Cost Plus World Market

Beware of shopping for gifts at World Market. If you forget to get a gift receipt, then they cannot give you one later. They say you don’t need a gift receipt because products can be returned for store credit even without a receipt. So no problem supposedly. Even worse, If you buy a gift for a friend for $ 10.50 with $ 10 reward points that you have earned and get a gift receipt; then the store credit for your friend will be 50 cents instead of $ 10.50. Your friend is going to think you are a cheapskate. So no matter what they tell you in the store at the time of purchase, your friend cannot even exchange for another item of the same value. It is like you never shopped at World Market and put your phone number into the machine to earn your points. I have heard of this in only one other store. Old Navy had the same problem maybe ten years ago with their Navy Bucks and had a class action suit. I got $ 50 in store credit as a result of the lawsuit. Not sure how much it cost them to resolve. Legally, if you earn points, then it is not a coupon, it is supposed to be reissued as points or convert to store credit. Coupons are different than points. Points maintain value. Coupons expire. So BEWARE. I would never have expected such poor customer service from World Market. I have been shopping there for years and years, not knowing that my friends were being ripped off if they tried to return a gift. It may be a good store to buy stuff for yourself, but I guess not to buy gifts. I normally buy at least $ 50 to $ 100 in Christmas gifts there, but not this year.

I generally like World Market. I won’t go into details about what you would find at Whole Market — because if you don’t know, you should really get your little booty over there and check it out. So I’m just give you the low-​down for the nitty-​gritty stuffs:
1. Parking is pretty decent. You can generally find a spot, and for A2, that’s a great thing.
2. The selection of furniture is pretty lacking — there isn’t much there, and what is there is all over the place, so it makes it hard to find what you’re looking for.
3. The check-​out lines at xmas stink. But generally when I’m in here, it’s pretty decent. The people that work there are super nice and friendly.
Overall decent place to go, but don’t bother if you’re looking for furniture. Also, just don’t shop during the holiday season. It’s such a bad idea. Ha.

Just discovered World Market a week ago and LOVE this place. I normally hate furniture shopping because I never find anything I like that I can afford. The first time I walked into World Market I wanted more pieces than I could take home in one trip.
Sale prices are comparable to IKEA prices but the pieces are incomparable in quality. Really interesting designs, solid wood and incredible attention to detail. Plus you can combine sales with coupons for screaming deals. And so far there always seems to be a sale or a coupon or both.
Staff is funny, friendly and very helpful.
Basically, it’s my favorite store of all time. Yes, I’m a real customer and don’t know anyone who works here. It’s just that it changed my life and how many stores can you say that about.

A typical Cost Plus, maybe a little larger than the one in my hometown. They certainly have a bigger furniture department. Our hosts were furnishing a new home and were looking for few more pieces. They found some, though one was out of stock. But the sales staff was able to set it up as a rain check.
Though I am rather in the downsizing furniture stage in life, I found a few things quite enticing and might still get one of the items from our local location.

What can I say about CPWM that others haven’t said already. This is a great place to come if you’re bored or have money to spend on frivolous/​essential/​random things. If I was rich, you betcha I would shop here. I love their art section but currently am in no position to purchase anything due to the lack of funds. They also sell a wide variety of infinity scarfs for only $ 10! Which is a major steal. They usually have deals or discounted items in the women’s section (jewelry, clothing, etc) and have some awesome candle scents.
Another fav section of the store is the good section. You can find a good selection of sweets from other parts of the world. There’s usually coupons you can also use, whether it’s from online or Sunday newspapers.

