61. HEART OF IOWA MARKET PLACE
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 274-4692
Description: The focus here is on foods from Iowa, with shelves of hearty bread, pancake and soup mixes, Amana Colonies jams, preserves, and mustards, Iowa salsas (some of which can pack a punch!), and wines from local and state wineries. Homemade fudge, made right in the shop, is sinfully delicious—try a free sample. There’s also a full array of Iowa-themed gifts, including plenty of toys and licensed items from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and John Deere. They do plenty of gift baskets if you’re having trouble picking out an item.
62. SUZETTE HOMEMADE CANDIES
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 288-1405
Address: 2837 Ingersoll Ave.
Description: A longtime neighborhood confectioner, specializing in chocolate and fudge, with lots of rich varieties of the latter. Decadent truffles peer out from the display cases, and there’s a large selection of yummy roasted nuts. Ice cream is available—the flavors aren’t anything extraordinary, but they’re tasty, and the shop does seasonal treats like homemade caramel apples in the fall. There are also suburban locations in Altoona and Urbandale.
63. ANGIE’S KID ZONE
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 277-6832
Description: A bright, airy shop in a former bank building (the first-floor vault now holds a collection of stuffed animals). Lots of wooden toys for sale, including items like a build-your-own log cabin. Plenty of educational toys as well, with a wide selection of Melissa & Doug items, and theme toys like Thomas the Tank Engine. Good choice of board games and puppets, too.
64. BRILLIANT SKY TOYS AND BOOKS
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 288-4689
Address: 699 Walnut St.
Description: Located in the Kaleidoscope at the Hub atrium mall on the downtown skywalk, this shop’s selection is somewhat modest, but it has some intriguing toys, including plenty of unique board games, action figures, and educational items, including plenty of “brain teaser” puzzles and other logic games. They also have a nice selection of somewhat offbeat items like View-Master disks and some nice kites. Friendly and helpful staff.
65. ATOMIC GARAGE
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 274-8787
Insider Pick:
Description: Walk through the front room at this dusty Valley Junction shop to find a back room overflowing with vintage clothing arranged by era, from the roaring ’20s to the swinging ’60s and disco ’70s (they don’t seem to have made it up to the ’80s yet). This is the place to pick up go-go dresses and boots, Mad Men–style loungewear, paisley shirts, Nehru jackets, and all sorts of other kitsch duds. There are numerous racks of vintage T-shirts as well, with all sorts of designs available, and plenty of jewelry and accessories.
66. DOROTHEA’S CLOSET VINTAGE
City: Des Moines, IA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (515) 991-3516
Address: 1733 Grand Ave.
Description: An impressive array of retro dresses and other clothes are crammed into this storefront on the edge of Western Gateway. Clothes here range from the 1880s (!) to the 1980s, with all sorts of pieces available, including hats, purses, and accessories, including costume jewelry. The shop has outfitted actors in period films, and it’s not hard to put together an ensemble that will make you look like you just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine from the 1940s. In stock are so many great names of 20th-century fashion: Halston, YSL, Lagerfeld, and Dior are just some of the labels you’ll find on the racks. Open Wed through Sat or by appointment.