About time Ames had a little hippie shop! This is a Des Moines store branching out into Ames. I've…read moreonly been once but I'm a fan! There's hookah, pipes, hemp jewelry and clothing, fun shirts, bumper stickers, face and body jewelry, the whole shebang. The owner was there and he was really nice and helpful. It's located inside of North Grand Mall. If you're from a metropolitan city then a good comparison would be to call it a small town Spencer's Gifts or Hot Topic, but it does seem to have higher quality and fairer prices than similar shops I've been to. For a small town store it is quite wonderful and I hope they continue to expand (and keep the quality) to other cities and towns. Wanna look like a rockstar? Stop by Shag. There's all kind of cool novelty items. You're sure to find something you like, I guarantee it.

Excellent service and quality! Needed a mattress. The salesman Laman focused on helping us find…read morewhat we want and staying within our budget, not making himself more $. He has a system he uses to help people realize what they want and then he lets them stay within that category while also staying within their price target. Delivery was within 2 days. Delivery people notified me with accurate indications of when they'd be here so I didn't get hung up on waiting for them. They were in and out in a few minutes. Oh and one other thing: he had an upright piano in there, right by the door. I played a D7 chord with the 7th in the bass and he didn't even complain. There's also a djembe on top of the piano. Friendly, quirky, but helpful/chill salesman.

Excellent quality mattress I purchased a few years back. I bought the aurora queen, and I can't…read moresay enough about the high quality! Laman the store manager is extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and really gave me a fair price for the best mattress I have ever owned. Well done Lebeda!

My last couple visits to BAM have been accented by a really friendly and engaging guy who has come…read morefrom behind the counter to help me find a particular book, magazine, or gift. And last week, he was wearing a cool Puerto Rico baseball jersey (Santurce Cangrejeros) with Roberto Clemente's number (21). BAM also has an extensive magazine collection that you just don't see anymore. It's right next to the coffee shop, which accentuates the book and periodical browsing experience.

I love that there's still a bookstore in town. There used to be that amazing bookstore over in the…read moreLincoln Center mall, and we had Borders, but now this Borders has closed and turned into a Books a Million. Everything is laid out about-ish the same that Borders used to have it laid out. There's music and movies in the same spot, the children's area in the same spot, the coffee and seating in the same spot, and of course, the bathrooms haven't moved. Shopping here is nice. They have a ton of clearance, but that seems to be standard for a lot of bookstores. Prices are pretty standard for books (higher than online), but they also are lower than prices I've seen at Barnes & Noble, so that's a positive. It was easy to locate the area that I was looking for. There are large signs on top of shelves that let you know what type of books are on there. They have a pretty large biblical/Christian section which I found surprising. It's larger than quite a lot of the other sections, and I think it actually might be getting close to the size of some of the fiction sections. Over in the Transportation section, I found what I was looking for pretty easily. They even had a good selection. However, the books were not in order like they should have been. Books about airplanes were strewn throughout and between books about motorcycles, trains, and cars. They were in the right section (Transportation), but definitely not organized how they should have been. So if you're looking for a specific book, make sure you look through the whole section. There were quite a few Clearance books, and I came out with 5 books instead of the original 1 I was looking for. Most of their clearance is very reasonably priced at about 50% to 75% off the original price. The books are in decent shape too. I had a really fun time looking through clearance. Check-out was nice and simple. They asked me to sign up for their membership program which I declined. They also offered me to sign up for their "3 free magazines" deal, but none of that was particularly pushed on me. They were really friendly about it and didn't push when I said no. Staff was extremely friendly and I was greeted on multiple occasions. Didn't try out the coffee area or look through the Children's area. Final thoughts: I'd definitely come back. The prices are higher than what I could get online, but there's something to be said for in-store book stores. I love being able to buy a book locally and help support the local economy as well. Plus, looking through Clearance is easily one of my favorite aspects of bookstores. I came out with 5 new books at least than $40; that's definitely amazing for book prices. I'm glad Ames still has a local bookstore.

I had a great experience at the Pearle Vision in Ames. The optometrist got my prescription right,…read moreand Kristie helped me pick frames (regular glasses and sunglasses) that are a great fit for my face and what I was looking for functionally and aesthetically. She was very knowledgeable and professional and took the time to pull some options for me to try out. Her coworker was also very nice helping the other customers. I thought the prices seemed reasonable, the process was easy, good selection of frames, and the glasses arrived in a reasonable amount of time. I am happy with both the glasses and sunglasses. I highly recommend!

