Special thanks to Pascal Schnyder for the help with the intro 🙂 Also don't forget to visit the Retail Archaeology merch shop: teespring.com/stores/retail-archaeology

The problem with Cottonwood was it was built to serve the growing community of Rio Rancho but the 2008 economic disaster stopped expansion in the area and so everything shifted back to center Albuquerque and everyone goes to Coronado or Winrock.

Nice clean mall! I chuckled when there's a Game Stop right above that video game mom and pop store. 😀

I'm so happy you did a video at my Mall! When I was little way before the mall was built. The property had abandoned runways from the old airport. Locals would bring their R/C airplanes to the old runways and fly them. I was in middle school when this Mall opened up. I spent lots of evenings walking the mall with friends when i was in high school. I saw lots of movies at the UA theater. My high school sweetheart, now my husband used to work at Spencer's gifts in 99'-01' when Spencer's used to occupy a larger store on the second level. There was never a Montgomery Ward's at this mall. Sears was always Sears until they close in September 2018. The only Montgomery Ward's we had in Albuquerque was in the Coronado Mall, which close once Montgomery Ward's went bankrupt. Thank you for the kind words and I hope that this mall never dies. I'm planning on going there tomorrow, to do some Xmas shopping. 😀

A video game store that isn't Walmart or game stop? That is s cool!

I actually grew up going to Cottonwood Mall, but Coronado Mall is a lot nicer now. Also, they Film a lot of movies there. For example Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Odd Thomas, and the ep 1 opening scene of Better Call Saul.

You forgot to mention the fact that this mall is the filming location for all the black and white openers on AMCs Better Call Saul the spin-off to Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk has been in this mall few times now.

If you go to winrock center in Albuquerque there’s a small section of the original 90s mall. It’s rife with water damage and has lots of overgrown plants and feels almost like a cave. It’s interesting because they’ve been remodeling so you have new strip mall style stores all around it but the center section still remains in decay.

A few people there. Nobody spending. Nice shops and clean but not enough customers.

I grew up going to this mall. Shame about the food court footage, the food court is fantastic. I think this mall used to have a sort of "upside-down" theme going throughout it, I seem to recall some of the tiles on the floor looked like clouds and they had various things hanging on the ceiling like upside-down skydiver mannequins. I think they might have got rid of some of that stuff, but it's still in full force in the food court. You'll find a massive sculpture of Albuquerque on the ceiling, complete with a light-up downtown, the Sandias, some upside-down air balloon lamps, and even a mini light-up Cottonwood Mall. What's really cool about it is it reflects the area in 1996, so you can see a ton of empty lots which have since been developed. I'd also really appreciate if you could somehow capture a bit of the movie theater next time, as it was the only really nice movie theater in the area back in the day, so me and my friends (and probably most kids in the area) ended up there a lot when we were kids. It was called Starport and it used to be two parts: a massive Sega City arcade upstairs, and a movie theater downstairs. The arcade part had all kinds of crazy stuff, like some cutting-edge 3D virtual reality hang gliding games that I've been trying to hunt down for a while. Sometime in the late '90s the arcade shut down but the movie theater stayed open, and it was like that for a very long time. There's this massive escalator right in the middle of the movie theater that leads up through this circular hole in the ceiling to the arcade part, and for years it was just this black abyss looming above you with the escalators blocked off. Last time I was there I seem to recall they had reopened the upstairs part and you could finally go up the escalators again, but I don't remember what was up there, just more theaters I think? Anyway, great video!

I live in Albuquerque and I would say some parts of the mall feel dead, but others parts are alive. The mall can be busy at times, you must have came at a quiet time. The Escalators are broken like crazy there! I hate in the ones in the JC penny store! They never work and they don’t have stairs inside the store so you have to go on the broken escalators!

As someone who has spent a LOT of time in this mall over the years I can tell you there's a constant revolving door of new businesses which come and go with alarming regularity. Been that way for most of the mall's life, but westside ABQ and Rio Rancho residents love our little mall so I wouldn't say it's struggling and not likely to go anywhere any time soon.

I live in Albuquerque and can tell you that this mall is definitely suffering. I do have to say that it is usually busier than what I see in this video. I really wish you could’ve shown the food court, especially the ceiling in that area. The Coronado Mall is where the heavy foot traffic is at in ABQ. There are literally 3 shopping malls on one street across from each other in uptown which are Coronado Center, Winrock Towncenter, and ABQ Uptown.

