And FTR for a Walmart? Who knew? :)…read more I basically try to ignore any Walmart, with a couple exceptions: 1. Helping my 95 year-old Dad shop at the one in North Ames. It's impressive how well he knows that store and he takes the lead with his shopping cart. 2. Picking up supplemental items while I'm on the road. That's why I found myself at the Boone Walmart. I was coming back from Squeaky Clean Laundry and needed some moisturizing gel for my dry and scaly scalp. And once I was here, why not look around? 3. Being on a trip away from home and being bored. This Walmart was what you'd expect, except it was not so crowded, with easy parking and checkout. Store staff were very nice as well.

A really nice little hardware store. I stop here for everything but the most obscure of fix-it…read moreitems. They've got just about everything you might need from paint to tools to carpet cleaners. It does lean a little on the pricey side, and is probably not a great place for extensive home improvement projects but it is always the place we go to first for any of our repair needs. It's one of the many convenient and friendly businesses that make Story City a full-service community.

They are always very helpful and have a great deal of knowledge about their products. A nice…read moresolution in the story city area for home projects.

This store is great for the community. I am able to find items that I need most of the time. The…read morefabric selection is very good even though I am not a sewer. Anyone who quilts or sews needs to check this place out. They have quite the variety; clothes, over the counter medications, makeup, greeting cards, hardware items, knick knacks etc. I like supporting local businesses when I can. The offer some great promotions like % off around Xmas time when you fill a bag.

I had a very pleasant time at this location and specifically one of the employees named Emanuel was…read morevery kind towards me.

Store always looks nice, produce is fresh and manager is very giving to the community and often…read morefound helping to carry out or even shovel snow or pick up trash in the parking lot.

Seriously the cutest coffee shop/book store EVER located in downtown Iowa Falls. They have seating…read moreoutside and inside. You walk in and there is a coat rack and community board. You can feel the DMs town vibes and coziness as soon as you walk in. The front seating area has a piano and seating and tables. The coffee bar is in the middle and they offer seasonal items such as Apple Crisp Latte (which was delicious) & S'mores mocha. There were pastries and scones and cookies as well. There is beautiful art all around for sale. Different nick naks and magnets and key chains and bags and soap etc for sale. And some adorable crocheted animals too. A fire place greets you after the coffee bar with 4 very comfy chairs. And behind that you can do downstairs where all the books are kept with tables and chairs and couches. And upstairs is a Longe area with more chairs and tables and couches. A perfect place to meet and catch up with family and friends or to study and enjoy a nice place to hangout. I wish this was in my town, I would be there every day! Def a must!

Just a great little coffee shop! Warm, friendly, comfortable! Hot mocha was great - not so sweet…read morelike some places, which I appreciated. The barista and I talked about how many pumps of mocha was used so I No could adjust the sweetness. I love the little book store area,'used puzzles and other gift items n for sale. Lots of no options for seating- something for everyone; chairs, couches, etc. Get comfy, get cozy and enjoy your joe!

Unlike most of the "dollar' stores out there, Dollar Tree's claim to fame is that everything in…read morethere is a dollar. Like, literally everything. Once in awhile, you'll catch something for 4 for $1 or something (such as the Christmas candy canes they have on clearance right now), but everything in their store is $1. It makes it honestly pretty easy to shop since I'm never wondering about the price tag. This is a nice-looking Dollar Tree that has quite a bit of room on the inside. You can find name-brand items like Pop-Tarts and whatnot, but in some cases, their packaging/box size has been reduced to make it cost-effective to sell for a dollar. This store has stationary, automobile, hardware, some clothes, dishes, beauty supplies, cleaning supplies, lots of food including frozen food, party supplies, kids toys, books, kitchen gadgets, pregnancy tests, and more. I would very, very highly recommend Dollar Tree as the place to get party supplies. They have a plethora of color options and it's all very cheap. They have tablecloths, plastic silverware, plates, noisemakers, and lots of other stuff. It's seriously a fantastic way to do a "decorated" party on the cheap. I came here looking for pins for sewing, but they don't have any. In the past, I've come here for some of their kitchen supplies. Getting a strainer and measuring cups for a dollar is a fantastically good price. When I've come, it's usually clean-ish. It's not immaculate, but it's clean. Shelves are usually pretty organized, and it's not like stuff is strewn all over the place. Usually most things are in-stock and ready to be purchased. I like the parking lot. It's large and makes it easy to get around without fussing with horrible hills or bad traffic like the other dollar store in town. As a note, I don't think they have a bathroom here. For cyclists, they do not have a bicycle rack, but they have long, metal poles that support the outside of the building that you can lock your bike to. I've locked them there in the past without any issue. Final thoughts: It's a good place to pick up random items for $1. You have to make sure what you're buying is worth a dollar as, in some cases, it seems like you might be able to get some of these items cheaper elsewhere. As a whole, though, you definitely save money by shopping at Dollar Tree for lots of household supplies instead of going to another big box store. They don't have enough grocery selection to do all of your grocery shopping here, but they do have a lot of various household items. I would especially recommend this place to anyone moving into a new home who needs household supplies.

