Kadayawan Festival 2008 a boon to Davao business establishments

Many business establishments in Davao City are looking forward to the holding of Kadayawan Festival as an event that draws more traffic to the city thus renewing their support to the holding of the festivities.

During the Kapehan sa Dabaw held Monday at Café Rysus of SM City, Debby A. Go, mall manager of SM City Davao acknowledged that the Kadayawan really made the city atmosphere very festive and noticed that more provincial visitors and those from other neighboring areas timed their shopping during this kind of event.

Go said that they maintain their Diamond Sponsorship with the Kadayawan Festival and they support the Davao City government and private sector that runs the festival even as she said that they are also supporting programs and projects that benefits the people of Davao.

She said even if their traffic is heaviest during December, they consider other events in Davao City as equally important especially the Kadayawan Festival.

SM group brand manager Russel D. Alaba on the other hand said they are happy to report that SM Davao is among the top performers of the SM malls in the country and that the Davao City mall is doing well.

“We are bullish about the happenings in Davao,” he said.

Go meanwhile said that they remain optimistic that they could meet their target despite the economic crunch and knowing that they are still into the first six months of operation although she said that their performance from January to June this year is higher compared to the same period in 2007.

Go said there is slow movement for items considered by shoppers as luxurious and remain strong on basic items and food making their Supermarket as a strong anchor. The RTWs also is performing well, she said.

With the entry of new malls in Davao City, Go said SM maintains and strengthens its affiliates even as she said that they will bring in stronger brands and stronger labels.

Alaba on the other hand said their efforts are focus in coming up with specific marketing plan that has global appeal just like in the Supermarket where they dedicated an area for Asian products because of the increase in the number of foreign shoppers like the Koreans.

Meanwhile, he said other than the lined up events for Kadayawan, SM Davao will run the Kadayawan Fashion Edge which is inspired by the recent season of fashion week at SMX where three Davao designers participated in the event highlighting their creation.

He vowed that they will make the Kadayawan Festival event at SM City Davao a notch higher as they will run a month-long activities in support for the August festival.

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