Shopping in Nampa

In 1971, Michael Sowers taught himself how to throw clay in a high-school art class. The classroom had a functioning pottery wheel, but the instructor didn't know how to use it, so Michael began checking out instructional books from the library to support his fledgling interest.

Ever since, he's been molding masses of clay into plates and vessels, preserving their shapes with the heat of a 2,350-degree kiln. His work is as functional as it is aesthetically pleasing—subtly hued french butter dishes hold a quarter pound of butter in water, keeping it fresh for up to a month, and grater plates come equipped with a built-in shredder for garlic, ginger, parmesan cheese, or CIA documents. Sowers seals each piece with a lead-free glaze used by potters since the time of the Ming dynasty, ensuring that customers can safely send his pottery through a dishwasher or heat them in a microwave or oven.

After starting out in immunology—and collaborating on discoveries that are still used in cancer research today—Dr. McNeel found himself drawn to another calling: optometry. Nearly two decades later, he has racked up more than 30,000 office visits with LASIK and cataract surgery patients and is still counting, even though he ran out of fingers and toes after patient no. 1,000. In addition to providing surgical aftercare, Dr. McNeel assesses eye health during regular exams and treats patients for concerns such as dry-eye disease, an area in which he specializes.

Eyewear specialists help clients navigate a wealth of frames from brands including Prada, Versace, and Maui Jim. The also perform fittings to ensure that contact lenses don’t need to be hemmed by hand. In addition to caring for eyes, McNeel Eye Center thickens lashes with Latisse and combats wrinkles with Botox.

The sleep experts at Boise Mattress understand that customers in need of quality rest must select a mattress that encourages natural spine alignment and eliminates the need to toss and turn for a comfortable position. After asking specific questions about your sleeping patterns and highest sheep count, they present a showroom stocked with memory foam and coil-based mattresses from trusted brands such as Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Simmons, and Englander. They welcome shoppers to test out potential purchases by lying atop spring wire mattresses or Primo’s memory foam, which isolates each sleeper’s overnight movements to prevent awakening partners or napping sandmen.

It was the early 1990s, and all across the nation groups of five ambitious youngsters were getting together to better mankind: the Power Rangers, Captain Planet's Planeteers, and the founders of Budget Blinds. Though the latter group began its humble operation out of an apartment, business ballooned and now it has more than 1,000 consultants across the continent. This team extends the window-savvy of the founders by performing free in-home consultations that give homeowners a concrete idea of what new window coverings would look like in their home. The shops' blinds, shutters, shades, and drapes can be custom-ordered for size, fabric, and style from among thousands of options by more than 25 vendors. As a testament to their window-beautifying prowess, Budget Blinds' consultants were hired to deck out a home on HGTV's Showhouse Showdown, which lures viewers searching for two houses to draw pistols at dawn.

Because no two body imprints are the same, Mattress Land’s on-deck relaxologists use exclusive bedMatch diagnostic technology to determine the ideal snooze position for each customer, as well as the ideal mattress. Comfy cushions come from premier brands such as Simmons, Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Laura Ashley, and SleepFit, and shoppers can upgrade to latex mattresses or mattresses with My Side technology, which accommodates the differing body types of spouses and accidentally conjoined mad scientists. After a good night's sleep, patrons find that joints ache less and that dreams last longer and contain fewer calculus tests. Staffers perform free local delivery and removal for purchases $599 and up, so customers and their unwanted bedding can avoid awkward goodbyes. Every mattress comes stamped with the store's own 100-day Comfort Guarantee, which gives dissatisfied customers full credit towards a new mattress.