Amana General Store

I was bummed to read all of the poor reviews about the General Store. I agree, «general store» insinuates a step back in time, but that’s not really want you experience here. Occasionally you may stumble upon an old-​time candy favorite, but that’s about all. They cram a lot of products into this store, but there really is something for everyone. Coffee, décor, baking items, cookbooks, snacks, body products, greeting cards, sodas, cheeses, jams/​jellies, Christmas items and more. The shop is very large, so it’s definitely worth a stop. Inexpensive-​moderately priced depending on what you buy.

I have gone in for a particular item several times, why oh why do I get the same disgruntled clerk who needs Dale Carnegie training for sure! I realize they dump the buses off, and the tourists keep the store afloat, but what about the locals in the off season spending their money? I spoke back, this time… and she sure did back-​pedal well! May want to look elsewhere… I will be doing just that.

In my opinion the whole Amana Colony is just a money maker. Went into the general store expecting to see goods made my the people of the Amana colony but was disappointed. A lot of the food products are imported from Germany. On all the jellies and other canned goods, it states on bottle it was made for Amana, not by Amana. There were some homemade blankets and socks, or were they? I don’t know.

Cute looking store: but very kitschy if you like that kind of thing. I recall thinking that because it’s termed a «general store», it would maybe be like a step back in time, but no. It’s just a huge gift shop. Everything from Christmas paraphernalia to smoked cheese, cutesy (but not really) sweatshirts to gardening swag… this is the place to get a gift for that person on your list that doesn’t expect you to put a lot of thought into it. I don’t want to totally bash it — there are some neat things. Old school cookbooks and a ton of weird, wacky, yet somewhat gourmet sauces, seasonings, jams and jellies and the like. A huge and respectable collection of teas and coffee as well. I got myself a bag of Amana harvested white popcorn kernels. Real Iowa popcorn! Humor me, ok? It’s the little things that please me.