She opened The Colony Shop on Avenue G that year, and the local paper, Pen City Current, reported that she still runs it daily. Her rule, as she put it to that paper:
“If you own it, you gotta be there every day that store is open.”The sign out front was made by her husband, Chuck. For a senior in southeast Iowa shopping for a gown, the practical version of that fact is this: the person zipping you into a dress may well be the person who sold your mother hers.
The shop is at 720 Ave G, between 7th and 8th, inside the downtown commercial historic district that runs along Avenue G from 6th Street to the 900 block. White brick front, black-and-white sign, red door, mannequins in both windows. Formal dresses, bridesmaids, bridal and tuxedos are downstairs; the front of the store is women’s clothing, in junior, missy and plus sizes, plus jewelry. The Facebook page — listed as The Colony Shop, Bridal Loft & Tuxedo Rental — puts the size range at 00 to 5X.
What they carry for prom
Alyce Paris and Dave & Johnny both list this store on their official retailer locators, so those two labels are solid. The shop’s own prom page also names Faviana, Abby Paris, Lucci Lu, Poly USA and My Dreams & More, but that site carries a 2017 copyright line, so call before driving in on the strength of one designer. Tuxedo rental runs through MFW Tuxedos, which means the dress and the date’s tux come from the same counter. They also handle paper goods — invitations and the like — which matters more for weddings than for prom, but it is the same trip.
Who is within driving distance
Fort Madison Junior/Senior High School, home of the Bloodhounds, is the public school in town. Holy Trinity Catholic’s high school sits on Avenue A across town, and Central Lee’s Hawks are about fifteen minutes out at Donnellson on Highway 218. Keokuk is roughly twenty miles southwest on the river road; Burlington is about the same distance north on US 61, and that is where the closest competing formalwear inventory sits in either direction.
Illinois families come over the Santa Fe swing span bridge into Niota, the double-decker that carries IL 9 on its top deck over the freight tracks. It is a toll crossing — $2.50 as of December 2025 — which puts Nauvoo, Hamilton and Warsaw within an easy run of downtown. Iowa proms still open with a grand march in the gym, family cameras and all, so a dress bought here gets a longer look than the dance floor alone would give it.
Before you go
- Closed Wednesdays. The store’s own hours list 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday — worth confirming at (319) 372-8271, since that page has not been updated in years.
- Downtown parking is on-street along Avenue G.
- Prom and bridal share the downstairs floor, so spring Saturdays run busy with both.