DeVargas Center

Clean mall. Weird because all stores are partially stocked. Fishing store, gun shoppe, even Ross! Empty shelves in every store.
Feels strange. Fair prices. The candy shoppe in the center square is a must for any Jellybean lover.

As a youngster in Santa Fe, when you wanted to hang out you’d probably go to the mall. Yes, pathetic, I know, but that’s just how it is in New Mexico. But this wasn’t the mall you’d go to, at least not unless you were a weird solitary child interested in weird trinket shops and an absence of people. DeVargas was always — and continues to be— the eerily quiet, staid, mall with a bad reputation for hosting failing businesses.
But just as back when I was younger, it always has a few mainstays that keep it afloat and bring some traffic. The only problem is that most of these are stores with their own entrances and exits and thus don’t create the continuity that you’d want when shopping in a mall.
Still, the supermarkets are useful, Starbucks is ok once every three years, and… and, I don’t know. I think I might be being a bit generous with that third star.

Slowly but surely this mall gets busier, especially with Sunflower Market and an Albertsons attached to it… makes for a pick up in business. There are some fun stores inside, but it could still use some work. The theater here usually shows some great independent films.

This itty-​bitty mall has your basics (Albertsons, BR, Subway, CVS, Starbucks, etc.), but it’s so lonely and dismal that I only go if I have to. My favorite thing about this place has to be Atrisco’s because they have great New Mexican but that’s about it. The parking lot is also a disaster since people can’t follow directional arrows. Only stop by if necessary.

This small mall has had it’s ups & downs over the years. It is across the street from the National Cemetery — — which couldn’t have helped! Ghosts. Yep, that’s what this mall feels like sometime. Ghostly! Empty.
A number of stores have come and gone, but it still continues to hang-​on. Probably because this is the only standard shopping on the north side of town that isn’t part of the extensive arts, hotels, restaurant & tourist scene. This is shopping for the locals. Groceries, drug store, office supplies, kitchen store, clothing, etc. There’s a mall on the south side of town, but it isn’t a lot larger. Most of your staples you can find in one of these two malls, but for real shopping during the holidays or for that special occasion, you are probably going to have to hit the highway to Albuquerque — 60 miles south — or buy some of the expensive Santa Fe trinkets that are sold in many, many, many stores around town.
Not exciting, not a day at the mall, but you can get bread & milk, some computer paper, your prescription and a cup of coffee.
And you can cross the street and see markers for some boys who gave their lives in the Confederate War, WWI, WWII, Korean, etc. All are walking and resting there.