Crate & Barrel Outlet — Attraction in Naperville

I love this place and can't wait until they open again. Great for finding some amazing prices on one-off furniture pieces. However, if you are looking to coordinate an entire room, it would be hard to do at the real bargain basement prices, since their stock varies tremendously. Recently I bought a dining table that basically never goes on sale, for 60% off. Now mind you, I had to stalk the store for several weeks until the right thing popped up. I then paid full price for the sideboard. A few weeks later, they had the bench (a relative rare find) for 60% off. Very happy with the overall outcome on this set.

Generally, most furniture hits the floor at a pretty big discount, and every week, the price gets lowered by 10% (off the original price). By looking at the tag, you know what day it will be reduced. Pro tip - if you see something you like, don't hesitate on grabbing it unless you don't mind missing out. Things get scooped up really fast here!

Look carefully for damage. Expect to find something wrong at these low prices! Could be anything from a few light scratches to entire missing doors/drawers/legs.

If you are a serious bargain hunter, you have to be patient if you are looking for a specific item to become available. The sales people are super friendly and knowledgeable and will gladly share with you their experience of how often they see certain stuff come in. You can even call and ask hey do you have any large rectangular dining tables or whatever.

Their prices on the general houseware items are not discounted very much at all. I only go here to scope out the furniture.

Another tip - don't bypass the kids section. There are often some good pieces that could easily be used not just in a kids room.

Follow-up June 2022: Here we are, post-pandemic and I have been back to the outlet a few times. I noticed their maximum initial discount is now 50% rather than 60% and several pieces had less of a discount so their prices are definitely a bit higher. Still good deals to be found. I also feel the selection has been a little lacking; maybe a lot more people are on...

This was a huge disappointment. Many of the damaged items weren't just scratched and dented, but had missing parts and extensive damage that couldn't be hidden from view. For example, one dresser looked like someone had dropped a huge brick on it; it wasn't just scratched or even gouged, but the wood was cracked all the way through. And many of the bookcases not only had serious damage but had several missing shelves so you'd have to replace them with something that doesn't match or spend at least the money you'd "saved" to have something custom made to match. Even so, discounts were only 30-50%. At C&B prices, this is just way too much to pay for furniture that isn't just damaged, but looks like it's been through the wringer. Crate and Barrel should take a lesson from places (Arhaus, for example) who give damaged and/or mismatched items to charity resale shops. There are so many in the area whose money goes to great causes. It felt greedy...

I’m usually a fan of most outlets, but this one (and CB2’s) feels like a case study in leadership gone wrong. The pricing strategy here is so detached from reality it borders on insulting.

Charging absurd markups for used or damaged items…when the same products can often be found new, on sale, in the main store for equal or less, raises serious questions about how much this brand actually values its customers.

Even stranger is the decision to run this outlet like this in such close proximity to headquarters. It almost feels like a social experiment designed to test how far consumers can be pushed before they walk away. Judging by the overflowing warehouse, the answer is pretty clear: people aren’t buying.

Crate & Barrel, your loyal customers and the community of Napperville deserve better....