My childhood arcade was at a roller skating rink. It was bulldozed. :( I wish I could walk through it one more time.

I live just a few minutes away from this mall and used to constantly visit it with my family as a kid. It's really interesting and refreshing to hear an "outsider" give their first impressions on these places. I never really thought twice about it. Thanks for visiting and sharing this video!

I was 17 in 1996. If I fly to Albuquerque and go to this mall, will I immediately be 17 again? Is that how it works?

I’m really not sure if this mall should be considered dead or alive. It has plenty of big name retailers. But it also has some more bizarre sketchy stores. The vacant anchors also support the theory that this is a dead mall. My mall has a similar store to the pet store you pointed out. It’s actually a pretty big store and they moved to a larger store a few years back. Almost the entire storefront is full of windows facing the puppies and rabbits in the glass cages. There is always at least a dozen kids looking at the animals. They also have a parrot named Rocky that has been at the mall since the store first opened 40 years ago. The store always seems kind of empty though. As a pet owner, I feel bad for the poor animals confined to tiny cages as hundreds of people poke at them. My one complaint with this video was the arcade footage. I know how much arcades and video games mean to you but I’d much rather see more mall footage rather than arcade footage. Another great video :)

I can’t get enough of your vids. Always interesting and full of nostalgia ... thank you for recording and sharing all that you do! Peace, kindness and good vibes

This was one of the malls I went to as a kid. I've been watching your channel for a while and I was surprised to see my local mall featured. I honstly thought it would be some other mall by the same name. The food court, glass elevator, arcade (a now out of business arcade, not the ones shown), and candy store used to be my favorite. I remember as a kid there was once a display full of animatronic dinosaurs around where the elevator is, which I thought was amazing. It doesn't look as busy as I remember it being, even recently, but I'm glad it isn't dead. It's too bad the food court footage didn't make it. The ceiling design in the food court at Cottonwood is amazing. You should check out winrock mall next time you're in Albuquerque. I remember it was on the brink of failure but they've been reviving it.

These videos are SO cool! I stumbled upon one and now I’m watching a bunch of them. I haven’t been to this mall in a few years, sad to see it’s slowing down. Thanks for doing all the research & providing such cool interesting videos!

8:16 - "other malls in the store." made me chuckle.

Awesone intro sequence. I love this background music, very 90 house vibs make me wanna dance . That game store is awesome. Another awesome Mall video.

You should have gone to winrock mall here in Albuquerque before it was updated! It was super dead... it was the mall you mentioned in the beginning of this video

I lived in Rio Rancho which neighbors this Alb. mall from 2014 to 2017. NM is a beautiful state but a very very poor state overall. Cottonwood mall is definitely circling the drain. Macy's closed in 2016 and now Sears. The writing is on the wall. Most people go over to the east side to shop at Coronado and the Q shopping center. Sad, but so glad to be out of NM.

There was a Cottonwood Mall in Salt Lake City Utah. Opened in 1962 and thrived for decades till it started to die in 2000. Finally closed and was tore down in 2008. It had a lot of great places and was on of the premiere shopping experience. In high school our choral class would go there. It had a tiered Christmas tree for the carolers. It was good times in the early 1970s.

Saw this video in my recommend and I’m so glad I watched it! It threw me way back! I grew up in a town next to albuquerque, which was Rio Rancho, and I would go to this mall quite often. I haven’t been back there in several years! But honestly I don’t remember much, as I was still pretty young. But I love Albuquerque and New Mexico because it was an amazing place to grow up in. I also remember ever single fall when so many hot air balloons scattered the sky.

That hot air balloon way back in the day had tv's on the top of the basket with TV playing on mute

Omg I remember this mall like it was yesterday. I now live in Los Angeles but I spent many a high school afternoon at this mall back around 2005. I think they had an Abercrombie if I'm not mistaken. Soooo nostalgic.

I also like the hot air balloon! I’m on the ‘on the edge of dying’ designation. The tortoises were crowded but I do like them. The game arcades were fantastic! Thanks mate!

I was born and raised in Albuquerque and moved out in like 2004. This was my favorite place as a child, it was so magical

Loved the intro, PRO GEAR SPEC! Cool mall, makes me happy to know the indie game store’s holding its own. Looking forward to that food court footage sometime.

Omg wow. This brings back memories of my childhood from the 90s. This mall was awesome and loved going there. I loved going to the food court Bc of all the kool things hanging from ceiling. My mom worked in Foleys in 97. We would go to Barney’s(coffee shop) and get whatever cake we wanted. The 90s was a magical time to grow up in.

