In Memoriam: Ames Business/Restaurants
- Thread starter Farnsworth
- Start date
No mattress or tire store ruins the realism for me
That’s also very true. It must have replaced the old going to the mall hang out, which I never see any more outside of Jordan Creek and even there it’s more likely I see them with their parents.
Was just going to respond with this. My daughter is 18 and has socialized at Target for a couple years. Go in there on a Friday night and it’s packed with HS kids it seems like. My son is a Jr and socializing is mostly around the gym, batting cage, and the occasional bonfire. They do get together and play some CFB and MLB, but plenty of online gaming together too.
Ames Mullets is ******* terrible especially when compared to the original. They need to close already and let something else open there. WTP was great for many years until the end. It’s a great location
2024 was rough for a few longtime Ames area businesses. Here's what closed this year:
Fried tacos, award-winning burgers and a haunted forest are among the things that went by the wayside in Ames in 2024.www.amestrib.com
From El Jefe to Mullets and Harbor Freight, here's what opened in Ames in 2024
Many new restaurants and retail stores opened in Ames and the surrounding area in 2024.www.amestrib.com
It's because it's a franchise store... The Ames and Ankeny loc's are definitely not the same as the original.
It actually was one of the big reasons I put a good chunk of money into starbuck stock when it was sitting around $75 a share. All I was seeing was young people walking around target with starbucks and that was going to carry over into their adulthood, same for little kids shopping with their parents with their little starbuck fruit drinks.
Edit: just checked Robinhood average cost was $72.29
You think there is only 40 days in a year with events at the Iowa State Center?
90% of the year would be actually less than 40 days.
There is constantly something going on there. Between all the sports at Hilton and JTS. The events at Stephens. Then other events like special olympics etc. Not to mention the planned addition of a hotel, band shell with entertainment, options to have other events during the summer, to drive business.
Then you have the actual businesses there driving their own interest. There isnt events at every shopping center etc to bring in customers. Businesses have to drive their own customer base. You dont go to Smashpark in DM because there is a football game across the parking lot. You dont go to Toppling Goliath because there is a basketball game at Luther. You dont shop at Cys Locker on Duff only because its gameday across town.
I have no idea if it will be everything it was hoped to be, but the idea that there is only things going on there a few days a year and those days are the only days anything would have customers is just not true.
Whiskey River, Tip Top, and Sportsman’s are about the only bars in Ames with “regulars” and have stood the test of time. I probably would put Welch Ave in there to.
I’ve lived in Ames since I started school back in ‘84. Seen quite a few bars that have closed since then. Fox Lounge, Tradewinds to name a couple in the downtown area.
I’ve lived in Ames since I started school back in ‘84. Seen quite a few bars that have closed since then. Fox Lounge, Tradewinds to name a couple in the downtown area.
Welch Ave is as enduring as it gets
Thumbs has had some good regulars.
It might not be booming, but do you really think with all the brains on this the best they could do is come up with something that’s busy during sporting events? You could put anything that serves food or booze and it will be jammed on game days. That part takes zero planning or thought. The entirety of the research and challenge was to come up with a plan to make sure it was something that wouldn’t be a ghost town on non-game days.
Actually, they are just smoking a bunch of weed
Thumbs should definitely be on that list and London Underground has been open almost 20 years.
FAC was dying back in 2010. Sips wouldn’t get busy until after 11 or 12 all the time a decade ago. Pregaming overtook people going out early.
Doesn’t help that the big four prices are utterly ridiculous for college bars.
Signed, a former Welch bartender.
London came to mind but didn’t make my timeline from ‘84. Cy’s Roost probably should be added but their hours are different. They celebrated 20 years back in ‘97. Closed for three months in ‘01 due to violations and lost their liquor license. I can honestly say I’ve never been to Thumbs.
As I said in my post, it depends what the composition of businesses are. And if you think “brain power” will make any business venture successful, you haven’t been in business much.
I hope and think it will work but to say it’s a slam dunk is way too optimistic, in my opinion.
