Pacific Furniture

I was told this was a good spot to buy figurines and trinkets and such. Specially things that you would put in display at your house. From lanterns, to giant fans, to the cat that waves at you. You can find all that, or rarher, most of that stuff here.
Today we were in search of a nice and sizeable buddha. They do have a great selection here at this shop. We were debating whether to get a gold one, a white one or a brown wooden one.
The lady who seemed to be the owner said she’s give us a good deal with the brown one. And since we were actually leaning towards purchasing that one, she gave us a deal that we couldn’t refuse.
We paid for it, and they even boxed it up for us and everything.
Anyways. I had fun shopping here. If I’m ever in the area again and need some sort of figurines or such. I will definitely come back here.

This place has such a wide variety of things. Items in this store do frequently come with a layer of dust, but the sheer volume and variety is really awesome. The furniture is upstairs and is not usually obvious it’s okay to head up there. One of the few places that tends to keep Lotus Leaf Bamboo on hand, I head here at least once per year and usually walk away with having found some other treasure that I could not live without.

One of the better Chinatown stores.
Everything from bamboo shoots (real) to artificial flowers.
Buddha statues + jade + all other such items.
Only down side is the tiny cramped spaces/​aisles

Well, I am going to go ahead and say that my girlfriend and I have found THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN in this store. That’s right, we found it and its ours. There was only one of them and we got it. Ours and not yours. In the back of the shelf, covered in twenty years of dust laden with that disinfecting spray that covers all the merchandise that comes over from China lay… THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN!!! We looked long and hard for this item, perusing reproductions of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, 342 different variations of Buddha in the same position (they one where you’re supposed to rub his belly.) 43 different Ipod covers with the likeness of a drunken Super Mario on it, 89 imitation Hello Kitty statuettes, Traditional silk Chinese garb that white people can wear around to feel ethnic, Plastic gun sets (with darts and handcuffs), extremely marked up ‘elephant tusks’ which you are told are ‘ivory’ but are really just pieced together bone around a wood form, More buddha statuettes, quaint and tranquil babbling fountains with bamboo shoots growing in them, cheap swords with what white people have recognized as ‘traditional’ or maybe will throw around the word ‘samuri’ to describe, and a whole boat full of dragons and geishas and other pan-​Asian junk that I dont know will ever sell to find THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN!!!
AS I SAID BEFORE, on the back of the shelf, behind the ordinary novelty items sat… THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN, a porcelain Collie dog in a pimp outift. Yes, This collie (THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN) is equipped with not only a hat with a feather, but a matching red vest, and is looking his best while he fulfills the needs of other Collies. This AMAZING find was one of a kind, and it is OURS. YES, I repeat THE GREATEST ITEM IN ALL OF CHICAGO’S CHINATOWN IS OURS.
Maybe the Pimp collie is on reorder, another barge will be sent across the Pacific, loaded onto a train in Oakland and then shipped to a distributor nearby Pacific Furniture and will thus be soon available for purchase. Either way, there is something magic about Pacific Furniture.

Pacific Furniture is the very crowded store at the entrance way to Chinatown at the southwest corner of Cermak and Wentworth
Funny. I have been in here several times to look at accent pieces (did you know that the English style of decorating includes Chinese touches? Well, it does and they fit beautifully into my old English home) but I rarely buy anything as this place as it is usually mobbed by tourists. While the word furniture is in the name– this is not a furniture store. Rather– a store full of wholesale import goods from China with everything from commercial tea sets to hand painted ginger jars, canes, statues, balloons, umbrellas and knick knacks of every type pack this store. It actually reminds me of some of the stores that I went into when I was in Schenszen, China.
Not for the faint of heart– the pushing and maneuvering through the packed aisles will leave you «head-​achy» and irritated– well at least it does me!
But then– just as you say you’ve had enough, you see it. That perfect pot or hand painted accent table set off in the back corner. You look around to see if anyone else is eying it but they are all upfront looking at the cheap souvenir imports.
You feign disinterest when the shop owner comes over and starts the sales pitch. But you know that in the end you must have it. And so you do.
I wish there was a secret way to get into this store so I only had to look at things that were of some value and not all the «junk» in the front. Ahh…a girl can wish.
And the next time I am looking for that perfect ginger jar or ceramic garden stool to act as an end table or accent piece, I will be in there looking in all the dusty corners. For it is there that the real treasures are in this store.