Uncle Dan’s

They have the cutest winter sweaters.
Great selection of winter gear; hats, gloves and scarves to keep you warm. Everything is also very stylish so I don’t look like an umpa lumpa in the winter! In addition the staff is very approachable and ready to help. Uncle Dan’s is also dog friendly.
My dog and Uncle Dan’s have a special relationship, she goes in straight to the counter and asks for treats while I buy outdoor gear for our walks.
I would not have it any other way!

I know there are those that think Uncle Dan’s is over priced, too north shore blah, blah, blah. I was there on Black Friday to get my son a new winter coat… he is picky and grandma was doing the buying… not always a good combo. We walked in and an angel named Karla (I hope I am spelling it correctly) was so amazing, so helpful, so kind and patient. I would go back to Uncle Dan’s for any outdoor gear and clothing needs… camp stuff, regular stuff… simply the best… especially Karla!

This place sells everything you could need for outdoor weather. The staff was really knowledgeable about their products. In my experience everyone was really nice. The only downside is they are pricey. I’m 100% a believer in you get what you pay for, but their markups are a little too high for me. You can find their products cheaper on line if you do your research ;)

Very friendly service, competitive prices, student discount for NU students and a solid selection of items make Dan a great local shop.
I’ve come here several times and have yet to leave empty handed. When looking for a new neck gator for snowboarding season the sales staff was very helpful in showing me and talking through the pros and cons of their various options. More recently, in looking at lightweight jackets, the sales team member was also very knowledgeable without being pushy, which I appreciated.
Be sure to check around the store for the sale section; I’ve been tempted by discounted jackets and layers and usually they have most sizes available in each sale style, which is great.

I feel so bad writing a less-​than-​stellar review for Uncle Dan’s but my experiences the last several times we’ve visited have been over-​the-​top selling or «helpfulness» from the staff. It feels like they’re trying to close the sale. We are approached an average of 5 times evertime we go in as of late. I see some of the negative reviews of the past were for the opposite experience. Maybe they are over compensating? I love the store and what it has to offer, quality products, but feeling crowded by salesmen there these days. A simple, kind greeting and offer for help is great, but anything more than that feels contrived and uncomfortable.

Came here looking for a thermos to keep things insulated well. I will say that the one they got us was really, really good at what it does. It was little creepy how much the sales guy sold us on it (–1 star), but it does work. It seems like a nice location with a lot of stuff, and they were having a clearance they day we walked in.
I’ll be back to check this place out again sometime, as I don’t have much to say considering we spent about 20 minutes there.

I love supporting local gear guys. The trouble is, it’s sometimes hard to do so because it is just SO. MUCH. CHEAPER. online a lot of the time. But in college towns, you can usually find a good local one that has reasonable pricing. Enter Uncle Dan’s — Evanston’s local outdoor gear shop.
We were in town for the weekend a while back and it ended up being juuuusssttt a bit colder than I had anticipated. Needed a hat STAT so we dropped in here to check it out. What’s that you say??? All hats are 30% off??? Score!
Got myself a really cool Pistil hat for less than 25 bucks and Sean ended up scoring an Ibex (awesome merino wool) pullover with snaps at the neck for $ 80! That is a straight up scandalous price for something that sweet — it was 40% off as were tons of other things in the store for a winter clearance event.
Very nicely kept gear store with all the staple brands and some you don’t see very often (Ibex, Lole, etc). Really good deals during sales — none of this I’ll give you 10% off BS.
Check out the Uncle if you like outdoor stuff and you’re in the area. Hell even if you aren’t — its about 50 yards from the L stop.

Staff is great here in my brief experience. Shout-​outs to Sonny and Aaron for their helpful yet non-​pushy availability and friendly banter as well as ease of transactions and help when I balked at price. They also seem to know their stuff pretty well, but I wasn’t shopping for much more than scarves and water bottles. Hopefully the rest of the staff are the same — I honestly don’t shop at this location much but felt the need to give a good thumbs-​up. More customer service like this needed everywhere.

Uncle Dan’s has a great selection with a helpful staff. I came here with the intention of finding a vest, and walked out with the perfect item.
The sales guys were extremely knowledgeable and knew the name of the various materials and fillings (such as primaloft). They were informative, but not pushy, which is the perfect attitude in my opinion. The prices are a bit on the high side, but that comes with the territory.

If you have a passion for outdoor adventures such as hiking, camping or just like hangout outdoors, this is the place for you to get all your supplies to do just the thing you love.
This one stop shop has all brands I love and more. I’m a fanatic of North Face jackets and had a few in mind, I stopped in and they had a large selection more than the North Face store around the corner in Evanston. I ended up picking one up. The customer service here is great and they are very knowledgeable with all the gear that they sell. Besides that, I love supporting local businesses and they been in Chicago for more than 30 years.
To top things off, they gave me 10% discount for being a student (NU wildcard).

5 stars for gear.
5 stars for staff.
2 stars for ladies clothing selection.
Uncle Dan must be into the larger ladies. Size small and medium hiking pants and rain jackets were hard to find mid-​summer — surprising, since most of the girls I know who hike and climb stuff have size small or medium bodies. Maybe they all got there before I did.
I also got a flashlight that will hopefully be less breakable than my last one and some 30% deet bug repellent. Previous gear purchases (pack, cookset) have held up well!
The selection is better for urban gear like fleeces and puffy jackets.
10% discount with Wildcard.

I love browsing through this store, if only to get ideas on how to put together cute workout outfits and to figure out which brands to look for on sale. They sell a lot of North Face stuff, which is always tempting but woefully out of my price range.

