Uniwide Sales
 | |
| Shopping malls | |
| Industry | Shopping Malls |
| Founded |
January 1975 Avenida Rizal, Manila |
| Headquarters | Parañaque and Las Piñas |
Number of locations | 2 |
Area served | Philippines |
Key people | Jimmy Gow (Founder, Chairman and CEO) |
| Owner | Uniwide Holdings Inc. |
| Website | http://www.uni-wide.com (Archived from the Internet Archive) |
Uniwide Sales, Inc. was a retail operator in Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was incorporated in January 1975 by Chinese Filipino entrepreneur Jimmy Gow to operate Uniwide commercial shopping centers such as the lease of commercial spaces within the compound of their malls and department stores.
Uniwide had about 2,000 employees. The competing retailers of the 1970s and the 1980s were: COD Department Store, Ever Gotesco Malls, Plaza Fair and Isetann but lagged behind SM Supermalls, Robinsons Malls and Ayala Malls. It had two branches and was set to be close down by the order of Securities and Exchange Commission.
History
The roots of Uniwide date back to January 1975[1] when it established in Avenida Rizal as Uniwide Sales Textile Bargain House Center. With the success, the Gow family expanded to ready-to-wear apparel, accessories and then became a complete department store and supermarket chain. The company introduced the mass-oriented warehouse club concept in the country in 1988. It opened a warehouse clubs in prime locations in the country in the next two years, which also started the company’s woes. Some of its assets in prime location such as its unfinished building in Cubao, Quezon City were already bought by Puregold Price Club Inc. of the Co family. Another unfinished building in Mandaue City, Cebu at that time was supposedly as a warehouse club, which was occupied by the informal settlers and today, the site was subsequently occupied and converted into a shopping centre named Parkmall. The warehouse in Marcos Highway was already demolished and the lot sold to Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corporation's commercial centers division to pave the way for Robinsons Metro East and in Libis, Quezon City to pave way for Wilcon Depot. Its remaining warehouse club is in the reclamation area in Roxas Boulevard in Uniwide Coastal Mall in Parañaque, Metromall in Las Piñas, Tarlac City, Malolos in Bulacan, Caloocan, Novaliches in Quezon City, and Sucat in Parañaque (these said branches were later became Super 8 Grocery Warehouse in 2006, when these warehouse clubs were sold its stake). From 1992 to 1999, in partnership with RPN-9, they have a quiz show called Battle of the Brains.
In 1998, it entered into corporate rehabilitation during the Asian financial crisis. At that time, the company’s retail business has a network of eight warehouse clubs and two department stores. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from its peak of P14.5 billion in 1997 to just about P4.3 billion in 2000.
Many times, they attempted to clear Baguio City Market in Baguio City to build a mall, but due to the opposition from the vendors, stall owners and associations kept the project on hold.