Batteries Plus Bulbs opened its Rio Rancho location on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. The owner of the new location is Bernadette King, who grew up near Alameda Boulevard in Albuquerque. Matt Hollinshead photo.

Having grown up on Albuquerque’s West Side, Bernadette King now likes how Batteries Plus Bulbs had plenty of “obscure” batteries in stock that big-box stores usually won’t carry.

Now she looks to provide a wider array of batteries that are harder to come by — from batteries for old computers, cell phones, golf carts and recreational vehicles to batteries for products like Roombas, power drills and hearing aids — in Rio Rancho.

The new location opened Wednesday at 2415 Southern Blvd., Suite 104, in the same shopping area as Pet Food Gone Wild.

“That was a big one for us, and that was very easy to find here in Rio Rancho,” said King, who owns the Rio Rancho location. “I remember how excited we would get every time there’s a new business on this side of town. I was feeling that same excitement about being able to offer that on this side of town.”

Batteries Plus Bulbs is a national company, and the new store is the fifth New Mexico location. The other New Mexico locations are at San Mateo Boulevard and Montgomery Boulevard in northeast Albuquerque, plus Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Carlsbad.

King said the Rio Rancho location’s accessibility was appealing.

“We want enough traffic, but not too much traffic. So, we found that perfect medium here,” she said. “We think it’s really important for our customers to be able to just come in, park and leave, not having to go around a bunch of buildings and navigate through maze-like parking lots just to run in, get something quickly and leave.”

She also said it helps to be able have stores like Batteries Plus Bulbs operating during times where it’s cold and snowy outside.

“This is when a lot of (people’s car) batteries start to get worn down. This is the best time we can test their batteries. We can let them know if it’s their alternator, their starter or their actual battery, and we can get that replaced,” she said.