The Container Store

Great customer service, great products & the Elfa team is knowledgeable & very helpful! I am in this store often & always have a great experience.

Customer Service: some of the people working here are clearly high school students, and as such, have a different cost function than a typical Container Store rep. They mainly rely on the older, more knowledgeable reps in the store for direction, and seem to have trouble thinking of solutions on their own or naturally wanting to help people, as opposed to staying in their comfort circle by talking only to each other and respectfully ignoring everyone else (i.e. customers). The older reps, on the other hand, are really quite knowledgeable (if a bit shy) in this store.
Items: this store seems to have more items available than the other Container Stores in the area, as a general rule.
Online order, store pickup: Always thoroughly inspect your items before leaving the store! Make sure that all the little parts, hooks, end-​caps, etc., are intact — also, that none of the parts are scratched up badly or damaged. I nearly walked out of the store with a severely scratched post, as I had already paid for everything online and just assumed that they wouldn’t give me a really scratched-​up or damaged item.
I would go back to this Container Store, mainly as it is much closer than driving all the way to Santana Row. If you live closer to the Santana Row store, I’d recommend going there instead, as they have really been great at giving good advice and helping find solutions — I really had to push for good advice /​solutions at the Palo Alto store, and even then, the advice and solutions were really very average rather than good.

Horrible customer service for order pick up.
I placed an order online for pick up at store. I received a text stating your order is ready at 10:20 AM. At 11 AM I head over to the container store in Palo Alto. I arrive at approximately 11:15 AM and follow the instructions for vehicle pick up alerting them that I’m here and where I am. 20 something odd minutes later, I called the store number since I’ve seen two cars come go in the store make a purchase and come back out in the time I’m waiting. Some dude answers the phone «yeah», I say is this the container store? He says yeah. I say well I’ve been waiting for a little while for my order pick up and maybe I should just cancel it because I need to get going. He asked me my name and apparently nobody bothered to pull the order and asks me to wait a little longer. He asked me do I really want to cancel the order or do I want my stuff and I said well I’m very irritated about the whole thing now. So he says wait five minutes and exactly 5 minutes elapsed and a rude lady with permed dark hair comes out to my car with an attitude and dropped off my stuff.
I love love love the container store. But I don’t like how this was handled. I should have canceled my order and gone to one of the other similar type stores.
They should find some way to let you know if you’ll be sitting in your car longer than 15 mins. This way you know whether you have time to sit there or not.

I love the Container Stores! Over the past few years, I’ve spent so much in their stores. However, this particular location (Stanford Shopping Ctr.), the customer service is horrible. I’d rather drive to Santana Row for 30 min than interact with the employees at their Stanford store. The worst part of it is that no matter how many people complain to the store manager, write and talk to them at the store, they just don’t do anything about it.

Terrible return policy. Prepare for serious awkwardness and retail shaming.
I don’t know what’s up with the associates and managers at this store. They don’t follow the company’s written return policy, right next to the register (which is a reasonable 120 days with receipt). I tried to exchange a $ 9.99 pitcher for a smaller size $ 7.99 one, and had purchased it a few weeks ago.
The sales associate proceeded to carefully inspect it and then told me there was a little bit of dirt on the lid and she wouldn’t be able to sell it. Then she said she had to call over the manager.
The manager came over and it turned into more back and forth. She said they wouldn’t be able to resell it. I pointed out there was nothing about that in the return policy. She kept arguing. And the issue is whether it was within 120 days, she said. Relieved to have something more firm to go on, I said, Can we please just look it up. She looked it up, confirmed that it was within 120 days, and I was glad we could move on with the transaction.
No go. Instead of apologizing for all the fuss and just doing the exchange, she proceeded to lecture me. «Just so you’re clear for next time, I want to go over the return policy with you…» She said. I was flabbergasted. I told her that I knew the return policy, it was written right there (I pointed right next to the register). I told her that this was making me uncomfortable and I would rather we just completed the transaction. She actually *would *not do the transaction because she wanted to lecture me first. She kept saying, «I will go ahead and do this for you, but first I want to go over the return policy with you for next time…» We started to argue and she started raising her voice at me. I took my product and left. It wasn’t worth being embarrassed in front of everyone and get into an argument over what was essentially a $ 2 exchange. And … I was well within the store return policy. I felt like I was in the twilight zone.
This wasn’t the first time I had a hard time returning or exchanging something here. (But it was the worst.) There is a weird conservative shaming vibe here over returns.
Nice store, and love their selection, but if you buy, you’d better not change your mind. Unless you don’t mind settling in for a scene of Waiting for Godot meets A Few Good Men («You can’t handle the return policy!!!»)
As for me, I’ll be taking my organizing dollars to Bed Bath & Beyond, or Target, or Amazon, or anywhere else … where I can RIP (return in peace).

Love this store! Wish there was one closer to me. I have been here 4 times over the past couple of months to seek organization ideas for our apartment. Store is well stocked and well organized. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for. Loss of one star because customer service here, at least a checkout, is good at best.

