We got better service when we were there 12yrs ago, they are into profiling the customer and that is the degree of service that you will get, the lady that was dealing with my wife was a snooty old thing, I tried to tell her that she knew what she wanted and money didn't matter, but she kept going back to the money like it was poison, and with that same look on her face.
This place is amazing! The most beautiful rugs, turquoise, western collection and art I have ever seen. I could look all day and have to make myself leave. I bought a cigar store Indian out of the window several years back on a layaway plan and it is in my living room. I won't go through Gallup without stopping. It's always a treat!
Richardsons Trading Company is a great place to view Native American crafts and marvel at the skill of the artists/weavers. It is also a great place to learn. It is not a great place to purchase items. Even with their two-thirds off Labor Day Sale price, items are way over-priced. We expect to pay a fair price for rugs, pottery, etc.. Richardsons prices are much higher than other trading posts (Garland's, Hubbell, etc.) or other stores such as Ogg's Hogan in Prescott. We were treated well by the sales staff. Once we inquired about prices on several items, we chose quickly to take our business elsewhere. You do not need to worry about authenticity of the inventory here. That is not the case in other shops in Gallup. We did find items in other stores that were not authentic.
If you are looking for anything and I mean anything go to Richardsons Trading Post. Whether it's jewelry, pottery, belts, rugs etc. they have it all. A great collection of "Old Pawn" jewelry is available for purchase.
There are a lot of historical displays at this store. They also have a fantastic selection of Indian items form the Zunis and Navajos. The employees are very helpful. This is a landmark trading post.
If you want the Navajo jewelry and all things Navajo experience (rugs, baskets, etc.), this is the place to visit! Every kind of jewelry, rugs, and baskets + a lot more that you would ever want. Friendly, helpful employees, and a huge store!
We visited Gallup in August 2014 and first place we went was Richardsons as I was looking for a Navajo rug (in a restricted colour range due to recent recovering of couches in living room). Larry pulled out lots of rugs for me to look at. The ones he showed me were beautiful, good quality and in my price range (around $3,000). There were a couple of lovely Teec rugs that I almost bought (Larry offered discount) but what I was really after were Tree of Life rugs and they didn't happen to have many in stock this day, so in the end I didn't buy anything. However Larry remained very helpful and pleasant (and patient). We had a wonderful time looking at the genuine Indian made turquoise and silver jewellery, pottery and other artefacts too. I would love to be able to visit this store frequently but live on the other side of the planet :-)PS You would be hard pressed not to find the right rug here, genuine Navajo rugs and good quality. Don't make my mistake, buy a rug you love first, then recover couches :-) Don't miss this place if passing through Gallup.
We stopped at Richardson's since we had read about it in various publications. It is a very quaint store with a huge inventory of American Indian made jewelry and pottery. Richardson's also has a massive selection of hand-woven rugs. Larry worked with us to answer our questions on the rugs we were interested in. He was very knowledgeable about the artists as well as what the symbolic rugs represented. The rugs are very high quality and the prices reflect that. If I were to compare this store to other high-end art galleries we have visited, I would say this store is very overpriced. The two rugs we were considering were $6400.00 and $5400. in price and were approximately 30 x 40. In addition, I was looking at some of the beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry they had for sale, but again - considering the prices, I could not justify such a cost. I respect the fact that the jewelry was made by Indian artists, however I also work in jewelry and understand the wholesale costs of silver and semi-precious stones. If you want to know more about the pottery, rugs, and jewelry - this is the place to go as the staff are all very knowledgeable. We brought our poodle in with us and they offered water for her.
I love this place and make the 12 hr journey just to shop here. The Richardson family and their employees are extremely knowledgeable and friendly. I have never been treated poorly. The sheer volume of merchandise is overwhelming, plan plenty of time to take it all in. Be sure to also explore the displayed private collection pieces. This place isn't just a store. It's a unique piece of history.
We were so excited to come and check out this trading company after reading reviews on Trip Advisor... Unfortunately this place is closed on Sunday as is many other places in Gallup. I was unable to find their store hours on website