Cottonwood Mall — Attraction in Albuquerque

This review is for a specific free event held at the Cottonwood Mall: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 40th Anniversary Sunday, August 6, 2024 3 pm - 6 pm Mall foyer, lower level

The purpose of the event was to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).

Per the event description, consumers were promised: the turtle Michaelangelo and Turtles would be present for a meet and greet, photo op, interactive games, and a special ninja performance.

In reality, consumers got one turtle on a 11x14 stage with a simple backdrop of balloons. No music, no performance, no interactive games or activities and no other turtles.

My family and I showed up at 2:50 pm, and were told by the event organizers that the event would begin at 3:30 pm. Well, there was already a long line of folks waiting in line hoping to get their photo op with the greatest TMNT. The line began at the lower level foyer (near escalators and elevators) and continued through the mall to the Mor Furniture Store. I estimated over 1200 people attended this event. I only identified three security guards, mind you, were inexperienced with handling a large crowd and could not maintain crowd control.

At 3:30 pm, an imposter Donatello shows up and everyone cheers loudly and excitedly thinking the show was finally going to get started. Donatello began taking photos at the floor level with anyone and everyone that approached him. The families at the beginning of the line were confused, mad, and wondering why other people were getting priority when they had waited in line for at least 1.5 hours before showtime. A few minutes later, it became clear the show hadn’t started, and rather, it was just another person wearing a Donatello suit and wanted to compart the joy and smiles throughout the mall with TMNT fans.

At 3:50 pm, Michaelangelo finally jumps on stage. People swarm to the front of the stage for their photo op. At the same time, those in line were finally freed from their chains and let one family at a time to take their photo. Mind you, there was still no music. No other turtles, no other activities happening. Just a lonely Michaelangelo that appeared to have drank 30 Red Bulls taking photos with families one by one. My family and I got our photo from the front of stage, and left the area to go shopping with the intent of returning to the event in the hopes more of the promised activities and turtles would show. At 4:15 pm, we return but still there is nothing. Just more people moving through the sloth-like line waiting patiently to get their photo. I felt it necessary to express my extreme disappointment and the failure of the event on the Facebook event page, hosted by Cottonwood Mall in the hopes that the management and/or event coordinator’s would take my feedback as a learned experience. Shortly after I posted my feedback, others followed suit. There were over 130 “reactions” on my post, and over 100 comments on my post. Everyone saying the same thing: poorly planned event; do better; my children left crying because the event ended 10 minutes early and they missed their photo opportunity with their favorite turtle; people reported waiting in line for over three hours! To say this event was a failure and complete disappointment is an understatement. However, listen to this - Whomever is responsible for Cottonwood Mall’s social media account went to the event page and ERASED ALL the complaints and kept the positive comments!!! So, I am doing my due diligence and posting publicly on platforms that cannot be erased because the event planners and management of Cottonwood Mall need to be held accountable. I’ll say it again as I did in my initial post: “Do better...

J & J Perfume Bar - across from the boba place and a store for unusual things. DON’T GET SCAMMED. My apologies to Cottonwood Mall but the kiosk is not listed anywhere independently so the review has to go here.

Today I went to purchase cologne from this kiosk in Cottonwood Mall. The woman at the counter sold me a bottle of cologne for 79.00, 85.03 with tax. I went to my vehicle to look up the fragrance description and was horrified to find that this fragrance sells for between 18 and 40 elsewhere. I called immediately and the sales person said she had no control over how the owners priced items. When the business owner called me she told me the “girls can play with the numbers in order to make commission”. I told her that to upsale that much was unethical. She refused to refund me, asked me if I owned a business and complained that she could not compete with online retailers. She was not apologetic or kind but agreed to exchange the fragrance for another or a combination. She was extremely nasty. I went to the kiosk, but they do not allow you to sample the actual fragrances in that price range so I had no idea what to exchange it for. The store owner had been so nasty that I wanted to call my CC company to see if it was possible to dispute the charge given the circumstances. This took some time. While I was standing there looking and trying to decide if I should pursue disputing the purchase or exchanging the fragrance the store owner called me again and yelled at me that I’d been standing there for an hour on the phone and I was preventing the young lady from selling anything. While I was there one person approached and she helped them and they left. I asked her if she planned to yell at me anymore and she claimed to be concerned about the person working there and their sales. She said that I may not care about them but she did. I found out that the employees there are paid commission only after they’ve sold $200 worth of fragrance, but only the fragrances at lower price points, and then the commission is only 10%. So they’d make $20 after ripping off enough people to hit the $200 mark. So this business is not only robbing customers but they are robbing their employees too. I’ve never had such a disgusting and unsavory experience as a customer and I want to warn against buying from this HIGHLY UNETHICAL BUSINESS. This is thievery, plain and simple. Don’t shop here unless you want to get robbed and then blamed for their struggles in business. She asked me if I was a business owner and I’m not, but I do know that I would not want to have a reputation for dishonesty or poor customer service. A person should not leave your business feeling robbed and mistreated.

The young lady that helped me this evening was very kind, she exchanged it for a more valuable/price appropriate option, she was honest, and she apologized for my experience. I wish she could’ve received the commission from my...

The current state of the Cotton Wood Mall is certainly disheartening. I remember a little over ten years ago, it being worth the drive down from Santa Fe to come visit. It was a novelty, filled with sprawling stores, and had plenty to offer. At that time, the Cotton Wood mall was no doubt the commercial hub of Albuquerque's upper north west side. Today, the mall sits partially derelict. From Macy's, Johnny Rockets, The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Sears, Mervyn's, and many more. The mall certainly doesn't possess a short list of former tenants that once provided it with the enticement and glamor it once had. What makes it worse, is that in an effort to fill some of its unoccupied retail space. The mall has allowed for many cheap and second rate stores to fill the void. Which as a consequence, only makes the its overall image look shoddy. While there are more than likely several factors that have contributed to its overall decline over the past decade (e.g. the rise of e-commerce). Those who have been around long enough cannot deny that Cottonwood's best days are indeed behind it. What stops me from giving this place a one star review is the Regal 16 cineplex, food court, overall cleanliness, and well management of the facility. Those in charge and tasked of running the daily operations cannot be held responsible for its current state. For what it's worth, they do a fine job in the increasingly limited areas where they can. I only hope that the mall sees a sort of revitalization effort go into effect sometime soon. If not, the upcoming decade may very well see the facility either further deteriorate, or simply suffer the same fate as its Winrock counterpart. That is, by inevitably closing its...