Glorietta

For the place in California, see Glorietta, Orinda, California.

Glorietta

Glorietta 5 façade.
Location	Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Opening date	1991
Developer	Ayala Land
Management	Ayala Malls
Owner	Zobel de Ayala family
No. of stores and services	more than 500 shops and restaurants
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	250,000 m²
Parking	2000+ cars
No. of floors	5 floors
Website	Glorietta

Glorietta is a large shopping mall in the Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The mall is owned by the Zobel de Ayala family and its holding company, Ayala Corporation. 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 centre at its heart often used to stage special events. Glorietta 1-4 is integrated with the nearby Greenbelt Mall, SM Makati, Rustan's Makati and The Landmark, an older department store. Glorietta 5 is fully detached, located in front of Hotel Intercontinental Manila and beside Rustan's Department Store, as part of the Ayala Land's plan of redeveloping the complex. The tenants affected by the October 19, 2007 explosion will be given an option to relocate there.

History

A shot of the central atrium area during an electronics event

Glorietta was originally a park surrounded by establishments, and was used as a location by Viva Films for its youth-oriented movie Hotshots. In the early 1990s the Zobel De Ayala family decided to renovate Glorietta, Quad, Greenbelt and the whole of the Makati Commercial Centre into a whole new mall named Ayala Center.

The plan was to convert Glorietta into an indoor facility and integrate it with existing nearby buildings as well as newly-constructed ones such as the QUAD cinemas.

Glorietta mall was opened in 1991 with a gross leasable area of 250,000 m², envisioned as one of the largest malls in the Philippines. By the mid- and late 1990's, Glorietta reached its popularity as a premier mall. Glorietta offers shopping and dining options ranging from apparel, accessories, home furniture, appliances to speciality brands. It has an air-conditioned atrium with water features, an indoor playground for children, and an activity center that hosts concerts and shows.^{[citation needed]}

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

Awards

• Shopping Center of the Year (Philippine Retailer's Association and Department of Trade & Industry, 2002 & 2004)^{[citation needed]}

Tenants

Current tenants

• The Landmark Makati
• The Link/Anson's
• Shangri-la Makati Hotel
• Park Square 1
• SM Makati
• Rustan's Makati
• Hard Rock Cafe
• Papemelroti
• TGI Fridays
• Triple V
• Gold's Gym
• Music One
• Toys "R" Us
• Timezone

Future Tenants

• Manila Raffles Suites
• Holiday Inn & Suites Makati

Incidents

2000 Glorietta explosion

On May 17, 2000, thirteen people were injured in an explosion at Glorietta. Police said the blast originated from a comfort room of a restaurant and affected a nearby video game arcade (Timezone). Two rival "hip-hop" gangs were seen fighting near the restaurant shortly before the blast occurred.

Oakwood mutiny

Main article: Oakwood mutiny

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

2005 Valentine's Day bombings

On February 14, 2005, a passenger bus was bombed in Makati City, 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 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 LPG explosion in a restaurant, but later began investigating the probability that the cause of the explosion was a C-4 bomb. 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, 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.

Glorietta 4 Fire

Two days after the explosion, October 21, a fire broke out at around noon in the kitchen of one of the restaurants in Glorietta 4. It was put out by firemen an hour later. 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 authority said that the open areas that is not affected by the disasters are business as usual.

See also

• 2007 Glorietta bombing

External links

• Ayala Malls