Robinsons Galleria

Robinsons Galleria (also known as Robinsons Galleria Ortigas) is a mixed-use complex and shopping mall located at EDSA ( C-4) corner Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the flagship mall of Robinsons Malls and is the first to bear the ''Galleria'' branding. It was opened on January 12, 1990, with a total gross floor area of approximately .

The mall

Robinsons Galleria is a 5-level shopping mall and a landmark along EDSA and Ortigas Avenue, with more than 400 shops, dining outlets, entertainment facilities, and service centers. It is located within a mixed-use complex comprising two high-rise office towers: the Galleria Corporate Center and Robinsons Equitable Tower, and three hotels: the Holiday Inn & Suites Manila Galleria, the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, and the Galleria Regency.

One of the major mall tenants is the central passport office of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Metro Manila called ''DFA Consular Office NCR-Central,'' located on the first floor of the ''Lingkod Pinoy Center'' and inaugurated in September 2012.

History

The mall's location was once open land owned by the SSS in the Ortigas Central Business District (now Ortigas Center). In February 1986, the portion of the land facing EDSA was where participants in the People Power Revolution also protested; tanks going north to Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame were stopped at this spot. In 1987, John Gokongwei bought a large portion of the land from the SSS, while the Archdiocese of Manila had partly purchased the portion of the land near the intersection. This plot today is the site of EDSA Shrine, which belongs to the Archdiocese up to date.

Construction began in mid-1988 and finished in late 1989. The mall opened in 1990, being the first mall of Robinsons Malls. Since its opening, several renovations have been made to the mall, expanding its area to 216,000 square meters.

Incidents

*On March 29, 2012, one security guard was killed and six others wounded after two armed robbers lobbed a couple of grenades while fleeing with their loot. The Philippine National Police spokesman, Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., said that by 10:15 a.m. PHT, two unidentified suspects in disguise as guards attacked two bank guards who were escorting bank tellers and were supposed to deliver an undetermined amount of money in a money changer shop at the mall's ground floor.
*On October 29, 2013, a fire broke out inside the department store's toy section at around 11:00 p.m., when the employees, decorating Christmas lights inside the mall, rushed outside to flee the premises. Guests from the Holiday Inn evacuated and moved to the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel. The fire raged for about six hours and was under control the following morning, and the mall was closed until noon on November 1, 2013.

Redevelopment

The mall has undergone several renovations since it opened in 1990. In 2012, the mall took its major facelift with an additional GLA of around 100,000 square meters that can cater to at least 50 tenants. The said developments expanded the mall's GLA to 216,000 square meters.

The latest redevelopment started in 2016. and will be done in 2 phases. The first renovation phase was from May to October 2016, while the second phase was to begin in May 2017. Aside from major renovations within the mall, the mall veranda will host more service stores related to health and beauty. There will be an upper veranda on the 3rd floor, formerly occupying the sports loop, that will accommodate more dining choices. The mall's renovation is almost complete.

The mall's renovation added wooden elements, a design similar to Robinsons Galleria Cebu.

Transportation links

The mall, being at the corner of two busy thoroughfares, is considered a major transport hub for commuters going between Metro Manila and Rizal, with five distinct public transport terminals serving jeepney routes, bus routes, UV Express routes, and Premium Point-to-Point (P2P) bus routes.
* Carpark Annex Terminal: Near the EDSA Shrine and along EDSA. Serves UV Express routes to and from Pasig and Cainta.
* EDSA Terminal: Near the EDSA Shrine and along EDSA. Serves P2P bus routes to and from Makati and Alabang and the UBE Express P2P Bus to Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
* Ortigas Terminal: Along Ortigas Avenue. Serves P2P bus routes to and from Lipa and Batangas City, as well as jeepney routes to and from San Juan and Quezon City and bus routes to and from San Juan, Quezon City, Taytay, Angono, and Quiapo.
* Veranda Terminal: Near Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria and along Ortigas Avenue. Serves UV Express routes to and from Pasig proper, Marikina proper, Concepcion, Antipolo, Angono, Binangonan, and Cardona.
* ADB Terminal: Near Holiday Inn and along ADB Avenue. Serves UV Express routes around the Ortigas Center.

The mall is also near Ortigas station of the MRT Line 3 and the Ortigas stop of the EDSA Carousel, which both run along EDSA. The future EDSA station of the MRT Line 4 will be located near the intersection of EDSA and Ortigas within the mall's vicinity.

In popular culture

An urban legend relating to the mall flourished in the 1990s, which claimed that a half-snake, half-human creature that resided in the basement of the mall and purported to be a lucky charm installed by the Gokongwei family, feeding it to unsuspecting victims from a supposed shaft from a dressing room. Among its supposed victims were actresses Alice Dixson and Rita Avila. Although the rumor was considered absurd and dead, it was revived in 2010 after a supposed YouTube video depicting it surfaced. Businesswoman Robina Gokongwei-Pe asserted in 2008 that the tale emerged from "market competition". Dixson herself dismissed the entire narrative as fake, and in 2020, she finally put the tale to rest through a YouTube video. She had appeared in a videographic advertisement by Robinsons Galleria two years earlier, poking fun at and lampooning the extinct urban legend.

References

{{Metro Manila malls

Shopping malls established in 1990
1990 establishments in the Philippines
Buildings and structures in Quezon City
Shopping malls in Quezon City
Tourist attractions in Quezon City
Ortigas Center
Robinsons Malls
Conspiracy theories in the Philippines
Philippine urban legends