Visit Poblacion Market Central, the Newest Lifestyle Destination in Davao where Heritage Meets Hip
With the opening of the Poblacion Market Central, Alsons Development and Investment Corporation (Alsons Dev) has recently made dining, shopping, and entertainment a little more interesting for Davaoenos.
Alsons Dev aims to bring tourists from over the Philippines to Davao to experience that fertile middle ground where traditions are celebrated, and modern interpretations of art, retail, and cuisine are more than welcome. This is a location where legacy meets hip.
Poblacion was first accessible late last year thanks to Alsons Dev. In October 2021, it hosted over 300 established and upcoming artists for the Mindanao Art Fair; in December 2021, it attracted intrepid foodpreneurs, artists, and artisans for the month-long Christmas Bazaar; and in January 2022, it relocated the most cherished and enduring tenants of the Aldevinco Shopping Center to a new location with improved amenities.
Since the first visitors entered this brand-new hub with almost a hectare of gross floor space less than a year ago, Alsons Dev has successfully provided a carefully selected merchant mix of art, antique, and souvenir shops, restaurant concepts, and convenience retailers with a convenient parking level.
Poblacion already has more than 70 businesses, and more will open in the fourth quarter.
Creativity runs deep in the South
In preparation for the Kadayawan Festival, Davao City welcomes domestic and foreign tourists. Poblacion also opens its food court, Kukun, which is short for Kusina at Kultura ng Dabaw.
Kukun offers value, variety, and experience with dishes like Majid’s Kabab’s Persian cuisine, Yassi’s Siargao BBQ’s Pinoy grilled specialties, Porky Best’s lechon dinners, and Claribel Restaurant’s seafood bento boxes. Besides selling fresh produce, it also houses the AMCG Farm, Hootsa, which offers a wide selection of milk and fruit teas, and Myami Vyce Resto Bar, which serves mocktails and drinks. Bo’s Coffee, a well-known coffee shop chain, is also present to serve its single-origin beans from all over the Philippines.
But Kukun is more than just smells and fragrances from the South. Customers would be welcomed by a visual representation of Davao’s art and cultural fair as soon as they entered the food hall, including okir wood carvings by Maranao artists, murals by Davao-based artists Ghamar Kanda and Makro Aquino, and lighting that was created to highlight all the floor-to-ceiling elements that were intertwined.
Customers are greeted by a sizable painting created by modern Mindanaoan artist Kublai Millan in the Atrium area outside the food hall. The enormous durian monument at the Davao International Airport and the enormous eagle and Bagobo children sculptures at People’s Park were both created by Millan, a sculptor, painter, and digital artist.
“Alsons Dev is happy to host and showcase the work of Davao’s best creatives. Whether they make food, sculptures, weaves, and textiles, or handicrafts, we believe that testing their concepts in a place like Poblacion Market Central contributes to a retail and cultural scene meant to gain national recognition. Poblacion, true to its tagline, is a place where the heritage of Davao meets the possibilities of a hip and ever-evolving market,” says Miguel A. Dominguez, Alsons Dev Director.
Enabling Davao’s transformation
The Aldevinco Shopping Center, built in 1965, was Alsons Development and Investment Corporation’s first notable achievement. This was followed by the construction of Davao’s first commercial shopping center and several housing developments now inhabited by several generations of Davaoenos. Aldevinco has contained Mindanaoan textile, antique, and pearl shops for more than 50 years; it has welcomed locals and visitors and fostered the growth of entrepreneurs.
Early in 2022, Alsons Dev shut down the existing shopping complex and moved its tenants there, giving Poblacion’s businesses better amenities, marketing assistance, and the foot traffic they needed to succeed.
In time for the holidays, Poblacion will add more concept businesses and experiences throughout the following four months. On Facebook and Instagram, search for @OfficialPoblacionMarketCentral.