There is just something about going into independent bookstores that feels like taking a step into…read morethe past. This was definitely the case when I stepped into Prairie Lights Books. I was in town visiting campus and needed to bring something back for my kids. A friend recommended the store so I walked the couple blocks over from my hotel to check it out. A lot of bookstores neglect books for kids. To my amazement the entire lower level of the shop was for kids. It was fantastic. I walked around for a good 30 minutes checking out what they had to offer. The upstairs has more traditional selection of books. I was in a hurry so I didn't have time to check it out. It was a place though you could easily get lost just browsing the shelves. Looking at some of the reviews I somehow totally missed that there was a cafe attached as well! I'll have to check that out the next time I'm in Iowa City.

I love visiting independent bookstores when we travel. There's no better way to get a feel for the…read morecommunity. I loved how the store was laid out. All staff was very helpful, even some staff members that weren't on the clock. I saw a lot of books I had not seen on shelves before. There was a great selection even though this isn't a giant store. Seek this place out if you're in downtown Iowa City. (Cafe area looked cool... just didn't have time to explore everything...but did buy books!)

On the first day of the month, have you ever heard someone say 'White rabbit'? According to…read moresuperstition, doing so gives you good luck. Well, this Iowa City gem will also give you good luck when it comes to finding gifts for friends, loved ones or yourself. It has so many locally made trinkets and treasures. There is new and old clothing. There is jewelry, accessories, mugs, candles, bath salts, cocktail infusion kits, art, cards, stickers, ornaments, coffee and more! It has something for everyone. Don't just take my word for it. My seven year old daughter, Cora, says this is where 'she finds ALLLLL her mom's favorite gifts.' (And she's not wrong.) I popped on to online shop on Small Business Saturday. I was in luck! 20% off the entire store. Score! I went and loaded my cart with Wake Up Iowa Coffee for my husband and a coworker. (If you haven't had this locally made brew-- do yourself a favor and get a bag.) I also snagged a Practical Magic Apothecary 'Holiday Cocktail' kit. I can't wait to serve it up this holiday season -- how does a mule with hibiscus, blood orange, cinnamon, cardamom and festive spices sound?! White Rabbit ships nationally ($5 flat fee!) and has free in-store pickup for you locals out there. White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit! No matter if it is the first of the month or not, you'll feel lucky supporting this local, women-owned biz.

This place is the bee's knees. Could shop here for hours. So many cute things - clothes,…read moreaccessories, home decor, body and self care, thrifted pieces, and even some treats for your feline fam. Also, follow them on Instagram -- they often do a story shopping - meaning they post on their story, if you want it - you message them and like magic, it is yours (of course once you pay online)! They'll ship it to you or you can opt to pick up in store! So many great finds and they are considerate to limit the number of people in store, due to Covid-19. Appreciate that!

On day thirty one, I online shopped…read more I read this great article the other day about present shopping intentionally. (Eco-Friendly, Hand-Made, Small Biz, Woman Owned... etc) It got me inspired. With Mother's Day a whopping THREE weeks away-- I figured I'd both support my local woman-owned small biz and get a gift or two to make a mom in my life feel seen, loved and appreciated. This review is for an online shopping experience at Revival. Their site is easy to use. I love the tabs...from new to sale items. Gifts for under $25 tab, too. They've got a little bit of something for everyone-- but compared to the store, selection is a bit limited. With the lovely lady in my life being 70+ and growing more fearful by the day of this pandemic-- I opted for the Cold & Flu Blend of essential oils. Practical, yet thoughtful. (Annnnnd... I may have gotten something for myself. HEY. I'm a mom, too! Revival has a WONDERFUL Free People selection.) I made my two purchases... got to the dreaded shipping options... and saw all local deliveries are free! I got my package a mere TEN HOURS after ordering it. (Even with a text informing me it had been left on my step.) Support local. Support small. Support women-owned. Support retail during this crazy time. Oh, and don't forget to spoil your momma. Shop Revival!