Cost Plus World Market fills a niche selling cheap wines, interesting décor, and lots of exotic and ethnic foods. It’s a one-​stop shop for a cocktail party if you want an assortment of quirky snacks, the owl-​shaped bowls to put them in, several blown glass goblets and the French wine with a pun name.
I also assemble housewarming and hostess presents from the shelves of the housewares section. Pulling together a gift basket takes no time at all with Italian coffee cups, attractive cutlery, French soaps, or 80s vintage toys for the younger at heart.
I get my greatest mileage in the food and beverage section. Cost Plus carries brands found elsewhere, from Stash Teas to Kindersurprise and Vosges chocolate, a Chicago-​based brand. Sometimes I find the rarer flavours or varieties of familiar items here, like the coveted strawberry Ritter Sport, and stocking up while using discount coupons can lead to serious savings over the grocery store. Their bulk spices can be a real winner too if you need quantity at an affordable price, and the nearest Penzey’s might be a drive. Sure, small ethnic grocery stores carry much of this stuff and the British/​European items are available cheaper in Windsor. But you don’t have to deal with the tunnel to put together a gift basket.
I cannot stress enough: get into the rewards program for instant savings. Paying full price at Cost Plus is pure madness. Their loyalty program will spam you with a lot of emails, which takes a click to unsubscribe from. The savings — 20% to 40% — are well worth the trouble and no card is necessary.
The furniture section includes seating and tables primarily in a mid-​range price spectrum: think Pier One with a cultural spin. Upholstered items come in very seasonal colours. Skip the trends if you want something lasting and go for the pillows, placemats, and other brightly patterned textiles that brighten up any room. Quality can vary as well as price, but aggressive use of savings coupons can pare cost right down for décor. The clearance at season’s end allow for great deals, especially for sturdy wood benches, stools, and very pretty tables. On the last trip through, we nearly walked out with upholstered wingback stools — if only they’d been the right shade of green to match our décor.

Fun shelf-​stable import food, some cute furniture — but no fresh imports, and hilariously incompetent cashiers.
Marmite, salmiak salty licorice, and African beer, check. Faux-​salvage coffee tables, check. No Swedish cheese or dried-​corn-​ear centerpieces, the two things I was looking for.
The checkout was a zoo — one cashier was trying to get everyone in line to feed backwards through the queue, rather than fixing the sign that was sending them the wrong direction. Once that was settled, the line moved forward… slowly.
Still, the staff restocking were friendly and seemed competent. Maybe they just need to streamline the checkout.

This place has some cool things both food and non-​food wise. I like coming here around the holidays to find unique stocking stuffers and things you don’t find elsewhere. The prices have gotten a bit on the high side. But like I said, there are some things here that are difficult to find. The discounts on after-​Christmas items was great! (75% off) A neat place to shop.

Love this store!!! Grab a complimentary coffee, walk around and enjoy. Unless they’re out of cups, cream and sugar, then just shop. They have food, great beer and wine selections as well as different sodas like the chocolate fizz that tastes like tootsie rolls.

LOVED it in here. They had a little bit of everything… Wine, rugs, baskets, jewelry, bath stuff, candles, food, kitchenware, patio furniture… I think we spent about an hour in the store. We signed up for e-​mails and received 10% off our purchase. Another 10% was e-​mailed instantly. I even found bacon jerky here for the boyfriend, as well as a nicely sized bottle of ground ginger for $ 3 (it’s usually about that much for a quarter of that size).

Having been brought here by my girlfriend I was surprised I had never been previously. What a great place! A lot of unique products (including beer, woot!) that make it fun to just shop around.
Also they send you a lot of coupons which helps since it isn’t cheap.

Cost Plus is my go-​to place for international candy, holiday items, gift baskets, and dining service. Yes, maybe strange, but I have been getting my silverware here for years. Very affordable and well made. Dishware, linens, kitchen gadgets are all quality and reasonably priced.
I love shopping around for inspiration on what to cook for dinner, as well as, new home décor.
They have great sales and clearance items. There is always something new to discover. Join the Rewards club. It really pays off.

I really like the products at the little store. My biggest complaint is the register. Waiting forever to buy a handful of products is a real drag.
Best thing there… Christmas tin of ginger thins.

When I lived in Chicago I lived across the street from a World Market and it ruled. Do I need wine? Yep, I’ll run across the street. Pasta? I’ll throw on my slippers. Chocolate craving? Don’t mind if I do. A new bookshelf? Let me grab my rolling cart and load up a box. It was easy to pick up everything I wanted and I really got used to the convenience. When I moved back to Michigan it was a total bummer because a few years prior they basically closed all but 3 World Markets in the state and the closest one to Dearborn was Ann Arbor which was still a half hour haul. SO SAD. Although perhaps good for my liver since my wine consumption went considerably down.
However, now that I’m all situated in Ann Arbor I have a World Market back and it’s awesome. It’s not nearly as close as my former location (which I have heard has since shut down itself) but it’s still close enough to go whenever I need to go. This summer I bought a great patio set and some adirondeck chairs for my yard hella cheap (they have AMAZING sales there, FYI. 40% off furniture a lot of time. And it’s good furniture too. Well made and it looks very fancy. I dig it) and I stocked my wine racks and pantry with goods from their food and drink section. Back in my life is their amazing blood orange soda and panda cookies!
Tasty international foods, wine and beer, good coffee, adorable housewares and holiday décor, etc. Are all now back at my fingertips and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Reunited and it feels so good!
Protip: Get the World Market Explorer card and you’ll get $ 10 off coupons, special shopping days and more on the regular. I live for those $ 10 off coupons and often pick up some piece of kitchen gear that I want on the cheap. Hot damn!