Turtles are awesome. (Except Mitch McConnell.)

I very much liked this mall when I lived in ABQ. Much more quiet than the others. They also added a small dog park in the parking lot lol, and they had a dog rescue within the mall as well. It was perfect for people who want to enjoy the mall experience (whatever that is) without the crowds.

I really love the look of this mall. That 90s vibe is off the charts! Excellent video! Please revisit this place sometime. I'd love to see more.

In our local mall, there used to be a game store called Play N Trade, and they sold everything; even Intellivision games, Atari games... they sold super retro, to super new. It was incredible. I'm so sad they closed though... I got an original Playstation and a Sega Genesis from there, as well as tons of old school games. They were all decently priced too; most Genesis games went for $2 and some even had the original packaging. We went there so often that they knew me by name lol. It was a great store with friendly staff who honestly loved video games. I really, really miss it. :c That aside, I love your videos! They're so interesting to me and I love when you talk about the nostalgic things relating to the 90's, cause I grew up in the 90's and it brings back memories! Great videos! ♥

Haha love the Mitch Hedberg joke. 👍. There used to be a Huge Arcade on the top level where the second level of the Regal Theater is at that mall.

Super disappointed you didn't realize this: This is actually where they often film Better Call Saul. (At least the flash-forwards at the beginning of every season). Yup. This is where Jimmy's cinabon is :-)

Thank you SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO. I remember walking through this mall with my parents many times throughout my early childhood. So much nostalgia. The food court never changed! I teared up from the overwhelming nostalgia. I miss aesthetics from the 90’s and early 2000’s. The giant air balloon fascinated me as a child. I wish I could go back and experience it all over.

I have a friend who lives in Albuquerque and every time I go to visit I like popping into Cottonwood. It's definitely a retro experience! And plus, the last time I happened to be there they were shooting at the Cinnabon for an episode of Better Call Saul, so that was a nice surprise!

Oh wow, the nostalgia. I remember as I was growing up, my parents would always take me here almost every Saturday weekends. Back in 2007-2010, it was always packed. I would always walk to lots stores. But there was another mall that was more closer to home (Coronado Mall). That mall kept their appearance updated and it had strong attendance throughout the weekends as I've been living Albuquerque. They kept bringing in popular fashion stores, they brought in popular food chains, etc. That really made Cottonwood not as good anymore. However I still like it and hopefully they can have some type of resurgence. Thank you for bringing back great memories!

Cottonwood Mall opened in 1995 and I was super excited because I was 9 years old and there were so many things in this mall that I LOVED! Albuquerque is my hometown, and I would love for you to visit again!!!

I remember the bookstore at Fiesta Mall downstairs close to the food court was a great place to buy magazines. The lady would tell us when we were kids "If you can reach it you can read it" :)

I live just south of ABQ so I have been to this mall quite a bit, they also have the only Disney Store in the state. I can also confirm that this place hasn't been updated one bit since it opened. Thanks for the video!

Those Addams family pinball machines are HIGHLY collectible. Very popular, most of them were literally, played to death. Having one that is working is an achievement...parts are getting HARD to find.

Please post these as regularly as you are able to. I get such a nostalgia kick from it being a 90s kid. Thank you for your channel 🤩😄

The neo geo intro is awesome!

The mall in my city is opening a massive arcade, bar, ice cream parlour, and bowling alley--all in the same part. (It might already be open, since when I last went there, the workers were cleaning the windows and putting on finishing touches.) It looked like all modern stuff, like a Luigi's Mansion arcade version, and oddly enough, this new area is open til 2 AM every day. The rest of the mall closes at 8 or 9. It's going to be interesting, for sure.

I love this video, and the character of the mall like you said! Your videos are super cool and I can't wait to visit this mall and ABQ someday!

Neo Geo intro best intro

Yay! You came to my childhood mall. I don't think this mall is really dead. Everytime I go it's busy.

Love the extra editing you did into this

Another great video, loved the music choices (would love to know the names) and that game shop looked incredible!

I just went there today, and I'm sad to report that the video game store (not the GameStop) closed down. For a Friday night, it was very empty.