Selection is decent, my mom bought a pair of pants when she was in town, they ended up being too…read moreshort, not to mention they cost over $100. I went to return them two weeks later when I had time and they let me know they don't accept returns after 10 days even tho they had tags on and clearly had not been worn. The lady at the counter wasn't outwardly rude but was not at all trying to help, had no wiggle room just happy to have made a sale?On top of that they donate towards a women's clinic that performs abortions- I'd rather not send money towards murdering babies in the womb so I won't be shopping here again.

Kohls hired a company called the retail equation. This company has convinced Kohls to deny returns…read morethat FOLLOW THEIR POLICY. I personally have never returned anything without a receipt and on time. Suddenly they said I couldn't return a DEFECTIVE purse, ordered online, with receipt. I DID NOT get a verbal warning. In the past couple of years I shopped for my elderly grandmother, my two kids, myself, my husband so maybe use some critical thinking skills when you look at a list of returns......maybe they are for multiple people in a family. I admit, I did things like purchase 10 pairs of shoes so my 95 year old grandma could find a pair that were comfortable. I did the same for clothes. I told the cashiers exactly what I was doing. I also admit I returned 9 pairs of shoes and multiple items of clothing and explained to the cashier why. My grandma can't go to the store like so many others that are home bound, so congratulations you have made it harder for the elderly to get things they need from your company!! Shameful! I also did the same for my mom who had Alzheimers. Some of my returns were because I received dirty and /or defective stuff from orders online. Lack of packaging is why for most. Delicate items like bras came snagged and dirty thrown in a box. I received sizes I did not order. Do you expect me to keep wrong sizes? I did order some things on accident because the items were in my cart. My bad! I pointed all of this out when I returned the items. How exactly are we to shop online without having returns when the store doesn't have it to try on or to look at colors and styles? I am now stuck with a DEFECTIVE purse. How is this even a business tactic? Who would think it is a good idea to not allow valid returns abiding by the company policy? Customers won't go back concerned it will happen because no guidelines are provided. Kohls refuses to tell customers how many VALID returns are allowed which is extremely unethical. I did the dispute process which is a joke. Kohls confirmed I had too many returns. How many is too many.....no one will ever know. Are you forcing customers to keep merchandise to increase revenue? That is sure what it seems like because I am not a criminal or committing fraud.

On April 18, 2020 (during quarantine and this store was open for pickup orders) I ordered a Dyson…read moreBall Animal 2 Upright Bagless Vacuum for $423.99. I ordered the product online and picked it up at the Coralville Kohls location. My order was ready for pickup 1 hr and 34 minutes later. I was excited! I told the guy to place it in my back seat. I went home and placed the box near my door. After eating dinner and relaxing for a bit, I noticed the box was disfigured. On one side it wasn't professionally packaged. The box seemed like it had been used or ripped open before. My gut instinct was, "please god, don't let this be a used product!" It sure was. I was angry and so many emotions ran through my head. I could not believe it! I started opening the box to find the whole product not professional wrapped or organized in the box. It looked like someone used the product and placed it into a big bag and stuffed it into the box. The Dyson cleaner head had human hair and debris attached to it. The body of the vacuum looked used and not clean. The Dyson bin had dirt and other filthy stuff in it. I couldn't unravel everything as I was totally disgusted and pissed off. This product was a lot of money and they gave me a used one. This was BAD customer service. I called Coralville Kohls location since that was where I picked up the item. I told them they gave me a used product. The guy said they couldn't exchange the item because the store was closed and I could return it when the store opened (which was pending b/c of COVID19). I told them, they were quick to accept my money for the purchase, why couldn't they exchange it for a different one. I got nowhere and they were not empathetic to the situation- another sign of bad customer service. They didn't apologize on behalf of Kohls when this product was at fault. I then tried customer service support online and on the phone (the Kohls corporate number), which both took over 30 minutes to get a person. The online support took 32 minutes and the phone representative took 44 minutes. The online support woman reiterated the same statement as the Coralville guy about returning the item when the store opened. Her responses were really slow, like 5 minutes to respond. This was another example of bad customer service from an online feature. It was a long wait to get a representative online, and then they reply slowly. It was also difficult for her to provide clear and understandable answers. The woman on the phone ended up hanging up after being on for 4 minutes. I had to wait 25 minutes to get someone on the phone again. Whether it's a faulty phone system or rudeness, it's still bad customer service. This time around, it was a different woman and she helped a lot. She was able to send a UPS guy to pick up the product and then issue a refund on the product. I was happy that we started the process of issuing a refund. May 6th, 2020 was the 10th business day since Kohls received the product (doesn't include shipping/receiving which was 3 business days) and quarantine was still taking place. I still didn't receive my refund of $423.99. I called customer service and waited 42 minutes. The guy stated that my refund wasn't completely done so it never went through. I was really upset. He put in a new request and said he would flag it so the reimbursement people can see it and process it quickly. I received my refund three days later. Through this experience, I've learned that Kohls customer service sucks and they don't put the customer first. They can improve their customer service by addressing some of the topics I mentioned above and the wait time. Also, shame on the Coralville Kohls staff who took advantage of a customer during the pandemic. I hope no one has to endure this type of experience.

