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The Gaisano-led company acquired 9,000 square meters (sq.m) of commercial property inside the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park, the integrated township development by Megaworld Corp. in Iloilo City.

The Vicsal Group is bringing its Metro retail store formats, Metro Department Store and Metro Supermarket, into the township, which is located along Megaworld Boulevard, just between Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and the Festive Walk Mall.

“We are proud to have cemented a formidable partnership with Megaworld Corporation, one of the country’s most reputable developers, and we look forward to realize synergies from this strategic alliance,” said Frank Gaisano, chairman and chief executive officer of Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc., in a statement sent yesterday.

“As a retail industry leader, Metro’s linkage with property developers is crucial to our success, and this partnership will be mutually beneficial as both Megaworld and Metro move towards aggressive expansion,” he added.

Kevin Tan, first vice president and head of commercial at Megaworld welcomed the entry of Metro Retail Stores in their township development, saying their presence will provide a wide variety of retail offerings to the growing population of the township.

Once completed, the Iloilo Business Park is envisioned to be the center of business, tourism and lifestyle in Region 6.

Aside from the Metro retail outlets, the township will also be home to two first-class business hotels: the Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Courtyard by Marriott; the Iloilo Convention Center, which will be the biggest convention facility in the region; luxury residential condominiums; state-of-the-art BPO office towers; the 1.1-kilometer Street of Festive Walk, the longest commercial and retail strip in VisMin; a nine-hectare commercial and boutique hotel district; as well as leisure and recreational parks and amenities.

In the next three years, the township will be home to around 40,000 business process outsourcing (BPO) workers, making it the biggest BPO hub in Western Visayas.

“The businesses that will rise in Iloilo Business Park will certainly benefit from the growing population of the township. With the residential and BPO population alone, a ready market awaits our commercial and retail partners such as the Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. and those that will also open in our malls and commercial centers within the township,” said Tan.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 06, 2015.