Ever Gotesco Malls

Ever Gotesco Malls
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
 2 branches (as of 2018)
Area served
 Metro Manila
Key people
 Jose Go (Founder and CEO)
Website Ever Gotesco Malls Facebook Page

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. It has 2 branches as of 2018.

History

Ever Department Store

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 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.

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.

Branches

Current

NameImageDate openedAddress
Ever Gotesco Commonwealth Center1994Commonwealth Ave cor. Batasan Hills, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Ever Gotesco Manila Plaza1996C. M. Recto Ave., Quiapo, Manila, Metro Manila

Former

NameImageDate openedDate closedAddressFate
Ever Gotesco Grand Central1988March 17, 2012Rizal Ave Ext, East Grace Park cor. Bustamante Street, Caloocan, Metro ManilaPermanently 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 2019.
Ever Gotesco Ortigas ComplexOctober 1995January 1, 2016Ortigas Ave Ext, Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Pasig, Metro ManilaAcquired by SM Prime Holdings, renamed and redeveloped as SM City East Ortigas, which was opened on December 2, 2016.

References

  1. ↑ History of Ever Gotesco Malls
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