The prom page at Hope's is already headed "Gearing up for PROM 2027!" That is how the shop works. It buys a season ahead, clears space in October, and fills the big pink barn outside Atkins with hundreds of designer gowns for prom, pageant and homecoming. The family that runs it has been doing this a long time, and they do not pretend the prom side is an afterthought.
We also LOVE the prom business, and it's so fun to see our "repeat customers" back for their wedding dresses!
Mark, Diane, Johanna, Ariel and Moriah Niebuhr sign that line together at the bottom of the shop's history page. It is a fair summary of the place. Some of the brides who come in for a wedding gown first walked through the barn doors looking for a prom dress.
What hangs on the prom side
The prom and pageant designers named on the store's site are Jovani, Sherri Hill, Ellie Wilde, Ava Presley, La Femme, Kate Parker, Jessica Angel, Rachel Allan, Mori Lee Party and Tease Prom, along with a group of styles Hope's sells as its own exclusives. The site is clear that this is a partial list of an ever-changing collection, and it asks shoppers to come see the racks in person rather than judge from the web page.
There is a reason for that. Hope's signs contracts with many of its designers agreeing not to sell their prom and wedding dresses online. The bridal FAQ warns that if you find the "same" dress for sale somewhere online, there is a good chance it is a counterfeit, sold illegally, or used. If you live too far away to visit, the store asks you to call.
Two more details from that FAQ shape the visit. The staff is not on commission, and the store says you will feel the difference. Guests are also asked to take their shoes off in the salon to protect the gowns, so bring socks or slippers. A weekday appointment is the quieter option; on weekends the store promises a livelier room with lots of people and something close to a mini fashion show.
From cake decorator's barn to a family business
Hope Kolsto was a cake decorator. She saw that brides in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area had nowhere to shop except department stores, so she renovated her dairy barn.
1973
Hope's opens in the barn on April 7
1985
Mark and Diane Niebuhr, a couple of years out of Iowa State, buy the business on December 1
1987
After leasing at first, they buy the buildings and the farm ground
1993
A second store opens in the Village of East Davenport
2020
That location moves to a bigger space closer to downtown Davenport
The Niebuhrs raised their three daughters in the pink house on the property while Mark farmed the land and the family farm near Blairstown. Today Diane runs day-to-day operations with a staff of around 30 women between the two stores. Mark handles maintenance, payables and payroll behind the scenes, and two of the daughters work in the store while the third works remotely.
Bridal is still the headline service, with wedding party, mothers' dresses and an events calendar full of trunk shows. For prom families, though, the useful part of that history is the set of services Hope's built for its brides, because most of it applies to a prom gown too.
At no charge
- Storage of the dress at the fully insured store until your event
- One professional pressing before the event, with the gown hung and bagged for the ride home
- A free estimate before any alteration work starts
Charged separately
- Fittings and alterations by professional fitters
Flexible, interest-free financing is available when you pay by check or cash. Card payments are taken in full. The Atkins store also handles drop-off and pickup for cleaning suits and formalwear through a partnership with Varsity Cleaners.
Storage plus a payment plan is a real help for a family that finds the dress in November for an April dance. The gown stays at the barn, insured, until it is time to wear it.
Who makes the trip out to the barn
Atkins is a small Benton County town west of Cedar Rapids, and its high schoolers attend Benton Community in Van Horne. The barn draws well beyond that. Families come out from the Cedar Rapids side, from Prairie, Kennedy, Washington, Jefferson and Linn-Mar, and from Vinton-Shellsburg. The shop's own events page calls it the big pink barn, and around east-central Iowa that description is usually enough to get you there. Quad Cities shoppers have the Davenport store on East River Drive instead.
Watch the events page in the fall. This year's calendar has sales in late October at both stores because, in its words, the racks are full and it needs to make serious space for the coming prom season. That is a good window to catch markdowns before the new collection arrives.
Hope's Bridal and the Atkins prom appointment
Do prom shoppers need an appointment at Hope's?
Yes. Both stores are by appointment only, for prom as well as bridal, because fitting rooms and stylists are limited. Requests go through the appointment link on the store's site.
Can I buy a Hope's prom dress online?
No. Because of its designer agreements, the store does not sell prom or wedding dresses on its website. Shoppers outside the area are asked to call the store instead.