Brown Elephant Resale Shops

Bought a couch last year when they were having a sale on all couches and I absolutely love it. Always enjoy a good browse through when I walk past!

Wow! This is the BEST place to furnish your home. I walked in because of the reviews online and I walked out with a beautiful dining room table that was delivered the SAME DAY from a contracted company. I will be going back for more furniture to make my home beautiful!

I visited both locations in search of a couple of short bookshelves. I didn’t find what I was looking for today, but I’m really glad I took the time to check out The Brown Elephant. They had some really cool pieces that I didn’t expect from a resale shop.
From what I could tell from this visit — the Andersonville location seemed to have a lot of options, but the other location had cooler, higher end furniture.
Love knowing that proceeds go to a good cause!

My partner and I purchased a couch and coffee table yesterday from the amazing Greg! He gave us a great deal on both items and threw in an ash tray we were admiring. Greg actually sold me a TV stand and two beautiful bookshelves from the old location a couple years ago. When I saw him in the store yesterday I knew he would take great care of my partner and I!
He is a wonderful salesperson and helped us every step of the way. Even recommending really speedy movers!
Our living room has been furnished by Brown Elephant and Greg! We couldn’t be happier!

These guys* rock. I’ve been wanting to get rid of an old desk for some time now. I initially looked into The Salvation Army for furniture pickup and didn’t get a response for days. But Brown Elephant? I filled out the form online and got a response in less than half an hour after I submitted it. They responded with three date options to which I replied back with my preference. They confirmed date and time frame within minutes. That is so key especially since I also have to deal with my building furniture move out procedures.
Cut to day of pickup. I got a call saying the guys picking up my desk would be by within an hour and to also confirm directions and other logistics. These guys were great. They came prepared with a dolly cart thing and a copy of my receipt. While they don’t charge for this service, a monetary donation is suggested. I mean, come on. Why wouldn’t you? They’re providing a service and taking the time to help you out.
*This review is for Brown Elephant in general.

This Brown Elephant is very cool. Antique gates and elephant statues greet you upon arrival along with helpful, friendly employees. It’s week organized and has some cool, vintage pieces… including lots of furniture and a cute little book nook where a sweet older gentleman was reading with his little dog.
I didn’t find anything I needed, but would definitely come back!

I came in on a Saturday evening on a whim. They were having 50% off all furniture. I Found a great dining table and arm chair at unbeatable deals. My new favorite store! Check out the pics!

I’m a hunter and travel the U.S. Looking for vintage. This is a pretty ok resale store. Not much in the way of vintage deals, but better that going to ikea or target. For those looking household items or a little kitsch, do stop by.

What a gorgeous store! Like nothing I’ve come across in the resale world! I spent over an hour in there just looking at everything and enjoying myself tremendously! So well organized and appointed — I felt like I was in a wonderful boutique store! Staff was so friendly, kind and helpful. Prices were very reasonable and there was so much room to walk around and look at everything. I will return there again and again!

The original Lakeview Brown Elephant on the Halsted Boystown Strip was a wonderful neighborhood fixture and a great place to pass the time. I donated a lot and bought a lot. I miss the staff, the ambience, the endless racks of fun stuff changing every day… I miss the whole package.
It was my understanding they lost their lease. Time, unfortunately, marches on.
The new Lincoln Avenue location is a pronounced change of style. It’s slimmed down and spiffed up. It bears little resemblance to the old store, other than retaining a number of the original employees who made the move.
I wish you guys the VERY best. It’s not as convenient to have you two miles away as it was two blocks. So I won’t make it in every day or two. But I’ll visit when I can.
I hope this new idea works well for you. But if it doesn’t, I hope you’ll seriously consider going back to your roots. Find a comparable space here in the ‘hood and model it after the original.
It would be great to have you come back home.

Very cool store with a large & always changing selection. Personally I feel like their Andersonville location gets a little bit better of a selection but that could be all in my head.
The staff is very friendly & helpful & on top of that the store supports a good cause in the community.

Lately prices seem way high. Some thrift stores do this so they can have «big» sales. Consequently there isn’t as much turnover as there was a couple of months ago. Same stuff over and over again. Hope this is a temporary strategy and we can return to lots of good deals soon.
And paperback books are $ 2. Kinda pricey.