Honesty check out Coronado Mall sometime. That is the most renovated mall and honestly it has made a great comeback with the renovations. For a while it was dead but has brought back a lot of attention. They even opened up an arcade there with games directly imported from Japan. I think the reason the Coronado mall is working better is because it’s dead right in the center of Albuquerque whole this Cottonwood mall is way out there near the outskirts of the city. Anyway hope you have a good day, and keep up the great work with the videos. While you are in Albuquerque also check out Windrock Mall, which is right across from Coronado mall and was abandoned for a long time but now is being renovated. Just check it out. Keep up the great work 😁👍

This place reminded me so much of what the Chapel Square mall in New Haven, CT was like before it was gone. Also what the CT Post Mall was like in the 90s. I wish there was a mall like this near me.

Love your channel! I live in Albuquerque!!! So cool to see you visit here and Gallup!

Loved the intro, and the use of the Neo Turf Masters music. Love that game.

I grew up going to this mall. I was 6 when it first opened. I remember Nickelodeon did some type of promotional Event at the mall when it opened. It has since turned into a dying mall. Too bad about your footage of the food Court. The ceiling was always the coolest thing to look at If you’re ever in Albuquerque again, check out winrock shopping center. That place has had quite History as well.

Really great vid. Appreciate your hard work.

This use to be a very popular mall. I use to work at Old Navy here in 2008. It got much busier than this.

Cottonwood was a great mall in it's prime, but I'm afraid those days are over. ABQ's westside continues to explode in growth, but people just aren't going to malls for their retail needs (especially now with the pandemic). I do appreciate that the mall does have a pretty nice dog park actually in the parking lot, surrounded by trees and with a nice covered shelter area. The movie theater has been updated recently with comfy recliners. The food court, however, is nothing special. Thanks for the video!

That CRT flickering is basically the same thing your dog sees on the TV, only just in yellow, brown and blue.

Moon Patrol!!!!!! That brings back memories from my childhood bowling alley. Elevator Action was another one at the time.

Opened in 1996, that’s very late for a mall to open. But yeah those vintage aesthetics remind me of a local mall near me with literally the same looking tiles and colors.

3:14 The last time I’ve seen NES games was a little while ago, there is a mall near me that has two retro game stores. Both of them are more media than only video games but still it’s pretty cool to see.

Not sure if you're interested in an update on this one, but my friend loves it in Cottonwood mall so we're there often. JC Penney, Dillard's, FYE, and the Hallmark store are surprisingly still here as are the arcades. The Eddie Bauer folded just before Christmas and the mini zoo moved out. There are quite a lot of empty stalls and at least two stores folded in the last few weeks. I think you would enjoy a few stores here that sell a great selection of old 80s toys. There's also a store that sells unique knives and swords. Even a Klingon bat'leth. It's a bit quiet during the week, but foot traffic picks up quite a bit on the weekends. Ditto for the attached movie theater. It was busy for the holidays. Empty anchors like the old Mervyn's are still empty, at least on the second floor.

Love the Moon Patrol game. Years after the Atari 2600 version was released, I learned the Moon Patrol theme late after a party in high school. The party was at a kid's house when the parents were away. After the party died down, an old 2600 was found and quickly became the source of entertainment. Moon Patrol became the game they were playing and I grabbed my (passed out) friend's Kramer Pacer guitar and worked out the theme. Still know it to this day.

Oh man you're treading around my OLD stomping grounds! Out here in Mesa AZ now, but man, I used to love Cottonwood.

It's been a while since I've been because I haven't been to Albuquerque in a while but I always like going there. If you are ever down the I-10 in West Texas and want to see a mall stuck in the 90's and is seeing a slow death, you should check out the Sunland Park Mall. It's pretty unique looking. Giant tent things outside, pink marble everywhere, white horse statues throughout. It's sad that mall was the last indoor mall built in El Paso and kind of fancy at the time. It once had an organ that would be played live near the food court and a kids train. I was there a few weeks ago for it's Sears liquidation sale, it was so surreal not only seeing that sears empty because we did use to shop there a lot, mainly appliances, and garden stuff. The mall is starting to look pretty bare too and it used to just be filled once upon a time. In deep contrast, Cielo Vista Mall farther down towards the east side is always packed.

Love the new intro inspiration from the Neo-Geo intro but great video as always

Wow, a Moon Patrol coin-op. There used to be one of those in the Circus World toy store at the long gone Brickyard Mall in Chicago during the early 1980s. Kids lined up to play that. Good memories.

I live like 5 miles from here. This mall opened when i was a senior in hs. The anchor store on the north end used to be a Foley's. Also when the mall first opened, above the movie theater it was a huge Sega City arcade, but it closed within a year or so. You should have come on a weekday evening, that's when its super quiet and lonely.

