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MALL WONDER: Cottonwood's locally fueled growth apparently unaware of economic downturn
(Albuquerque Journal (NM) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 25--How is this for onestop shopping: You take break-dancing lessons, plan your wedding and choose a locally designed gown, buy a flat-screen TV, and eat luscious locally made chocolate. (You're nervous about the wedding.)
Not everything that's big in retail has been happening on the east side of the river. Thanks to its location-location-location on the growing side of town, Cottonwood Mall is making more money than it did last year at this time.
General manager Bryon Wall says he can't disclose the number, but it's "enough to put smiles on the retailers' faces." Local retailers who have moved their street-front shops to the mall are particularly happy. Heidi Weck, who owns Theobroma Chocolatier with her husband, Chuck, is smiling like a woman who's been sampling the wares. Only she hasn't.
"We're triple over (our sales) Downtown, and it's the middle of summer," she says.
The mall is 100 percent leased with 95 percent of the tenants permanent. A guided tour with Wall and director of mall marketing Grant Price revealed a lot of foot action among the newly opened and soon to arrive: Shi by Journeys for women, and Shiekh Shoes and Aldo for men and women.
One end, the lower level Dillard's wing, is particularly non-mallish in terms of typical stores. At Wedding Wonders, Jolene Florez serves as wedding planner, floral designer, veil designer and consultant on locally designed gowns. "I'm working on all-white for winter," she says. OK, we're up on the trends.
Boogie Sessions Hip Hop Studio may be Albuquerque's only store offering hip-hop and break-dancing classes, locally designed clothing and art, DJ workshops and recording and production studios. Eight locals own it, reporting a great deal of help from mall management to make it a success.
"A dance teacher from a charter school came in to take lessons," reports Jimmy Morin, one of the owners. "She teaches jazz and ballet and thought she'd add break dancing."
Morin and colleague Johnathon Baca, a teacher, demonstrated a move no one on the tour sought to emulate.
Also for the high-in-energy, Zumiez has arrived, carrying apparel for snowboarders, skaters and rockers. This fall, sports enthusiasts can look to ProImage's jerseys, hats and paraphernalia upstairs by Mervyn's California.
All that break dancing, skating and team loyalty can make a person hungry, and Steak Escape can feed the growl with a fresh cooked sub. Steak Escape is a national franchise; this location has a local owner. And here comes the Ice Cream Factory to pile on dessert so a movingand-eating-machine (read teenager) will have the energy to get back on the floor/sidewalk/hill. Frozen yogurt, soft serve, Italian ice, a Dippin Dots relative, and Jolly Rancher Bursts will strain the young decisionmaker's patience.
Now, let's get serious. An Armed Forces Career Center, serving the Army, Navy and Marines, can recruit the young and ready straight from the mall. A different kind of travel can be had from Global Travelware, a local high-end luggage store with lines new to Albuquerque, that also does vacation planning.
Need a new watch battery? Necklace clasp broken? Drop off your finery at Fast Fix Jewelry and Watch Repair, open since mid-November. You'll need a working watch to know when it's time for chocolate. Theobroma is usually good for a free taste, but expect to succumb to the goods and leave with a bag, maybe individual chocolates, if not the new chocolate and white chocolate panda. You've been warned.
Among the more subtle changes: Zales expanded into a neighboring space; Kay Jewelers moved upstairs across from the food court. Furniture store Comfort Zone has changed its product lines to a more modern, edgier design. And Sleep Number is testing out a new layout in Cottonwood -- evidently it's easier to get to bed. You've been warned.
To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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