ABQ Collective takes over defunct furniture store in NE Heights
An old Northeast Heights furniture and lighting store has been transformed into The ABQ Collective, a collection of 18 shops that include a coffee retailer, a hair salon and barber shop and a vinyl record store.
The 6,500-square-foot space on Eubank NE about a mile north of Interstate 40 most recently housed Southwest Furniture and Lighting, but it also has been home to a church and a waterbed store, said ABQ Collective manager Katherine Riolo.
Most of the businesses will be in separate, divided spaces and the basement will be used for “do-it-yourself” classes, Riolo said.
Among the collective’s shops are Rust is Gold Coffee Shop;
Beautique Hair Studio; JR Barela’s silver and turquoise jewelry; Bears N Dawgs leather goods; Back Alley Records; Zia Built Apparel and Percolator Guitar Repair.
The ABQ Collective is at 1321 Eubank NE. The coffee shop is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Beautique Hair Studio is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to noon Sunday; the other business are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Lie down at Uptown
Albuquerque shoppers can get a first-hand feel for Tempur-Pedic mattresses and
accessories at Tempur Sealy International’s first local retail site, which opened at ABQ Uptown last Friday.
The new, 3,100-square-foot store, located on the northeast corner of the Uptown mall, is the 26th Tempur-Pedic retail location to open this year across the country. It’s part of a corporate plan to grow company-owned stores from 39 now to between 60 and 80 by the end of 2019 to enhance brand and product awareness among consumers, said Rick Maynard, spokesman for the Kentuckybased company.
“The stores provide a retail environment to showcase Tempur-Pedic products, with a unique and uniform showroom appearance,” Maynard said in an email to the Journal.
“...Customers can try our products and obtain a thorough understanding of the features and benefits in a low-pressure, educational sales environment.”
While the Tempur-Pedic outlet is new for local consumers, Tempur Sealy is no newcomer to New Mexico. The company has operated an 851,000-square-foot factory on Albuquerque’s West Side since 2007, which Maynard said is the largest facility of its type in the U.S.
The company, which reported $2.8 billion in net sales in 2017, employs 140 in Albuquerque. The new ABQ Uptown store will support a five-member sales team.
Tempur Sealy’s arrival at ABQ Uptown leaves only one retail location still vacant at the pedestrian-friendly mall,
according to management personnel from the operator, Simon Property Group.
Women’s specialty clothing company Coldwater Creek and Lee Michael’s Fine Jewelry moved into two previouslyvacant sites earlier this year. With Tempur Sealy, the mall is now above 95 percent occupancy.
Nusenda opens Southeast branch
Nusenda Credit Union is building a new, 2,400-squarefoot branch near Eubank Boulevard and Central Avenue in Albuquerque’s Southeast Heights.
The new location is now under construction, with expected completion by late November.
“We are looking forward to being a community partner in the Southeast Heights, where there has been a large amount of revitalization, both in retail and residential,” Nusenda said in an email to the Journal. “This new branch promises both convenience and sound financial advice for our members in the area, including Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories, East Mountain communities, Moriarty and Edgewood.”
Nusenda is the state’s largest credit union with more than 195,000 members. It currently operates 19 branches in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, and Valencia and Socorro counties.