That malls has so many things I would visit. The arcade, the Gamestop, and the retro videogame store with the arcade. The F.Y.E. and amine stores would be a must visit as well. Maybe Dillard's will expand into the former Sears store to fill the vacancy.

Did you stop at the Cinnabon and say hello to James “Jimmy” McGill. This was the filming location for his manager job in Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.

I always grew up going to the Coronado Mall or Winrock while it was still a true mall but now that I moved to the westside of Albuquerque, I have gone to the Cottonwood Mall a few times and I certainly feel it is dying. I haven’t seen any updates and I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear if it closes. The Coronado Mall is much nicer and worth the drive.

*sees ancient 90s architecture* Me: wait this isn't standard?

I remember when this was built when I was a kid! It was the closest mall to my house, and it was so new and cool. Wow.

Our 5th grade class went on a field trip from Sierra Vista Elem school back in '85-'86 and one of the kids was saying that they were planning on building a mall on the west side. I guess his mom was involved in the development. We were totally stoked because you'd have to drive all the way across town to get to Coronado or Windrock. Unfortunately, they didn't get around to building it until after I graduated from HS, and by then I'd moved across town. Used to dig Suncoast, and bought some awesome McFarlane KISS figures from them! Also, my brother and his best friend used to take flying classes at that Alameda Airport. Didn't see the upside down hang gliders in the vid, may have been lost in the corrupted footage.

I imagine those neon star lights would an absolute treat to see lit up! Also, there was a really small store that sold like.... Generic Asian things, I suppose? Like Hello Kitty stationery sets, J-pop/rock CDs, etc and I remember the gal, who I believe owned the store, being pretty nice

My mom used to have her Glitter tattoos/Henna tattoos stand at this mall a few years ago. She did alright but she did better at the ballon festival and the state fair. I love that mall though i also love the smell of the aunt Annies pretzel place you could smell the goodness around the mall such great memories.

Awesome video keep up the great work

Man, the food court was always something that fascinated 10 year old me I don't live in Albuquerque, but when my family visits, I like going to this mall I had no concept of dead malls at one point, but i do remember a ton of people at the mall when I was younger It does seem to be less active nowadays I hope it doesn't die The one here in Santa Fe just isn't the same Its so much smaller, and it does seem like it is struggling a little more

NEO GEO INTRO!!!!

It breaks my heart to be reminded of how old I am. I graduated high school in 1996 and used to live in the malls around my area (New Hampshire) throughout my teen years. Hell, I even worked for Sears while saving for university in the late 1990s. Today, arcades are a relic of a bygone era (my youth) and seeing them empty saddens me. Even “Fun Spot” (an arcade/museum in NH) is almost empty most of the time. Youth is wasted on the young.

"other malls in the store" comment cracked me up (8:13). Glad i'm not the only one who does that kind of thing from time to time.

In the first episode of Better Call Saul, the Cinnabon that was in the episode is the one in Cottonwood Mall... Just a little fact ;)

I LOVED THESE VIDEOS GOOD JOB

Everyone's forgetting about the Mervyns that was once an anchor store here. The good ol day....

That's a pretty nice mall, Great job on this video Bruh!!!

My son was buying his Vans online. I encouraged him to buy them at this mall. Come on Albuquerque...we can't let Cottonwood die!

I live in Rio Rancho and when I got my bicycle and every time I would bike into Albuquerque I would bike past that mall, and every year I would notice fewer and fewer cars parked there. The only time I saw the parking lot full was when they would sell cars. I knew a guy who worked at the Gamestop and the next time I saw him was when he was working for the We Know Games store. He said he defected from the Empire to fight for the rebel Alliance.

Great video as always

I love it during Christmas. So much decoration and people, that was home. Love you duke city

I used to go here. It's a bit surprising to see it go downhill because it's newer than Coronado but Coronado is in a better location in the city. I remember when Cottonwood opened it was packed most of the time for some years.

Gurnee mills mall in IL used to have a mini reptile zoo inside it, it was next to the rain forest cafe which was cool. I went on date there in high school and it was actually fun and pretty unique but it closed a couple years ago.

The tile floor is exactly the same pattern and colours as my shopping centre(mall) which was built back in the early '70s and remodelled in '87-88.

If you are ever in Houston Tx, please do a video on Greenspoint mall!! That place has been dying since the late 90s early 00s. I have no clue how it stays a float. Lol

Thank you for the Mitch Hedberg reference!

Epic intro, man!