Where the mountain of bagasse once was, now stands the biggest McDo in the country. Photo by Bong Lacson
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The biggest McDonald’s store in the Philippines opened at the Capital Town here Monday, where once stood the pride and glory of industrial Pampanga, the Pasudeco sugar mills, famously the “Central.”
“Our vision for Capital Town is to be a must-visit tourist destination for Pampanga, and what better way to begin bringing that promise to reality than by opening the country’s biggest McDonald’s here at Capital Town,” said Eugene Lozano, first vice president for sales and marketing of Megaworld Pampanga.
The Capital Town is Megaworld’s 35.6–hectare integrated urban township set to become the newest central business district north of Metro Manila. It is the former site of the Pampanga Sugar Development Company in Barangay Sto. Nino here, a stone’s throw from the Pampanga Capitol.
But for two chimneys preserved for heritage purposes, nothing has remained of the sprawling sugar central complex at the site.
“We want Filipinos to come and visit San Fernando, and we want the people of the city to be proud that we are bringing no less than the biggest attractions here in our township,” enthused Lozano.
Sitting on a 2,200-square meter lot where the sugar central used to dump its bagasse by-product from milling, the two-level, free-standing NextGen store features more than 1,000 square meters of floor area, making it the biggest in the Philippines.
It also boasts of a modern McCafe, a no-touch drive-thru facility, alfresco dining, self-ordering kiosks, a meeting room, and a dedicated party area.
McDonald’s Capital Town is open 24 hours and also offers McDelivery. Diners and guests may also choose to use cashless payment options. Aside from this, the store also features an expansive parking area, an Instagrammable green wall, as well as a McDo Park.
Safety of diners will remain the store’s highest priority. Temperature checks, hand sanitation, footwear disinfection, wearing of facemask, and filling out of a Health Check Form are required before entering. Only a limited number of customers will be allowed entry to ensure physical distancing.
The store is the 16th Megaworld-owned McDonald’s outlet in the country under Choice Gourmet Banquet Inc. It is part of Golden Arches Development Corp. or McDonald’s Philippines, a strategic partnership between Alliance Global Group, Inc. and the George Yang Group. The group holds the exclusive franchise to operate the McDonald’s brand. With PR
