This morning, I was treated to a early look at the brand new west elm store located at North and Clybourn in the old Whole Foods location. Even though I shopped for produce in this exact space for nine years, it is now nearly unbelievable that it once was home to mangoes and bulk trail mix - its been totally transformed into a full-on design center.
The store is BIG - 20,000+ square feet, enough to house west elm's entire line of goods - if they make it, it's here. They also have room to stock a full inventory, so if you find something you like, you can take it home that day.
We got a tour from Alex Bates, the creative director of west elm, who pointed out some highlights:
The store is designed with low energy lighting, low-VOC paints and reclaimed hardwood floors.
The bedding and bath departments feature lots of organic cotton goods at great price points.
Small space friendly items are everywhere.
A design center is part of the store, where the associates can help you design the layout of your space virtually on computers, combining the pieces you already own at home with potential new items from the west elm line.
Chicago's first west elm officially opens tomorrow morning and the first 150 customers will receive a special gift – a one-of-a-kind letterpressed print of a Chicago landmark in a west elm frame.
More info: west elm
(Images: Janel Laban)
Looks beautiful! Can't wait to check out the organic cotton goods.
view sunnygirlsf's profile
I walked past today and was impressed by the sheer size of the store.
And on a somewhat related note - I had no idea the Pottery Barn on North Ave. was closing and that they were reopening in this plaza.
view frannyglass's profile
The Chicago store looks great, but a visit to the Atlanta store a few years ago steered me clear of every buying any "wood construction" furniture from West Elm. The floor models of beds, tables and bookcases were cracked and the brown finishes were peeling off in sizeable chunks. I've gotten accessories and rugs from West Elm and been happy with them, but I'm staying away from most of the furniture.
view Sydney's profile
I have always been curious about West Elm, but have never once been able to access their website. I live in Europe, and I get this error message: "Sorry, due to website restrictions we are unable to display the requested page. for questions or assistance, call 24 hours a day - oddly, as is this not a WorldwideWeb? Suppose I were an American abroad planning a move back home and looking to buy furniture?
Pottery Barn has an equally inaccessible website: same message but without even the courtesy of a telephone number.
Does anyone happen to know why this is?
view *lynn*'s profile
Has anyone gotten one the the framed letterpress prints? I'm interested to see what it is. (And I have 1/2 a mind to drive over there on my lunch to see if there are any left!)
view jenniferh's profile
Looks good, and I hope that bullet point about small space solutions is as accurate as I need it to be.
(I didn't get down there this morning, but I was hoping that print would be of some lost Chicago landmark, like what's at oldplaces.org. Fun fact: Northern Trust uses old postcard images like these in its holiday cards, along with a paragraph or two about the location's history and significance. An idea worth emulating!)
view 212to312's profile
Went to the pre-opening event last night. Having been to several other stores (Dallas, Princeton & NY), I was most impressed by this location. The design studio feature is really nice, although I don't think I would ever furnish my entire place with west elm.
view ChicagoDesign's profile