Three new businesses have opened in downtown Ames.

Since the middle of June, The Coffee Tree, Play It Again Sports and Drug Town have joined The Garden Cafe in the Main Street Station.

The Coffee Tree, which opened June 17, was the first to open its doors. The shop employs three people.

Steve Brow, owner of The Coffee Tree, said he decided to open his shop at Main Street Station when North Grand Mall backed out of a verbal agreement. Brow, who also owns two Coffee Trees in Des Moines, as well as a Hallmark Card Shop and Heart’s Desire, said he was attracted to the Station by the building’s history.

Bridget Furman, manager of The Coffee Tree, said: “We want to stress that we don’t only sell coffee in our shop.”

The Coffee Tree also sells candles, cards, gift items and Krups coffee makers.

Play it Again Sports, which employs five people, opened in the Station Aug. 31. But the store will celebrate its grand opening this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. As part of the celebration, there will be a free-throw contest. The grand prize is a $350 World Class Basketball set. Bill Boss, owner and manager of Play It Again Sports, said he chose Ames because he felt the community supported sports well.

“I wanted to work with sports and kids,” Boss said. “I’m not trying to be a discount store, but an alternative.”

Boss said his business is about recycling goods. Kids grow out of sports equipment quickly, so Play It Again Sports provides a place where sporting goods can be bought, sold, traded or consigned, he said.

Drug Town is the newest store to move into the Main Street Station. The store opened Sept. 30 and will be celebrating its grand opening through Oct. 14. Drug Town employs 25 people.

“The old Drug Town will be part of the new HyVee combo store,” said Jeff Osborn, an assistant manager. “We wanted to be able to serve the Ames community better.”

Osborn said that as part of the grand-opening celebration, the ISU Jazz Band will be performing outside of the building on Oct. 7 and 14. There will be samples given away and a hot dog stand.