A classic old school record shop. Dusty stereo equipment piled high in all the corners, mounds of…read moreunsorted LPs everywhere else, and tightly packed bins of well-chosen records comprising the majority of this unassuming storefront. Has it been vacuumed in the last 10 years? Who cares? Does he have the best collection of vintage rock, heavy metal, and country in Des Moines? Absolutely. The owner is quiet and leaves you be. The music he plays is low-key and innocuous, alienating no one. His prices are just right: $30-50 bucks for most original pressings in good shape, and very rare ones are $100ish. If he charged less there'd be nothing to look at here. It's like a great guitar shop - you go there partially just to look at all the cool stuff. The new vinyl record stores are fake -everything they carry is was made from a digital master; just a vinyl version of a CD. All the other old record shops have a lousy collection and completely arbitrary prices. This place is totally legit.

Red Rooster is an awesome little record store that knows what to stock, but also knows what to…read moreprice the records.. No fooling this guy on that copy of Jame Brown at the Apollo... He know's what it's worth. But with that comes a knowledge of whats great to stock and he always have killer new records coming in.. He will also cut you a deal if you are going to purchase 4-5 records at a time. Red Rooster does not really stock new releases or local stuff, so if your looking for the new Arcade Fire LP this is not your stop, but if your looking for that rare Zappa record to fill up your collection this might be your best stop in town.

We happen to be in town for Galaxy con and wanted to see if there were some great records nearby…read more This place had great reviews so we came to check it out. They had a very large selection of 70s and 80s music. I was shocked that they did not have a David Bowie section. They had a great selection of folks from the Des Moines area such as really rare slipknot albums. It's a pretty compact area. I did find Viagra boys which I did not expect I would ever find in a location.

Really nice store, but so nice that it was a little picked over. They had the plastic dividers…read moreshowing me they had stock before. Must have visited at a bad time. I did find a couple things, the counter guy was very nice, and the prices were extremely reasonable. Would definitely make a point of visiting again when in town,

Our 1st time in this store. Great selection, price, and service. Will be back for all our vinyl…read moreneeds. Earl and Dale are reason enough to visit. :)

I love this store so much. It's a little amazing store and it deserves so much more attention has…read moreall the physical media you could want. LOVE!

Small shop but plenty of parking and easy to get to. Staff were incredibly nice and helpful. I was…read moreable to find a couple things and had a good time going through the stacks. I appreciate that they care enough about their product to subdivide it into sections so I don't have to look at rock music if I don't want to. Best store in town in that regard for sure. I would definitely make a point of coming back on my future trips to the area.

Man I love this store. Best record stores I visited in town. I think I went to all of them. Great…read morecurated selection of clean mint records. Store employee was super nice to chat with. This would be my first stop back in town.

Vinyl LPs have been making a specialty come back over recent years, and Marvs is a welcoming and…read morecomfortable place to add to the collection. This is a well displayed LP only establishment, so Cassettes, CDs, and 8 Tracks might be harder to find locally.

Small shop but decent selection. Pretty much all new records if I remember correctly. Prices a…read morelittle high but it's downtown so I'm sure the rent is too. The woman at the store was very nice and welcoming. I'd definitely visit again on my trips through the area.

I used to travel to Chicago and Minneapolis for my skating needs, only to find the best skate shops…read moreright here in Iowa. Keep up the good work

My son tells me that the vinyl was actually fake.... He was super disappointed on Christmas…read moremorning.

Overpriced crap. Lots of good titles but the condition didn't meet the price point. The smell of…read morethe used clothes was pretty unpleasant and kinda just felt like I needed a shower when I left. Owner was pretty stoked about his vintage sealed record collection but failed to offer any return policy on them. Sealed records from back in the day are often warped. You gotta be a good business and take care of the customer. Speaking with the other record store owners in town, they kind of had the same negative vibe I got.

