SM City Laoag stands on Airport Road, on the approach between Laoag International Airport and the city centre. The province around it carries a visitor economy of some scale: the provincial tourism office counted more than 3.5 million day visitors and 513,280 accommodation-based visitors in 2023, with 67 percent of arrivals coming by air and receipts of 8.9 billion pesos, and SM Prime cited provincial growth of 8.6 percent in 2024 when the mall opened.
Opening day was 30 May 2025, the 88th mall in SM Prime’s Philippine portfolio and the first in Ilocos Norte. The centre runs to three levels, with a central open-air park named Dap-Ayan, the Ilocano word for a gathering place, built into the plan. About 90 percent of leasable space was awarded by opening day and the operator put the employment created at roughly 4,000. SM Prime reports gross floor area of about 92,000 square meters as of December 31, 2025.
The SM Store, SM Supermarket, Ace Hardware and BDO took the anchor positions, and the technology floor opened as the 68th SM Cyberzone, with Sony, LENOVO, ANKER, CASIO and DJI now trading in it. Uniqlo, Levi’s, Guess, Aldo, Havaianas and CLN cover apparel, Adidas and Chris Sports the athletic line, Kiko Milano and Watsons beauty, and Flying Tiger Copenhagen and Miniso the variety format. Vikings, Marugame Udon, bb.q Chicken, J.CO Donuts & Coffee and Tealive make up the food line.
Robinsons Place Ilocos, in adjacent San Nicolas, opened in December 2009 with Robinsons Department Store and Robinsons Supermarket as anchors, and expanded with its South Wing in 2016, which brought H&M and Uniqlo into the province. SM City Laoag added a second major national mall operator to the provincial market in 2025.
