Popular online furniture retailer Wayfair will come to life Thursday in Wilmette with the opening of its first-ever brick-and-mortar store.
The highly anticipated store, located at 3232 Lake Avenue in Eden’s Plaza, will host a grand opening at 10 a.m. As early as 6 a.m., some customers were already lining up hoping to score deals and freebies as part of the festivities, NBC 5’s Lexi Sutter reported.
Visible from the highway, the 150,000-square-foot purple and white store is in the Plaza’s renovated Carson Pirie Scott space, which has been empty since 2018. According to Wilmette Village President Senta Plunkett, the store should have a “transformative effect” on the suburbs.
“It will be our largest sales tax generator,” Plunkett told NBC Chicago in an interview. “We’re excited to be able to reinvest sales tax dollars into our infrastructure. It’s a big deal here.”
The store also has an on-site restaurant called “The Porch,” offering all-day breakfast as well as snacks, salads, sandwiches, coffee, beer and wine, officials said. where customers can “sip and shop.”
After the official opening, the opening hours of the store and restaurant will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, the statement added.
What the store looks like inside
The store contains more than 80,000 pieces of inventory – from sofas and cribs to wallpaper, flooring, backsplashes, showers, sinks and refrigerators – as well as a home improvement section, test kitchen and center. Fully equipped design lining the recently renovated walls.
“We wanted customers to know that we have items for the entire home,” said Barclay Resler, head of visual merchandising at Wayfair. “And not only that, we have the whole range of styles, so everything from modern to traditional and all price points.”
Similar to a home furnishings store, a stroll through Wayfair offers several home vignettes and colors along with finishing touches like pillows, candles, vases and tableware. Although many of its furniture and finishes brands are flagship brands – like Joss & Main, which also has a brick-and-mortar store in the Chicago area – it also carries appliances from big names like Samsung, Bosch and Cuisinart.
The store also offers custom cabinetry for kitchens, free design services, a wall gallery creator and a “Dream Center” that allows customers to match select mattresses and pillows using a five-question process .
Officials say customers can select and purchase items in-store and pick them up at the end of their shopping session, although some items will need to be delivered. Customers can also order items online for in-store pickup or select “fast, free delivery,” which usually takes less than a week.
Officials said the Chicago market — Wilmette, in particular — offered an “excellent” opportunity for Wayfair’s first brick-and-mortar store.
“A lot of young families here,” said Liza Lefkowski, vice president of merchandising. “It’s pretty good for our brand.”
Lefkowski went on to say that the store is meant to be a destination for all things “at home” and accommodate a wide variety of budgets.
Before the opening, here’s a look at what the interior looks like:
NBC Chicago
