The Ayala Center Story: Part 1 – The Makati Commercial Center

The Urban Roamer begins his new series on the saga of Ayala Center, starting with its beginnings as the Makati Commercial Center.

reminiscing Cubao: when department stores were kings

As was mentioned in a previous entry, Cubao at its height was a premier commercial destination. For casual shoppers and enthusiasts, Cubao was one of the top destinations in mind if you’re looking for variety and great bargains to boot.

To give you a good idea of how bustling was Cubao’s shopping activity during its heyday, I would refer you to this customized Google Earth map I made. Here you can see that the department stores (who at the time were the upper echelons of the shopping hierarchy) were located right across or next to each other. You can imagine the chaos if there was a simultaneous sale that will be held by 2 or more stores there.

cubao

We’ve already talked about C.O.D.; let’s talk about the other department stores which not only served as competition but contributed to the overall atmosphere of Cubao that is now a stuff of memories. Many of them I have known and visited so I’ll try to provide a better picture based on what I remember about them.

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