Carhartt set to open first New Mexico store this week at ABQ Uptown

Get ready, Carhartt bros.

The blue-collar, workwear brand is bringing a store to ABQ Uptown, the upscale shopping mall in the Northeast Heights.

At 2201 Q Street NE, the store is slated to open on Thursday, Mark Kastner, Carhartt’s director of store strategy told the Journal in an email.

Kastner said the store, the state’s first, has been planned for about 14 months, noting that the company uses a “combination of many data points” to plan new store openings.

“Based on that data, Albuquerque is a great market for us as a brand to have one of our new locations,” Kastner said.

Kastner said the store, Carhartt’s 49th to date, will sell the company’s iconic workwear styles, including its Force performance line, Rain Defender durable water-repellent finish, Rugged Flex technology and more.

ABQ Uptown General Manager Katrina Taylor wrote in an email to the Journal that the addition of Carhartt to the shopping mall is “an exciting shopping opportunity for the community.”

“Our strategy has always been to bring new, exciting retail options to add to our shopper’s experience, and to that end are talking with prospective new tenants every day,” added Taylor.

Taylor didn’t respond to questions about ABQ Uptown’s occupancy or who helped broker the deal to bring Carhartt to the Northeast Heights mall. But the addition of Carhartt is a plus for the nearly two-decade-old shopping center, which houses Albuquerque’s only Apple store and other name-brand shops such as Lululemon, GAP, Fabletics and The North Face.

Kastner added that “there is a chance” Carhartt could open more stores in the New Mexico market, but said “there are no plans in the immediate future.”