I love walking into a store only to be avoided like I’ve got the plague. I was incredibly interested in some of the shoes, and travel clothing they sell, but when an employee avoids all eye contact with me I suppose I can just spend my cash on the internet for the same type of service.
Seriously, slightly graying sir by the door– Im not nearly as intimidating as I look– I just wanted to talk about some Patagonia stuff!!!

Maybe I smell or something.
Every time I’ve been in Uncle Dan’s, I have been thoroughly unimpressed with the customer service. The most recent time, I spent nearly 30 minutes looking at the backpacks. I was trying them on, zipping, unzipping, trying them on again, and thoroughly checking them out. I didn’t get approached by a single employee the entire time — and the store wasn’t busy at all. Now granted, if I had a question I could have gone and sought someone out. But as a somewhat experienced retail employee, I know that some shoppers simply don’t like seeking out workers, even if they DO have a question. I am one of those people.
The previous time, I was shopping for hats, and a small group of employees spent 10 minutes talking by the door without bothering to ask if I needed any help. They were practically in my way! I dunno, maybe it’s just me. It seems like every time I go there I end up ignored. Time for some new deodorant or something. Or maybe this is like the Sixth Sense and I’m not really here, and that’s why I get ignored?
Based on the other reviews I see here on Unilocal,it looks like my experiences are not the norm, so that’s good. As other reviewers have mentioned, the prices can be high, but the quality of the items (helloooooo North Face and Patagonia!) is top-​notch. And if you sign up for their e-​mail list you can get a one time $ 10 discount, along with offers being sent to your inbox periodically. So try that if you really love this place. For me, I’ll probably be back at some point, but only if I have a specific need for some hiking gear or something like that.

Great selection of gear. Pricey, yes, but it’s all top quality stuff. AMAZING customer service. Like, comically thoughtful.
I bought a bag there two weeks ago. A Timbuk2. After packing it at home, I realized it didn’t work for me. I brought it back for a refund. No problem. But wait, something’s up with the computer. Hold on a sec. Hmm. .. don’t know how we can print the receipt out. What’s that? You want to check the meter because you thought you could just run in? Here, take this quarter for the meter. Okay, hey, you’re back, we still don’t know what’s going on. The computer says your card’s been credited, but we can’t print anything out. So can we have your number and we’ll call you to confirm once we sort this out? And here’s a 15% off coupon for your wait.
Wow, wow, wow.

Over the years I have visited Uncle Dan’s to purchase gloves, Nalgenes, random camping supplies (for the three times in my life I have camped), and shoes. I have never purchased a coat from the store, until last week.
I made a quick stop with a friend after work to check out what was on sale. I was going in with the mindset I might get a good hat on sale or maybe a new pair of gloves. I ended up walking out of there with a brand new Patagonia coat that was nearly half of the original sale price.
I was not only pleased with the high quality of the sale items, but I was also pleased with the service. Two women working in the store both provided feedback on the quality of the coat and could tell me their own experience with that particular style/​type of coat. Not only did the women chat with me about coats, they also were friendly and we ended up talking about the new store location for several minutes.

They have a great selection of Northface and Patagonia apparel, backpacks, and other products for the outdoors. Can someone tell me why backpacks are so expensive? The Timbuktu messenger bags are cool. I never saw them before I went to Uncle Dan’s. Unfortunately I experienced poor customer service from one the employees (everyone else was friendly). She made me feel unwelcome and out of place. That was enough to keep me away for a while.
UPDATE: I was contacted by Carolyn of Uncle Dan’s because she wanted to know about my experience. She was very understanding, apologized for my experience and assured me that Uncle Dan’s tries «to exceed every customers expectations with grace, style and kindness.» Carolyn, thanks for taking the time to listen to me.

I love Uncle Dan’s! The new store in Evanston is really nice.
Not only do they have a nice selection of quality merchandise, they also have great staff. The staff is friendly and doesn’t pressure you to buy anything. Also they are very knowledgeable about the products and will patiently work with you to answer questions and find the product that best meets you needs. It’s a great experience.
They helped me find a Cloudveil coat for winter… I love it! My boyfriend also purchased a Patagonia jacket and winter gloves.
Bonus: they give a discount to students (10% off regular price merchandise), so don’t forget your student ID. Also, if you bring in your dog they will give it a treat.

I really enjoy browsing at Uncle Dan’s, but I rarely buy stuff here. Not really sure why, but I’ve only ever bought a few things here.
Today, I stopped in because I bought a puffy down jacket from the Uncle Dan’s downtown several years ago and the zipper is now malfunctioning. I wanted to check on the lifetime warranty of the product, because I could no longer find the brand online. According to the man at the door, who offered his assistance as soon as we walked in!, the maker of my jacket was bought out by Columbia. He said I could send my jacket to Columbia and they may try to replace the zipper. But, he also warned me that the last Moonstone jacket he sent back to Columbia resulted in very poor customer service on the end of Columbia.
I’m really not a fan of Columbia, but I love my Moonstone jacket, even though the zipper is broken. So, I guess I’ll take it to my local dry cleaner and see if they’ll replace the zipper. It’s just not worth it to send it to Columbia in the «hopes» that they’ll fix it.
I appreciated the heads up from the staff member at Uncle Dan’s. I would have been really upset to send my jacket to Columbia, have them destroy it and «credit» me in Columbia apparel (which is what happened to the last Moonstone customer they sent to Columbia).

I’m always up for supporting a locally-​owned store, so Uncle Dan’s gets a plus just for that. And Kv G is not kidding when he says the staff is very helpful; I took my family in there when we went to visit and they seemed to know all the ins and outs of the North Face products my sister was looking at.
Yes, there is a 10% student discount, but you can also get the discount if you can answer the daily question on the board — the day we were there it had to do with geography. Hint: there’s a Barnes & Noble across the street. That’s all I’m saying.