OTTUMWA — Over the past few weeks, three more reasons have popped up to visit Quincy Place Mall.

Jerry Robinson and his wife Kay have opened Quincy Place Furniture, where they specialize in high-quality pieces.

“We stick with name brands,” said Jerry after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce. “And we have unique items. We like to order things you just don’t see in other furniture stores.”

If a customer likes their own taste better than the store’s, the Robinsons say it’s easy to special order items and to get those items delivered quickly. The couple’s daughter Kim, who handles accounting and sales, said that’s just one advantage of having a family-owned store with no corporate headquarters.

The store, which opened on March 17, will deliver in Wapello and adjoining counties. This isn’t the kind of store people just happen upon and make an impulse buy, the owner said. It’s more of a destination, which means Quincy Place Furniture can bring traffic to the mall.

“We’re very pleased with the turnout so far,” said Jerry. “It tells me people wanted another furniture store in this town.”

“It’s nice to see the support from people even with the economy the way it is,” said store manager Ryan Miller.

The new owners at the cafe across from the furniture store agreed: It feels good to have people stop by.

David Carnes, who, along with his wife, Pontip, recently bought the Chicago Dog franchise, expanded the menu and renamed it Ashby’s Ice Cream.

“People are starting to come in [to the mall] just to eat,” said David. “They’re repeat customers, [yet] we just opened two weeks ago.”

Pontip said that’s because their new Ashby’s Ice Cream shop has good food and lots of different things to try.

Of course, they still have ice cream and all-beef hot dogs.

But this new version of Ashby’s also has mozzarella-stuffed breadsticks covered with melted butter and parmesan cheese, sub sandwiches, walking tacos, fruit smoothies, sweet tea and iced coffee.

There’s a lot of variety at their new neighbor’s place, too.

“I carry a lot of jewelry, a lot of purses,” said Donna Spurgeon, the Donna behind Donna’s Gift Court.