Gringo Jones Imports — Local services in St. Louis

I love this place! I go here a few times a year and can not resist purchasing something quirky and fun.

I'm known for buying their cast aluminum sculptures (usually animals) and painting them bright and bold colors and placing them around my pool. They're fun to look at and our guests- adults and children- love to take pictures on or with them.

I have a young rhinoceros, young hippo, baby hippo, a full size alligator and a baby alligator, full size warthog, full size lion, life size mermaid and huge tortoise (probably life sized?). We have bought and are waiting for a shipment of a 7 foot giraffe, a young elephant, a 7 foot flamingo (no idea how that one is going to look) and a full sized, fully fanned peacock.

I've also bought: fossilized dinosaur poop (a coprolite) that I gave to my awesomely weird nephew, oodles of unique and funny Christmas ornaments, a 1 foot tall plastic bigfoot that I hide around the landscaping and yard, a concrete sea snake, and a life sized concrete bigfoot that I gave my dad for his birthday (they named him "Bob" and the neighbors enjoy pranking him!)

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff I've bought there. Basically it has something for everyone. Great place for gifts for people who have...

Do you like the art you see in Mexican restaurants? Do you like random antiques, carved storage furniture, and handmade home decor? Do you just want an excuse to pet some dogs? If yes to any of the above, you'll have a good time here. This place is loaded with hand-painted Mexican(?) art, including lots and lots of plant pots, painted ceramic lizards, dogs, anthropomorphic suns, and more. In addition to this, they have lots of old, carved furniture and miscellaneous other antiques. Everything in here looked reasonably priced. This would be a great place to get some unique planters without having to spend a fortune. When you first come into the store, you'll see a corner to your left with a bunch of chairs in it. When I came today, there were five or six dogs sleeping there. I befriended a sweet chunky boxer who started to follow me around the store until he got tired of it. The people working here are very friendly and told us that they have just under 10,000 square feet of store space. You could spend a whole day in here and still not see everything. I'm looking forward to coming back and exploring...

Ended up being way more animals than expected… plenty of dogs and even a cat. The animals were friendly and we enjoyed petting them, but unfortunately some of the older dogs and the cat(s) were clearly having urine issues. Upstairs was almost unbearable, and while we were up there, we literally watched two dogs pee on the wooden floor. I usually like to take my time browsing, but we had to leave pretty quickly because of the smell.

In the past, I remember having good experiences with the workers, so maybe our recent visit wasn’t an accurate reflection of their usual personalities. This time, though, the lady at the counter seemed to be in a bad mood and didn’t want to chat, which made the vibe feel off. I hate to assume but it also seemed like she was under the influence of something.

Overall, I used to love this place and there are still lots of cool finds, but the upkeep has gone downhill. If you’ve got a strong love for art and decorations (and a much stronger nose), it’s still...