Mama’s Minerals

OMG! If you love beads and rocks and minerals… Look no further!!! I was like a child in a candy shop!!! This place is awesome! The staff is amazing and I found stone beads I’ve never even heard of before! Fossils, beading station, children’s play area, books… And more! Wish I had taken a picture, but was too occupied with all the stuff to look at and buy! WOW!

Love love love this store and the new digs. Everything about this store from the items to the sales to the customer service is top notch.

Very cool place. Great selection of minerals, crystals, assorted rocks. As a rock newbie, I found the staff very helpful in explaining what was what.

A rock hound and lapadaryists dream come true!
Want some rough to cut and polish? They got it! How about cut and polished stones to set in your jewelry creations, they have that too! Metal detectors and prospecting gear, yep they are your go to folks! How about fossils (not me) of all kinds of things? They’ve been digging them up for years! And beads? Miles and miles of them.
Just walking around and looking at all the cools stuff is worth the trip there. So pop in and give it a look over you’ll find more treasures that you can dream of!

I’d rate Mama’s Minerals 4.5÷5, but to balance out some of the 1 star reviews related exclusively to poor customer service, I chose 5 stars.
As a rock & fossil collector myself, there wasn’t a lot for me. But for most people – and most children – this place would be paradise. There are so many samples of things, the organization is nice, there are both expensive/​exotic things to stare at and inexpensive things to buy, and while the prices aren’t low they aren’t as bad as I’d expect from a store with such nice presentation.

Don’t get me wrong, the merchandise is exceptional, but some of the staff is downright ridiculous. Some of you need to learn a little something about working in customer service. The owner (was told her name is Laura?) is one of the nastiest women I’ve ever come across. She is blatantly rude to her customers and staff. She isn’t genuinely friendly and she’s not a pleasant person to be around. And when I asked her a question she was kind of a snob. I was pleased with some of my purchases, but I walk out with a bad taste in my mouth if she’s in sight because of an incident I witnessed with her and a customer and with a staff member months ago. She was reprimanding a blonde girl for trying to help pack/​wrap up merchandise, (what’s the matter with that?) the girl was nice but the owner was barking orders at her to stop helping the customer. I could tell the girl was a little upset and confused and I think she was new, but that’s no way to treat your staff! And Laura, I believe if you want to keep customers, stay hidden and away from your customers.

The selection here is unbeatable, but after watching the owner/​manager lose her sh– in front of me and other customers, I would much rather frequent other mineral shops. I’m pretty sure she is the owner, because I’ve heard before that she is. I didn’t see what the customer did who got yelled at by her, but it was loud, and unprofessional in my opinion and the owner was using curse words. The other customers and I just looked at each other like «what the hell?» and then there was silence. It was a pretty uncomfortable feeling. I don’t think I’ll go back to that place any time soon. The Santa Fe location of the same store is always nice, though.

It was a surprise to see Mama’s Mineral’s had moved. But it seemed to be a change for the better, since the new location has A LOT more space than the old one, which was feeling pretty cramped. The new location is also only a short walk from Old Town (the most touristy section of ABQ).
As before, the selection is broad. Mama’s carries supplies, equipment and beads for jewelry makers as well as fossil hunters. It carries stones and crystals in multiple configurations, some which appeal to novices; others that appeal to collectors. They even have mineral-​based furniture and lamps. So basically, if you enjoy any of the items produced by nature’s 4 billion year laboratory, Mama’s is worth checking out.
To be crystal clear, Mama’s Minerals is a shop for nearly everyone: from the jaded, to the stoners, as well as those living a sedimentary lifestyle; from people who like classic rock, to those who take life for granite. And it’s a gneiss place overall — No shist!

Great new location for Mama’s Minerals. Very near Old Town and only a couple of blocks away from the Natural History Museum. The have an expanded selection of all sorts of rocks and minerals as well as beads, lapidary equipment and metal detectors. Staff was friendly and helpful even as they were trying to unpack everything from the move and get themselves established!