Went in to pick up glasses for my son and had to wait. Not a big deal but as a technician became…read moreavailable and knew we were waiting, but proceeded to walk to the back and make a phone call. We had to wait over 30 minutes just to pick up. The glasses are over priced comparing same frames and lenses at other places, but we had already ordered. We won't be going back.

6/13/26 We've been…read moreto this location a few times now, and each time has been pleasant. We're not pressured to buy anything or feel uncomfortable. It's nice to be able to walk around and look at things without being followed or pestered constantly. The store is brightly lit and very well organized, with a wide variety of merchandise. Each time we've gone in, we're greeted with a smile by whoever is working. The employees are also very knowledgeable, non-judgmental, and easy to talk to, which is a huge plus in this type of environment. There also tends to be some sort of sale going on each time, which is always a win lol. Plus, the prices are pretty reasonable compared to other similar stores/online. If you're looking for an "adult" store, this is definitely the place to go.

Well I'm impressed little Ames even has a sex store! For a small town it's not so bad. They are…read morelacking a tad bit in some of the sex toy aspects that you'd likely find in a city, but there are a lot of cool costumes and a VERY diverse pornography collection. I didn't expect to see any ethnic porn or interracial porn but there's a whole large section. And if you'd like a hookah pipe and a little hookah, they sell that as well! I just checked their website and everything they are lacking in the store the website makes up for. The people working there are nice, friendly, and professional. There's also a back area that I think people can pick out a video and watch in a private room for one. There are multiple rooms and multiple videos - for a price, mind you. If what goes on in there is what I think goes on in there, then I hope they wipe those rooms down with disinfectant wipes afterwards.

We were very impressed with the level of quality salesmanship we received. Jose Medina worked with…read moremy Mom to find the perfect bed for her needs. Even the perfect pillow! Jose was very patient, professional and knowledgeable. All the sales people were helpful and friendly. She returned a week later to purchase just the right love seat for her new home. Good selection and professional staff.

Absolutely-lovely mattress store. Didn't feel particularly pressured, but I felt like a valued…read morecustomer - like they actually wanted me to be satisfied with any product that I purchased from them. While I (hopefully!), don't need another mattress anytime soon, this would be the place I'd return to. PROS: -Shopkeepers don't work on commission, and that becomes insanely obvious when you step into the store. Whereas we had someone on our tail constantly and trying to upsell us and offer better deals ("well, I can take $200 off that price right now!") when we went to another mattress store, we got lovely peace and quiet here. The sales associate welcomed us and pointed us in the right direction when we came in. Then he went back to his post and allowed us to look around with supervision. He occasionally came and checked in and asked if we were finding everything okay, but we had the ability to lay on and test the mattresses in peace without feeling rushed. -Associate was also pretty knowledgeable. He didn't seem to have too many specific details about things, but he was very familiar with the mattresses and how they compared. He also had very detailed information about all of their programs/buying process. -Nobody tried to sell us anything we didn't need. They were happy to explain the differences between the more-expensive and less-expensive options, but it never felt like we were being shoved towards the more-expensive one. He seemed to want us to be satisfied with our purchase - whatever it was. -They offer a 1-year happiness guarantee. If you find that it's not a good fit for you within one year, they'll take it back (minus a $50 surcharge fee) and give you full credit for the mattress. That's LEAGUES above other programs in town (which was 30 days and 100 days at other stores). -They have some coil-designed mattresses, some hybrid designs, and some pure memory foam designs. Mattresses range from $300-ish to $3,000-ish. There's a simple pricing structure laid out on every mattress with the breakdown of prices - how much for each size option of that type with various foundations or other options. No guessing or feeling uncomfortable continually asking a sales associate. Nothing seems marked up or unreasonably priced. -They also sell sleep accessories like sheets, memory foam pillows, and mattress protectors. -Mattress was delivered next-day with absolutely no problem for free in Ames. Evening of purchase, we received a call giving us a 3-hour window for the next day. Mattress was delivered in that window during the next day. CONS: -Relatively limited selection of brands (mostly Restonic), and they don't have the ability to special order any other brands.

My wife walked in wearing her pajamas and was treated as respectfully as someone wearing a suit and…read moretie. We were looking and pricing beds for our children, and Phil Sears was a wonderful help in choosing a mattress set. Dude gets up and jumps on the frame to show its durability!!!! Their prices are great and quality isn't sacrificed for a low price. I believe we'll stick with them for our sleep needs. Best part? Free delivery with every purchase and they still have good prices.

We went in looking for a very specific pair of shoes and got very close! The salesperson, Alex, was…read morevery helpful and made the experience very pleasant! We ultimately decided to try another store before placing a shoe order but he offered to ship in shoes for us to try on, above and beyond!