Shopping at Monterrey, Medellín’s Technology Mall

Centro Comercial Monterrey is a rather unique mall in Medellín with its main focus on technology products (computers, tablets, cell phones, game consoles, cameras, network gear, printers, etc.).

The mall has over 120 small shops selling technology products, which supports the vision of the place to be Medellín’s technology mall.

The mall also has a Cinemas Procinal movie theater as well as offices, which are located in an adjacent eight-floor office building, where you can find doctors and other professionals.

Monterrey is probably the best place to go in Medellín when trying to locate a hard-to-find technology product. This is where I have to go to buy printer cartridges for my Samsung laser printer, which I haven’t been able to find in other locations in Medellín.

It is also where I went to buy a TP-Link Wi-Fi router as the one that came with my Claro Internet service doesn’t have a strong enough signal to enable using Wi-Fi in my entire apartment.

I have bought a number of other technology products in Monterrey including a computer mouse, a case to protect my iPad and video cables.

Monterrey mall is conveniently located in El Pobaldo where many foreigners stay and is easy to get to, as it is located next to the El Poblado metro station.

The Shops in Monterrey

Unlike most of the other malls in Medellín, Monterrey mall doesn’t have any big anchor tenant stores.

Monterrey has over 200 stores, which include stores selling technology products, clothes, shoes, home furnishings, mattresses, hairdressers and several other categories. The mall also has several travel agencies.

The biggest concentration in the mall is shops that sell technology products – representing over 60 percent of the shops in the mall. If you need to get a computer or other technology item repaired, Monterrey also has several shops that provide technology repair services.

Hewlett-Packard actually has two stores in the mall, located across from each other, one with a wide range of HP products and another for technical service of HP products.

Samsung also has a store in Monterrey to enable demonstration of many its products.

Monterrey has several specialty stores including stores that sell just printers and printer cartridges, some stores that specialize in networking gear and some that sell components like motherboards to build PCs.

The mall has over 10 stores that specialize just in printers and printer cartridges.

Monterrey mall has three camera/video stores, which include Foto Japon. The mall also has over 10 stores that specialize in video games.

The mall also has several clothing and shoe stores but not the selection of these types of store found in the other malls in Medellín. I counted less than 15 clothing and shoe stores in the mall.

One rather unique clothing store in the mall is Artes Marciales that specializes in martial arts clothing.

Food Options

Monterrey mall has two small food courts located on the first and second floors. Monterrey has a pretty big selection with over 30 fast food places and one restaurant/bar.

In the mall you will find several of the typical fast food places in Medellín including Dogger, Mimo’s, Qbano, and Subway and many places that sell typical Paisa dishes. You will also find the Santa Gracia Restaurant Bar.

Conclusions

Pro’s – Monterrey has over 120 shops selling all types of technology products. It has a huge variety of technology products for sale in the shops that are conveniently located in a single mall. Plus it has a movie theater and a food court with many options.

Con’s – Beyond its technology product focus, Monterrey mall has a much smaller selection of other items, such as clothes and shoes, than are found in the other malls in Medellín.

My Verdict – If you are looking for a hard to find technology item – for example, a special cable, power adapter or printer cartridge – Monterrey is the best place to look in Medellín.

How to Get There – You can take the Medellín Metro to the El Poblado station and the Monterrey mall is located a few minutes walk from the station. Every taxi driver also knows where it is.