fire guts Glorietta 4 restaurant in Makati City". GMANews.tv. GMA Network, INC. 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  9. "Fire Hits Restaurant at Glorietta 3". Rappler.com. Rappler. 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
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