I always seem to be in this store for more time than I think I will be =).
Not the place I would shop often, but when I’m looking for something particular I usually stop by. Some prices are a little high, but overall I think its reasonable.

Be sure to give yourself at least an hour in this store!
Vino– There is a decent selection of wines here. Nothing too fancy– I didn’t see any bottles over $ 50.
Furniture– Who needs ikea when you can spend just a little bit more for real furniture? Granted, selection is a bit limited, but if you’re looking for leather chairs, dining tables, hutches, and desks? Please check out this place. Also, their furniture is 25% off if you join their club, which is free, and the e-​mails aren’t going to flood your mailbox.
Food– surely, it is a world market. There is a variety of foods from all over. I’m not a gourmet chef who can cook anything from everywhere, so I couldn’t tell you if they have everything you need to prepare an eclectic Indian dish, but I did see an aisle of spices.
Kitchen– if you’re into decently-​priced tableware, you’ve hit the jackpot in this store. From serving plates, decanters, water pitchers, salad bowls to bake-​to-​table dishes, simple place mats, you’ll surely find something (in my case, many things) to walk out of the store with.
Knicknacks– Lots of baskets, ornaments, candles, bath products, scarves, jewelry.
Are you looking for christmas gift ideas? Pick up a basket from here, grab some german cookies, a bottle of wine, a beautiful ornament and a bow. Rinse and repeat.

Fun to browse, with some interesting low-​cost wines, a decent selection of international foods and candies, and a particularly well-​priced spiced collection for the home cook. Cost Plus doesn’t have the most extensive selection of anything, but there are a few gems in each retail category. Most recently, I found harissa after fruitlessly searching in several other markets.
I also like Cost Plus for gifts. They have many inexpensive fun or unusual items like soaps, notebooks, jewelery, or housewares.
Cost Plus is definitely unreliable. There is no guarantee any given item will be in stock even if you’ve bought it here before. Come in prepared for an adventure or with a loosely constructed shopping list to maximize your experience.

Interesting. A cross between Pier One and Goodwill. Way too expensive for the quality of merchandise. Although, we did see some ‘interesting’ things.
I saw nothing that made me want to part with my money.

I was introduced to this place kind of by accident when exploring the area after moving out here. I didn’t stop in the first few times and then my curiosity got the best of me.
World Market is definitely not the type of place you just want to go in to do your shopping, but it’s a great place to hit up if you need something and are willing to do some comparing with other places. For example, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted for a dining room set and couldn’t find something exactly right anywhere else (even Pier 1 and Pottery Barn) but World Market had exactly the right set. They have great table linens and kitchen/​dining options for the savvy shopper as well as an interesting grocery department.
And on that grocery department? A word of warning. You can find MANY of their ethnic food choices in your local grocer’s ethnic aisle. World Market carries ready-​made indian, thai and chinese that is a bit marked up, so skip it. However, they have additional items that you might NOT find at your local grocer, even if it’s got a good ethnic selection so stop here once you’ve gone elsewhere.
I really like World Market for holiday decorations and interesting gift wrap choices as well as scented tea lights, pretty candle holders and small house-​warming gifts.
Their lamp selection is terrible but for wooden furniture, comfy counches and chairs, scarves, and interestingly scented candles you can sometimes find a steal. I also like their linen/​towel patterns.

I agree with Rob, they do have some decent wine selection at a very reasonable price… I just happened to go there because I had coupons…
I bought some wines while there and since I needed some forks and it was on sale, picked some up… the last time I was there, I picked up some dinner plates, I love them and still use them…
As for food… if it’s asian, I’ll go to the local asian stores… otherwise, I haven’t really bought any food items… but for sure, I’ll be back to buy some more wines down the road.