Steve is a great guy. His shop has autographed items & non. Vinyl records, CDs, cassettes,…read more8-tracks. VHS, DVDs, blue-ray. Band shirts for men & women, dresses, skirts, pants, hats, scarves, belts, purses. Incense, lighters, ashtrays, vapes, glass. Novelty items, shot glasses, jewelry & body jewelry. Candles, greeting cards, magazines, comic books, flags, tapestries. Artwork. Largest collection around of items from local bands & local artists. Bicycles. And a music venue in Summer playing rock & metal bands. They buy, sell, and trade items...

Every now and then you comes across a place on Yelp that makes you step back a little... I've been…read morehere a TON of times! How have I not reviewed this place before now...?! The Picker Knows is one of those places... Probably the premier, and my favorite, antique "mall" in the Des Moines metro! Rows and rows of vendor booth and cases. I'd hate to total the money up that I've spent here... And buying is great, but a lot of times I just have fun window shopping. Looking at the many different things here that I can't afford or have no business spending money on... Lol Very large display items, furniture, antiques, retro and vintage, some modern, a few clothes, comics, vinyls, Hot Wheels, some dusty and rusty things, handcrafted items, and tons of smalls! Prices are vendor driven. So some are high, some are at market, and there are great deals to be found here too. As a veteran I appreciate the veteran's only parking spot near the front door. At only 55 I pass it up a lot because there are veterans in A LOT worse shape than I am. But I have used it a couple of times. It's so easy to spend hours here! Vendors leave and new vendors fill their slots. And with the merchandise being vendor provided...the selection is ever changing! The staff is fantastic and always available for questions or to open a case! The bathrooms aren't terrible for this environment. They aren't perfect...pretty plain Jane...but they don't send you running for the hills. Lol The Picker Knows is a must stop in the Des Moines metro if you are into antiquing or thrifting!

The Picker Knows prides itself on being one of Iowa's largest antique malls with over 35,000 square…read morefeet of "stuff". I was here because my Nephew was getting married next door at the Decades Event Center. I believe that both spaces were once a Dahl's Grocery Store. Since I was early and the pictures I was in were taken, I had some time to wander about. I love looking around antique stores and this place certainly had a lot of space and individual "consignment" booths. In situations like this, my eyes glaze over as I keep walking. In my head is Gayle saying - "Where are you going to put this crap?". In my heart is the preference of finding some unique peace that I can convince myself that I can't do without. I finally purchased a cool heavy metal Iowa-themed belt buckle for $15. That was after my go-to shopping targets of knives, pens, and old publications came up empty. I also find that I'm good for about 30 minutes in an antique store, and them I have to get out. If there's a next time, I'm sure inventory will be different, so who knows what might appear!

I spent a half hour here, and thought it was a nice store with a fun owner and a comfortable…read moreenvironment. The owner let me browse a bit, but then checked in on me and mentioned some new stuff he just got in. Overall he wasn't pushy or anything. I ended up finding a couple/few things, but may have found more if I hadn't showed up 30 minutes before the store closed. Ah well, guess I'll have to stop by again next time I'm in town. Overall I enjoyed browsing through the stacks of records. On leaving I noticed they have a ton of CDs and clothing, and they even mentioned cassettes which I didn't know where making a comeback, but hey why not. The place is in an actual mall too, like back when I was a kid... thought those were all gone, it was nice.

Claims to "want to buy stuff you bring" but doesn't offer legitimate prices. Guy is very creepy too…read morewho works here, walks around staring and looking at people kinda gross. Overall, ok experience but not great.

Such a cute spot to grab lunch or a latte! Very affordable!…read more I got the vegan BLT and it was great. I would have liked a little more mayo, but still solid 8/10. My mom got the Sparrow Panini and said it was really good, just a bit on the fatty side with the bacon. 9/10. Our lattes were amazing, honestly better than any other place around. I got the iced Gandalf and my mom had the iced Raven. Both were so good. Love the retro vibe and the little bookstore inside. They also have live music on the weekends. Highly recommend! Buy local coffee over franchise coffee.

I hung our here yesterday morning with a nice cup of coffee (free refills), roomy table…read moreopportunities, and lots of books over at least a few rooms. I was here to meet my Sister and her husband to go over some estate paperwork related to our late Father. It was a nice and relatively private to do all that. Next time I'm in, I'll make it a point to also grab a bite.