Wow I was just in the Ames store it was so congested that I could hardly get what I wanted. The…read moreisles had many boxes blocking in and the cart would hardly fit through it. This was not the first time I was in there and it was this way. I stopped in once around 10 am and it was closed. There were 4 girls standing outside smoking cigarettes and they said it was closed for inventory. That was the first time I ever heard a store close for inventory

I honestly do not make too many foreign types of food, but a friend and I were looking for a rare…read moretype of decaffeinated black tea, and we were hoping that we'd find some at some of the Asian stores in town. Sadly to say, we didn't what we were looking for. It was interesting to look through a bunch of new types of Asian cuisine that I hadn't known about though. This, and Uni-Mart, seem to have some of the best Asian item selections in Ames. It's not a huge store, though. There are about 4 aisles of items including tons of bulk-bag rice, tea, chocolate treats, soybeans, types of grains, and more. Lots of soy sauce varieties, too. There are also freezers with frozen food. Most of the food doesn't have English written on the packaging, but some of the packaging does have English to give you a general idea of what the item is. The interior isn't particularly modern, but it is clean. Some interior decorating would probably go a long way, but it's very functional. Some items didn't have prices marked on them, so if I was looking to purchase those items, I'd probably be pretty frustrated. Judging by the price tags, it looks like they may offer a discount if you pay with cash instead of credit cards. Some of the odder items I found included duck eggs, neat Cheetos packaging, and lots of varieties of rice that I've never seen before. It's definitely neat. They didn't have the tea that we wanted. In fact, I was a little disappointed by the tea selection; there are definitely much, much larger tea selections at all of the local grocery stores. I ended up purchasing some treats. The cashier wasn't particularly friendly, but she was very proficient and wasn't rude at all. Final thoughts: Definitely a neat store, and I'm glad that Ames has some Asian food stores to get some of the harder-to-find items in-town. It isn't the most modern-looking store, and it doesn't have a huge selection, but if you have a favorite foreign food brand and can't find it in the regular grocery stores, you might be able to find it here.

This place is smaller than some that I've been to but they had EVERYTHING you could want! They had…read moregreen tea Kit Kats which are hard to find. I was so exited for find kimchi, endless types of dumplings and ramen, plus everything I needed to make pho from scratch! So excited I found this place and get creative with dinners.

In Ames, I notice the Hy-Vee brand in several places. There are 2 grocery stores at opposite ends…read moreof the Lincoln Highway, and associated Liquor Stores and Gasoline Stations. There's also this Drug Store, which looks to be part of a yet-to-be realized development initiative at and around the old Train Station. Gayle was at a Salon at the Train Station getting her nails done. After all, my fabulous wife must mind the beauty details! However, with the Iowa humidity, she would probably go for shorter hair if we actually lived here. Since this takes time, I decided to walk down Main Street and look around. After walking around the Train Station and admiring the architecture (and the safety fence near the tracks), I first wandered into Hy-Vee Drugstore and for some air conditioned relief. This place is a lot larger than it looks from the outside. They have a nice selection of the usual stuff, plus gifts and wine/beer. I ended up buying a padded wine holder to later (and successfully) take back a bottle of Templeton Rye Whiskey back to Iowa. I'll probably be back the next time I'm in town for any travel-related supplies or to just kill a little time.

I get my prescriptions at Hy-Vee Drugtown. I like that the lines are shorter here. I am sensitive…read moreto medication changes and they will make sure I stay on the same generic which I appreciate. I can get every vitamin here and expert help from the pharmacists on which to choose. I mean, this is not life changing but I can avoid the lines at other places and receive decent service.