Stacey’s is a formalwear store, and it is also something else. The Better Business Bureau describes the business as a prom and formal wear retailer that additionally sells bras, lingerie and post-mastectomy products. BBB records list the corporation, filed under the alternate name Marks Corporation, as starting in 1991 and incorporating in 1993. The store’s own Yelp listing says it came under new ownership in 2022 and complains that the platform will not separate its dress reviews from its mastectomy center reviews. That is an unusual combination of departments for a shop that sells juniors’ prom dresses, and it is the first thing worth knowing before you walk in: this is a store that fits people for serious things all year, not a seasonal pop-up.
Where it actually is
Plum Drive sits inside the bend. Urbandale’s economic development literature calls this district the Urban Loop — roughly four square miles organized around the six miles of combined I-35 and I-80 between Merle Hay Road and Hickman Road, defined by the ninety-degree turn the freeway makes there. Exit 125 puts you on Hickman Road, the same exit signed for Living History Farms at 11121 Hickman. Plum Drive is a low-slung commercial street a short hop off that interchange, sharing the corridor with a bagel shop, a chiropractor and light-industrial tenants. It is not a mall. Parking is a lot, not a ramp.
Urbandale itself had 45,580 residents at the 2020 Census, split 33,804 in Polk County and 11,776 in Dallas County across 22.37 square miles — a city that grew west into the fastest-growing corner of central Iowa. Urbandale High School is the only high school in its district. Within a short drive of Plum Drive are Waukee Northwest, Dowling Catholic, Valley in West Des Moines, and Johnston, so a single Saturday afternoon of shopping here can pull from four or five different prom nights.
How prom works here
In Iowa the dress gets its own public showing. Grand march comes before the dance: couples are announced and walk in front of a gym or auditorium full of parents, grandparents and neighbors, and districts often open the doors free to the public an hour or more ahead of the dinner. Then the parent-run post-prom committee takes over — Urbandale High School’s post-prom group keeps its own Facebook page — with games, food and prize drawings donated by local businesses running into the early morning. Practically, that means the gown will be photographed head-to-toe by a crowd before anyone dances in it, and it needs to survive several more hours after that. Central Iowa proms fall mostly in April, which puts the real shopping crunch in February and March.
Brands and the metro alternatives
Stacey’s appears on the official retailer locators for Alyce Paris, Amarra, Ashley Lauren, Clarisse, Colette, Dave & Johnny, Faviana, Johnathan Kayne and Jovani. Its Instagram bio bills it as one of the largest bridal and formalwear shops in central Iowa and lists prom, bridal, tux and formalwear as separate lines; the “largest in Iowa” claim is the store’s own and not something an outside source confirms. If a specific designer matters to you, Jovani’s state page lists four other metro-area retailers — Glam on University Avenue in Clive, Schaffer’s on Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, Affinity Bridals in Indianola and Modern Dress in Boone — so a Des Moines-area family can compare in one day. For families driving in from Creston, Chariton or Osceola, the metro is the trip, and Exit 125 is the easiest of these to reach without crossing town.
Before you drive
Call (515) 226-9336 first. Public listings show the store closed Tuesday and Wednesday, open midday Monday and Thursday, until 7 p.m. Friday, and 10 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday — the Sunday hours are the useful ones if you are coming in from out of town. Those hours often shift during prom season, and the store asks people to phone or email for appointments rather than assume walk-ins. Ratings vary a lot by platform: an aggregate of about 4.3 stars across 279 reviews, against 2.9 from 28 reviews on a wedding-specific site. Go with a budget, a school, and a date in mind.