Chicago Teacher Store

I am not a teacher but a parent who purchases supplemental educational materials for my children and have been shopping at this location for a little under 4 years. In all this time, I have spent on average $ 175 every time I make the drive out there (35 minute trip with traffic). I recently went with my kids in tow, and my child suddenly told me she was «going to have a potty accident» which as any parent/​teacher/​human knows means Now! I could see the bathroom door ajar and asked a sales associate if we could quickly use the potty (she was squirming). The sales associate who saw all of this unfolding, coldly informed me that there was «No public bathroom– no exception». (Mind you she tells me this as I’m holding $$$ in merchandise in my arms so clearly I’m a paying customer!) She then told me that there was a McDonalds 2.5 blocks away that she thought other people have used before. ?&#%!!! Not cool people. An adult will figure it out for sure– but denying a child who is clearly in need when you have the remedy available right there is just cold! They were certainly missing the human touch here– something that I expect and appreciate from a small business vs shopping with online retailers like Amazon (who are considerably cheaper btw!) After this encounter I can’t justify the drive or the $$$ that I shell out every time I go to support this business. We will not be shopping here again.

Great little place with a TON of stuff. It literally felt like you could find any little thing you might need to run a classroom, daycare or just help your kids out.
The lady we encountered was very pleasant and helpful. On top of that, all of the prices I looked at seemed very reasonable. I’m not a teacher but if I ever need anything I even think they might carry, this will be my first stop!

Not a good place for High School Teachers, especially in terms of learning materials. It looked more like a party supply store to me. You are better off at Party City…

FREE lamination with your Unilocal app check in! I come here an chance I get. I’m always buying posters and borders for my classroom. The place is pretty big and I bet if they don’t have what you are looking for they can probably order it for you. Tons of ART supplies and games for your school age children.

I used to live in Miami and there was an amazing teacher store there called Get Smart. It was about the size of a big box store, and they had everything you could possibly imagine. School year, after school year, I’m disappointed by the Chicago Teacher Store. On this particular visit, they were out of all of the black and white borders they had on display and the trackers that I needed. The line was huge, and I ended up just purchasing solid black backing for my bulletin boards and nothing else. There aren’t any other options for teacher stores in the area, and I think why and how they get away with being out of everything.

Love this place !!! I’ve been to several teacher stores in suburbs and city and this one has BY FAR the best prices. Everyone is helpful, the store isn’t too cramped and they make tax exemption super super easy (especially for CPS!). I’ve never had to wait in line and I have never gone in there without finding what I need. Enjoy!

I can spend all day here! You really have to go inside to truly experience it. My review doesn’t do Chicago Teacher Store justice. The employees have always been very helpful. Plus, they are alway open on teacher holidays.

My first time at this store… loved it. The staff was so helpful and was always around to answer questions (not in an annoying way). They laminated some posters for me while I walked around. They were great about giving me suggestions and ideas. Everything is really organized so it was easy to find anything without having to ask. My only qualm is that most of their materials is for pre-​k through 6. But that always seems to be the case for teacher stores. Regardless, I managed to find plenty of books and materials that I can use for my 8^th grade classroom.

Excellent service. I am not a teacher, so I especially appreciate the recommendations. Easy location and easy parking v

I’m not sure what the deal is with the negative reviews. This store is still absolutely wonderful, especially if you’re a teacher in Chicago. Have you ever wondered where your teachers got all of those cool posters and crazy bulletin board items? From a store like THIS!
The service is always friendly, the hours are convenient (if you’re not one of those teachers who stays at work until 7pm, which you should NEVER do) and they’re always open on teacher holidays (Labor Day, Columbus Day, MLK Day, etc.).
My most recent trip here resulted in a nice, tax-​free purchase of about $ 17 to create an amazing bulletin board for my seniors to celebrate all of their college acceptances. Totally worth the money spent. They had the large and small stars that I wanted to make my bulletin board super fun and my students love it.
If you’re a teacher, this is where you should be shopping for classroom supplements (grammar, reading, etc.), posters, bulletin board supplies, and everything else school-​related. Worth the trip, for sho.