New store, they switched to JCP Beauty when Sephora left their stores…read more There's a wide variety of prices and much more selection of goods than Sephora had. There's hair products, men's grooming items, skincare and makeup. A nice selection of fragrances and they also support MANY ethnic companies. It's bright and clean inside, and the associates are very helpful!

I needed to upload photos from my phone and get them printed off for a celebration of life…read moreposterboard. The manager on that day was exceptional with helping me. All the staff that helped me were very nice, friendly and professional. I was literally there for 4 hours. Getting every picture I needed printed. They actually kept checking on me to make sure I didn't need help with anything.

This Walgreens is average…read more We've had flu shots, filled prescriptions, bought wine, perused aisles for gifts, taken passport photos, and more at this location. BUT primarily I print photos here or cards or even copies of items. Staff is hit or miss. Price is on par. Selection seems to be ok, I do really like their seasonal gift items. The parking lot can be kind of a nightmare. But I want to shout out to their photo staff. Generally, they do a stellar job! I'll always come to the Coralville Walgreens for photos needs.

After 14 years of being employed by this company in store management I now get to experience…read moreWalgreens as a customer. Their understaffed, over stressed and underpaid associates are lacking motivation and people skills in this location. It's not that Walgreens needs to hire more people. They are not given the budget to have more. They are routinely expected to do more with less. But that's "the industry standard". I walked into this convenient location and made eye contact with the male service associate. There were no customers in sight and he was just standing at the register playing his fingers like drumsticks on the counter. I gave a smile. He gave zero reaction. Where was my "welcome to Walgreens"? I proceeded to the front wall because I was in need of a technology device for my iPhone. Looks like they are ready to get a reset on all their cell phone gear because the entire front wall was pretty much barren and full of clearance tags. So I just bought a water and left. While I was there I wasn't greeted by any other employees. No management on the floor during my visit at 7pm. Only the little drummer boy and a photo tech who was trying to be patient taking an entire group of young children's passport photos. The store was in ok condition. Besides the front wall. Side racks snd end stands merchandised, back to school products out and ready to sell. Upon checkout my drummer friend gave a week "hey". And once I paid asked if I wanted a receipt. That was pretty much the extent of our exchange. Even while I was at the front wall looking intently over the little choices in product he proceeded to play his drum solo. No offering assistance to this gal. I wasn't impressed and it makes me sad. I spent over a third of my life with this company and I expect better.

Price gouging. This happened today 9-19-24. Old spice deodorant bear glove was priced at 19…read moredollars. They should be arrested and held accountable for this crap. Welcome to beginning of the end people, don't shop here unless you absolutely don't have a choice