This review is for both the Stanford and Santana Row stores.
The customer services is wonderful and I love the Elfa closet designs I bought. What I like about Elfa is that if you change your mind or want to change something, since the pieces are modular, you can do that easily. Other closet design brands are fixed in place and therefore inflexible and your needs change.

When you need a box, a specific box, any kind of box, this is the place to go. I had a particular niche to fill as I have some space inside my coffee table i wanted to have organized and the container store did just that. It’s a great spot to find any odd organizational thing you need. The only downfall is you’ll spend a arm and a leg for boxes.

This place is magic! Go here when you need some organization in your life!
I like the art supply organizers, really helped me out. 4stars because it is not cheap to get organized!

My favorite store. 10 stars. How convenient that they are now right here in the Valley — no more trips to the Santana Row store. Easy parking, too, unlike in San Jose. The layout of this store is more intuitive, to my taste, than the layout in San Jose. I have only been to the location in SF a couple of times, picking up small items, so I cannot compare the Stanford location and the SF location in terms of convenience.
The POP account is a truly blessed innovation — it does store all your data, so you no longer need paper receipts for refunds and exchanges. Note that the IKEA family card does NOT store the info — it is good for a few discounts, but does not provide a major convenience. The POP account at the Container Store is, by contrast, a major convenience.
Everybody who works on the floor is super helpful, super attentive, and extra polite. Lou Herriges — one of the managers — runs the whole show skillfully, masterfully, and with ease.
If you shop often and have to return things every once in a while, there are plastic signs you can put on the stuff you are about to return so that they stay put in carts or on the cashiers’ counter while you shop. Then, when you are ready to pay for new things, you return the stuff that has been waiting for you first and then, in another transaction, pay for newly picked up items. All the process is well thought through, and, I am sure, thoroughly tested before implementation.
I will eventually post a picture gallery of the Container Store purchases at work (or, at play) in my apartment, and will then update this review.

Nice store, not crowded, but it took forever to get someone to help us find some organizers for the kitchen. We almost walked out. Luckily, I felt patient on this day.

Totally love the store. Super knowledgeable and friendly staffs. They have everything you need for organizing with great designs and thoughtful ideas, from closet and pantry ideas to decorating your living room and accessorizing your workshop in the garage. Prices is a bit high but worth every penny because it is a real one stop shop. Unlike some big box retail that only provides a bit of everything the Container Store is offering everything you can think of! DEFINITELY A FIVE STAR STORE — They earned it!

Very helpful and friendly workers. Thumbs up to Ms Lani she designed our walk in closet and very nice and patient.

I need everything they sell! What is not to like about this place. Also, I really like the fact that they are a great company that cares about their employees. The only reason that I am not giving them 5 stars is because their prices are on the higher end.

New and very clean with friendly workers!
I really like it that this store is all on one floor.
Yes, things are a tiny bit higher in price but you can find almost anything for organizing and sorting here.

Time to catch the Elfa sale! 30% until 2÷11÷14! Hurry!
I got the message and hurried to the store, but only after I called to make an appointment. I showed up right on time and waited patiently by the Elfa station to start designing my space.
And I waited. And waited. I saw 3 salespeople working with other customers, and they all made eye contact with me, but nope, no one said anything. I made eye contact with other employees and after 18 minutes, no one said anything.
Dear Container Store: I love how shiny you are, how you sell things that solve my first world problems, but really, don’t let me make an appointment if you don’t intend on keeping it.
p. s. For your next employee training, do let them know that calling someone «young lady,» unless she is a minor, is considered condescending.

Oh Container Store, how do I love thee? This would be a store that I would love to win a shopping spree to shop at. I love coming in and just browsing. Great place for stocking stuffers and organizational items. Prices are on the high side, but I find that they have a better selection for organizational products than anyone else. Staff is super helpful and nice and they have a new program to make return easier. Love, love, love.

New at Stanford! Dork out in here while you create a «special place» for everything you own!
The staff is fantastically helpful and if they are out of stock on something (while they get used to their supply and demand at the new location) you can order it with a quick scan at the register and they will call you when it’s ready for pick up!
They bring it right to you and even offer to load your car. It’s clean, fabulously stocked with all types or organizational gadgetry, and super convenient!
The parking is also a reason to sing about! They’ve got their own lot right there at the Stanford Mall!
Even

I am giving this place 5 stars because I think the staff is super friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. They love their jobs, and it shows. We have a family friend who works for this company, and just raves about how well they treat their employees. When employees are passionate about their job, it shows.
They had a wonderful opening reception as well. It was crowded, and hard to see products, but it was a wonderful gathering and everybody was celebrating. The food was great (loved the dessert section!!!) and everybody was dancing and having a great time.
The products are a bit pricier than, say, Target, but the quality cannot be beat. The service is awesome and I love the culture.
Welcome to Palo Alto!

It was kind of hard getting here. They close at 6 on Sundays which is an hour earlier than the rest of their stores and assumed they would close at the same time. I got there and they were closed. The website (I was looking at the mobile version, but maybe the full desktop version lists it) doesn’t even list the store address, phone number or anything besides that they are grand opening ¹⁰⁄₂₆ & ¹⁰⁄₂₇.