A+ for customer service during their busiest week of the year. Line out the door, crazy teachers everywhere, laminating wait time 1 hour but…
+ there were plenty of employees on the floor to help find the items we needed
+ every employee was super helpful and pleasant
+ as I was waiting for laminating I was offered some chocolate
It would have been easy for people to get frustrated but even with the wait it was a pleasant experience.

You can get teacher’s supplies here… That’s where the benefits end for me. The hours are somewhat inconvenient for my school’s schedule (and change during the summer), but the biggest problem is their customer service. I can’t remember a single time I’ve gone there and had a great experience.
Here are some highlights:
A girl seemed to get pretty grumpy when I needed something laminated.
A worker argued with me over something trivial; didn’t apologize when they realized they were wrong.
They’d rather text than help the customers.
My colleague and I left the store, and he turned to me and said, «Is it me, or do they always have an attitude?»
I like to support small businesses, but would rather buy the same stuff on Amazon than go here if I can avoid it.

I can get my teacher stuff here. Everything; bulletin boards, stickers, workbooks, literacy games, even lamination.

Great place to find all things related to education and teaching!
My only complaint: No returns on books. When one makes a mistake and purchases the wrong book and you haven’t even opened it (most, if not all of the time you can tell when it has been opened) you should be able to return it.
Suggestion: Change store policy to accommodate this reality.

This is an awesome teacher store! There are tons of goodies to bring into the classroom. The staff is awesome and extremely helpful. I love the sample bulletin boards all over the store. It is the best one stop shop for teachers.

Went there looking for high school sup. materials. The staff didn’t even know what they had in stock. After we looked for 5 minutes and found nothing, they referred us to their online catalog. Why would I use their online catalog if they don’t have the foresight to stock even one item for H.S. in store?
Most of their materials are arts and crafts, junk to hang on your walls and watered down primary materials from two or three different publishers. I would say don’t waste your time unless you’re looking for paper or crayons.

i teach at the high school level and have found many great little items for my students. I love the selections. when I was there, I wasn’t hassled. I took all the time I needed and the staff was helpful and friendly. The only real issue I have with this store if any is that their items are a little on the pricey side. As a result, I get some items from the dollar stores like stickers, etc. There is metered street parking.

Other than it’s hard to find, this is a great place for elementary school teachers to get supplies. Unfortunately, I am a high school teacher. But I rely on this store to get my WARD 5N1 plan book and my attendance book. I’m heading there today so I will report back – if I have success like I always had in the past in getting these two items, then they will retain their high marks, otherwise, I will have to fail them. Ugh – school starts soon!!!
So I just clicked Edit nearly 7 hours after I originally posted this… and of course, they did not let me down – they had both WARD plan books that I rely on right in the front window. They always remind teachers to use their tax exempt number on the purchases and on the tax exempt sign-​up today I noticed that my colleague had just purchased the same 5N1 book right before me!

Do you have children? Would you prefer to choose from a greater pool educational tools than what you have available at toys r us, kmart or target? Than this is your place. When I walked in the other day to look at possible presents for my 2 year-old’s birthday, I had an incredible flashback to elementary school. There’s an amazing amount of options in this store. Since I was slightly overwhelmed and had no idea where to begin looking, the owner (a former teacher) walked me through every area. She then asked about my daughter’s development and from that point recommended specific puzzles and crafts for that age. She even went so far and advised on how to introduce the projects to my daughter so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by these new endeavors.
I highly recommend this place and will be going back all the time to check on new projects for my daughter. If you are thinking of home schooling, you have it all hear!

I am not a teacher, but this place sure makes me wish I was!!! Honestly, I could have spent all day in here, there was so much to look at.
I was planning an event that needed some information for children, and also needed a chalkboard with the cool paint pens to write with. The ladies in here were SOOOO helpful and friendly. (Though I think they thought I was a little strange for spending so much time looking around, being that I’m not a teacher.)
They also have a giant laminating machine (they laminated my big map of 50 states), so if you ever wanted to laminate any of your old Clash posters, they can probably do it for you.