Ever Gotesco Malls
Ever Gotesco Malls Group of Companies, under the trade name Ever Gotesco Malls, is a shopping mall and retail operator in Metro Manila. It was incorporated on 1972 by Chinese Filipino entrepreneur Jose Go, whose main vision was to develop, conduct, operate and maintain affordable and accessible commercial shopping malls for the Filipino masses. Its main competitors are: Isetann, Gaisano, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, Walter Mart Malls, Ortigas Malls, Starmalls, Robinsons Malls, SM Supermalls and Ayala Malls. As of 2020, Ever Gotesco Commonwealth is the only one operating, as Ever Manila Plaza has permanently closed.
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![]() Ever Department Store | |
Shopping malls | |
Industry | Retail industry |
Founded | C.M. Recto Ave., Manila, Philippines (1972) |
Headquarters | C.M. Recto Ave., Sta. Cruz, Manila, Philippines |
Number of locations | 1 (as of 2020) |
Area served | Metro Manila |
Key people | Jose Go (Founder and CEO) |
Website | Ever Gotesco Malls Facebook Page |
History
Ever Gotesco Malls Group of Companies launched in 1972[1] when Jose Go, aged 24, opened the five-story Ever Emporium on C.M. Recto Ave. in Downtown Manila.
During the martial law, Go took advantage of the low-priced merchandise and was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping. His store sold low-priced goods to thousands of low-income students who survived on small allowances. The huge volumes sold made up for the goods' thin margins.
By 1975, Go had made Ever Emporium a popular retail name. From Recto, he expanded to Caloocan City, where he built the $6-million, 40,000-square meter Ever Gotesco mall that lured the low- to middle-income residents of the populous city to shop in droves.
With two major shopping malls in the capital and two more elsewhere, Go formed Ever Gotesco Resources and Holdings (EGRH) in 1996. An initial public offering (IPO) that year gave him enough ammunition to expand into uncharted territory.
EGRH acquired a struggling, publicly listed mining company called Suricon that was later renamed Gotesco Land. He also invested in a housing project in Bulacan, North Caloocan, and a hot springs resort in Laguna. He bought a small bank (that later became his biggest headache), a golf course in Tagaytay, and purchase 20 percent worth of stocks in a paging company.
His goal then was ambitious: to build a $2-billion retail-and-property conglomerate that churns out $350 million a year. Unfortunately, the 1997 Asian financial crisis caught him aggressively expanding into other businesses using borrowed dollars. The crisis doubled his debts and forced him to tap into the deposits of his wholly owned Orient Commercial Banking Corp.
The bank went down in history as the first victim of the Asian economic crisis when it closed on Valentine's Day, 1998. Until now, Go is still fighting the foreclosure of his assets by the central bank, which lent over P8 billion to Orient Bank. He is also facing multi-billion peso lawsuits and all his properties have been garnished by the courts. Some of his former properties either ended up being closed, acquired by competitors or shut down entirely.
On March 17, 2012, Ever Gotesco Grand Central Mall in Caloocan burned down in a devastating fire which raged for more than 20 hours. The mall closed down after fire brought under control, and was subsequently demolished and its property title foreclosed and sold.
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Ever Gotesco currently survives through its community supermarket chains in Metro Manila, aside from its remaining malls.
Branches
Current
Name | Image | Date opened | Address |
---|---|---|---|
Ever Gotesco Commonwealth Center | ![]() | 1994 | Commonwealth Avenue cor. Batasan Hills, Quezon City, Metro Manila |
Former
Name | Image | Date opened | Date closed | Address | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ever Gotesco Grand Central | ![]() | 1988 | March 17, 2012 | Rizal Ave Ext, East Grace Park cor. Bustamante Street, Caloocan, Metro Manila | Permanently closed due to fire damage. Structure was demolished and for a time was an artificial lake. SM Prime Holdings will reconstruct and redevelop the area as SM City Grand Central, targeted for 2021. |
Ever Gotesco Ortigas Complex | ![]() | October 1995 | January 1, 2016 | Ortigas Ave Ext, Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Pasig, Metro Manila | Acquired by SM Prime Holdings, renamed and redeveloped as SM City East Ortigas, which was opened on December 2, 2016. |
Ever Center Las Piñas | 1989 | 1997 | Alabang-Zapote Road, Las Piñas | Closed. Structure of former mall still intact. In mid-2000s the site was supposed to be converted to a certain Dragon Mall. | |
Ever Malls Manila Plaza | ![]() | 1996 | 2020 | Claro M. Recto Avenue, Quiapo, Manila, Metro Manila | Permanently closed on June 2020. |
References
External links
- Ever Gotesco Malls. Official Facebook Page
- Ever Gotesco Malls. Official Twitter Page