AYALA Center Cebu had yet to resume mall operations yesterday, three days after a big fire destroyed Gaisano-led Metro Ayala Department Store and Supermarket, one of its anchor tenants.
In its official Facebook page, Ayala Center Cebu announced that the mall remains closed due to ongoing clearing and full-systems checks. It asked the public for understanding.
On Friday night, smoke was detected at the third floor of the toys stock room of Metro Department Store. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) declared the fire under control before 1 p.m. Sunday and completely out at 4:18 p.m. Monday.
Jeanette Japzon, communications manager at Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), said in a text message yesterday that the mall management has yet to determine the extent of the damage caused by the fire to the mall and its tenants.
“The mall will remain closed until the fire is declared out by the BFP and we have done our cleanup and full systems check,” said Japzon. CHI is the management company of Ayala Center Cebu. It is a subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc.
Hotline
The mall has mounted a help desk that the public can call for any concerns. It encouraged the public to call 0945-427-5291 for merchant concerns and 0917-622 -0333 for other concerns.
It also said that inquiries on mall operating hours will be posted on their official Facebook page.
Mall tenants were unable to check the status of their stores, as they are still waiting clearance to enter the mall.
The temporary closure also hurt other tenants, who lost customers during the weekend.
With Sinulog dawning in Cebu City, the fire that ignited days ago meant a lost opportunity, especially for stores like Islands Souvenirs, which had two displays inside, with one in a special Sinulog theme.
Lost revenue
Jonathan Jay Aldeguer, president and CEO of Islands Inc., said their accumulated loss was P3 million to P4 million, explaining that because it was a weekend, they were fully stocked.
Despite that loss, Aldeguer said he was relieved that two long-term employees in the Islands Souvenirs displays are fine. They will be reassigned to their Magallanes branch.
Also facing the effects of the fire is Pages Holdings Inc., which has several restaurants and stalls in the mall.
“We are waiting for them to allow us to check the status of our stores,” said Bunny Pages, chairman and CEO of Pages Holdings Inc., adding that they were greatly affected by the fire, as they have 63 workers in the mall.
Pages runs five brands inside Ayala Center Cebu: Mooon Cafe, Mismukuno Teppanyaki, Taters, Thirsty and Fruitfull Smoothies. The Thirsty stall located in the foodcourt of Metro Department Store was burned.
“We incurred substantial losses due to the incident. What we are now waiting for is the advice from the mall to open because we are ready to resume business,” said Pages.
The company has also deployed affected employees to other branches outside Ayala Center Cebu. “No one lost their jobs. Our HR department took care of them. We also gave our employees the option for a paid vacation until we are allowed to open,” he said.
In a text message, the vice presdident for Pages Holdings, John Pages, extended their sympathy to Metro Ayala and the Gaisano family. He also hopes that the mall could open by Sinulog.
Like Pages Holdings, homegrown Orange Brutus said in a statement that they haven’t checked the extent of the damage of their restaurant as they have not been allowed entry yet.
“Our employees are all safe and are deployed to some of our other stores that need more manpower,” said the management.
Coffee Dream at the fourth floor in the Ayala Center Cebu was also affected by the mall’s temporary closing.
In a phone interview, Coffee Dream founder Glenn Soco narrated that even though their business was not directly affected by the fire, the effects are still apparent as they lost customers at the peak of the weekend.
As to the damage, he could not give the figures yet but said he considers the perishables in the inventory as losses. As for his employees, he said he already paid them and assured that they’ll be assigned to the coffee shop’s other branches.
Annoucements
Other mall tenants like Rustan’s took to social media to inform the public about their operations.
“Rustan’s Ayala Cebu will continue to be closed until further notice. Because we value your safety and comfort, we are postponing the store opening so we can conduct a full systems check,” it said in its Facebook page. (Tessa Frances T. Aguilar, USJ-R Intern)