This Brown Elephant Resale location wasn’t as busy as the Andersonville store. There was still a decent selection of wares to choose from… Furniture, clothing, art. And the staff was very attentive and helpful. One gentleman told us to come see him for a better price if we found something we liked. I would call this location more sophisticated than the Andersonville location, but not as fun. Definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for furniture to add to a room or apartment.

I would give this Brown Elephant location 5 stars if the clothing selection was a little bigger and nicer. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to get a lot of good clothing items at this location– Salvation Army on Clybourn will continue to be my go-​to place for that, but Brown Elephant is where I have gone and will continue to go first when it comes to my furniture needs. Their selection is constantly rotating and in very good condition. The prices are great too, and don’t be scared to haggle. If there isn’t a 50% off sale going on (there almost always is), you should act like there is. The inventory moves quick here for a reason.
Being in the service industry, my final verdict on whether I like a place or not usually rests on its customer service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the employees here are friendly, extremely helpful, and always walking around the store looking to assist. I was recently in the market for a couch and one of the guys recognized me on my second visit, remembered what I was looking for, and directed me right to the pieces they had in stock that fit my criteria.
Although they downsized when they moved from the Halsted location, I find this new location to be better maintained and organized, and the items much cheaper than when they were at Halsted.

I can not say enough wonderful things about the Brown Elephant and its entire staff! I stopped in the store this weekend with my parents with the intention of only looking for a dresser for my new place — we ended up finding so much more! I was so fortunate to come across a beautiful dining room table and sideboard (that I’ll be using as my dresser) as well as a really funky, cool wooden table that we put in our kitchen. Both Gregory and Kevin were so friendly and helpful, along with all of the other staff members we met, in every aspect of this purchase! They really worked with me and my budget to put together a spectacular bundle price for all three pieces I got!
I am so, so, so happy and excited about the furniture that I purchased — my apartment now looks like I’m almost a real, functioning adult! Ha
I highly recommend stopping in and looking around for some great pieces to add to your place — you will not be disappointed with what they have in store (which is always changing — which is also another great thing about this place)
Thank you again, I will definitely be back!!! (Along with all of my friends!)

5 stars because this place takes all donations and resells them with proceeds going to the Howard Brown Health Center. The Brown Elephant is a great place to shop for vintage and unique items for the home. I think it’s great what BE does for the LGBT community.

Where do I start? Not only are the products here quality so is the staff! I came in looking for a new couch and there were multiple options to choose from. Through the expert guidance of Clare, Greg, and Kevin I was able to make the appropriate decision. I should clarify, in some instances being approached by three separate employees could be overwhelming, but not in this instance. They were all very aware and considerate, even funny at times. I will definitely be back. I recommend you shop here for anything from vintage clothes, furniture, and even housewares. Plus it all raises money for a great cause. Everyone wins!
P. S. Don’t forget about their sister store in Andersonville, not as large, but still worth a peek.

My friend moved into a new apartment and had no furniture. We got a great bundle deal and everything was super trendy and in great condition. Gregory was especially helpful and so friendly! All the staff are so wonderful. I will definitely be going there when I need new furniture.

Brown Elephant has changed along with the new location. On Halsted, used to be a big space with lots of trinkets and decent clothes, dishes, and furniture. Now on Lincoln, more «upscale» and snooty. I went to buy a decent winter overcoat and at the register the register guy said it was $ 45 instead of $ 35 because it was designer. There was no tag marking it designer and he seemed like he arbitrarily assigned the price. I think I was being shafted so I walked out and they could have cared less.
Well Brown Elephant, I am still a customer so I will go to a better run consignment store who appreciates my business and donations to charity. Dumb way to lose $ 40 in business…
2 stars for their efforts for gay community.

What a gorgeous location. This place doesn’t look like its a resale shop at all. There are tons of furniture and they seem to clear out fast as I never see them with the same stuff. There is nice open staircase that leads you to the upstairs where you will find ladies and men’s clothing, purses, shoes, ties. you name it. Right underneath the staircase there is a room that holds all the books, desks and misc. paintings. The first floor you will find nice sofas, tables, lamps, and housing items. The bathrooms here are also open to shoppers and are very pretty. Check out the location, your future furniture may be here.

The new location on Lincoln Ave is nothing like the one on Halsted and Waveland. There is some pretty furniture, a few dishes, some clothes and accessories, books, CDS, and just a very few DVDs.
There is plenty of space but not much merch. They have completely eliminated bedding and there are almost no tchotchkes.
Perhaps they shipped things to their other locations and they are waiting for this one to received more donations. But I can skip this one.