Affordable Portables

After stopping in places like Ashley Furniture and Art Van, my husband and I decided to give Affordable Portables a try since a few friends really enjoyed their furniture from here. I’m so glad we stopped in one Friday night after all the other couch shopping.
Next to our queen size bed and dining room set (purchased at a thrift shop), this was our next real piece of adult furniture. We had been sitting on a futon in our living room since 2008 and now that we’ve bought a house we decided we needed a real, live couch.
I knew what color I wanted (gray) and what kind of sofa I wanted (something with a chaise) so we went on the hunt. The store is pretty packed with all kinds of furniture. There’s a sort of organization happening in that bedroom stuff seems to be together, sofas seem to be together, and other furniture seems to be together. There’s a lot of stuff strewn in between other pieces, so be sure you look around the whole floor to see if they have what you want.
I’m not sure where the furniture comes from or how many pieces of each they have, but once we found the sofa we were looking for we asked the price and got a bit of a discount because it was they last one they had. I asked about a table in another part of the store and got the same story — a bit less money because it was the last one they had. If you’re looking for discounts and you’re got at haggling, I’d definitely ask — the worst they’ll say is no.
Our total purchase ended up being about $ 750 with tax and delivery, which would have been over $ 1K at the larger furniture stores for a comparable piece (specifically with a chaise lounge attached). We definitely got a good deal here. They delivered five days after I placed the order and they were on time, per the estimate the guy I ordered from gave me. The two delivery guys dragged the giant couch in without damaging our porch or any other part of our house and they unwrapped and assembled everything before they left.
I was very happy with the service we received and the prices of the furniture in the store. Since they deliver for about $ 50, I’ll consider coming back here in the future when I need other furniture for my new house. Good job, Affordable Portables.

This is the Worst store ever. Beware that everything is final sale, even if they say they don’t know when the item will come in or they don’t know if it’s available. Once you put a deposit down be prepared to pay.
I bought a bedframe and headboard. Not only were they unclear about the date we would have it, not telling us it was special order, but the frame and the headboard didn’t even fit each other! The headboard was a complete POS and all of the holes for screwing were not properly measured so nothing could be attached. It was the most unsafe bed I could imagine. And with the no return policy, I could not be less satisfied with a store if I tried.
Spend the extra hundred bucks and go to a reputable store, or better yet ikea. Since AP makes you build everything anyway, you might as well get something safe at IKEA. Don’t shop here.
If I could give zero stars I would.

«Ok now that you’ve paid us we’ll deliver your furniture Monday!» That was 5 weeks ago. On our weekly phone call after the delivery doesn’t show up we hear, «Oh next Monday for sure.» Would never be back, creepy basement dungeon type atmosphere with salesmen who refer to the pieces as «the expensive one» or «the cheaper one.»

Similar story to other people here. Ordered 3 pieces of furniture in early June with an estimated 2 week delivery. The delivery date was moved back 4 times. I understand that it happens. but having to move it 4 times tells me you have no idea how to manage your inventory. Barry also refused to call me back and would only call my gf. 2 of the 3 pieces were finally delivered, but one of those pieces broke with a week. They sent people out to fix it and it’s fine now, but was a major headache. The third piece of furniture was finally delivered 2 weeks ago. It’s a coffee table, nothing special or exotic in any way, but it took over 8 weeks to deliver. That’s unacceptable, especially when my expectations were 2 weeks. Oh, and I had to call 3+ times and ask about the final piece of furniture, nothing proactive from their end at all.
Overall it is OK furniture for the price, but not even close to worth the headaches and hassles you will deal with. If you have unlimited patience, a wide open and flexible delivery schedule, and love horrible customer service, I would encourage you to shop here. Otherwise, save yourself the hassle and pay $ 100 more to shop elsewhere.

They were the local dealer for a coatrack I wanted. I called them up, they had it in from their warehouse the next day, I ran over and picked it up – super easy. They could have delivered as well, but I could carry it and delivery would have increased the price by a third. Overall, they were super nice and indeed affordable, so I will keep them in mind for future furniture needs.

It was an absolute pleasure working with Affordable Portables when we were shopping for a new bedroom set. The staff was knowledgeable and courteous each time we visited the store during our decision making process. Often times the most stressful part of buying furniture is an unconfirmed delivery time and/​or specific date. However, that was not an issue as delivery was quick and efficient upon arrival. Because of our experience with Affordable Portables they were the first and only store we visited when we were in need of another piece of furniture for our home office. Thank you Affordable Portables and I recommend this store to everyone!

So I go in on a Sunday. Great prices. Of course it was busy so I didn’t get expert service, but that’s understandable. I chose a couch I liked and asked to purchase. I then write the receipt myself and pay and the gentlemen tells me to have a good day. Ok? How long will it take? Will I need to be at my apartment when it ships? I ask some questions and he quickly answers. I was slightly annoyed that day, but I’ve worked retail, you’re busy and stressed out. All good. I am given a 2 week timeline for my couch.
Two weeks later and I hear nothing.
So I have to call them and ask where my couch is where I get a reply of I don’t know.
Wonderful. They call the manufacturer and it’s back ordered. Ugh! This would have been a slight annoyance if I hadn’t had to call and tell them to look for it. Definitely their job.
I come to figure out same thing happened to my friend. This is just a normal occurrence. I guess that’s what you get for buying cheap furniture.

A huge thank you to Valerie for her dedication and patience as she helped my husband and I find furniture we needed for our new apartment.
My husband and I are moving to a much more spacious space than we currently have, and we needed lots of new furniture. Valerie took the time to help us figure out which colors would work well with the furniture we already had. We weren’t ready to make any decisions the day we first went, and when we came back several days later, Valerie remembered where we had left off, and continued to help accommodate our needs. She is definitely not trying to sell you furniture you don’t want, rather she wants to make sure you are walking out with furniture you love, and will feel good about buying.
We are so excited to get our delivery in mid– June, and we will definitely be coming back here in the future. I recommend this wonderful family-​owned business to anyone looking for beautiful and affordable furniture! They are a pleasure to work with!

Excellent service and extremely reasonable prices without sacrificing the quality of furniture. I got a couch and a table set and I’m so happy with it.

This is my favorite furniture shop in all of Chicago. Been to this place a few times and must say I always want to come check it out. Barry and Val are the best and this is a shop that is all about customer service. If you have a Chicago apartment, they can affordably furnish it in style. I have a 2 bedroom walk up and it is now fully furnished, and it is awesome. For like less than half of my budget. Could not recommend more so.

Went furniture shopping for our first home for my fiancé and I. What a wonderful experience, Barry took time to show us multiple options for each room with unbeatable prices. If it’s not on the floor Barry or Val will help you hand pick items in their inventory. We are so excited for our beautiful home together!

Okay this review was meant to go up back in October but I got too busy. What actually reminded me was that a friend recently had a horrible experience which I won’t mention anymore here.
I ordered a dining table from Barry in July. The table was cute and indeed affordable. However, after I finished assembling the many many pieces and I was missing one.
I called Barry and he said that he would take care of it. Two weeks later, I stopped in the store. Barry acted annoyed with my visit. He claimed he had an administrative person from his warehouse email me back but I assured him that no one emailed me. I checked my spam email right on the spot.
For the next 3 weeks, I called Barry and stopped in again. No news… He didn’t even have the courtesy to contact me after Two visits to the store.
I finally stopped by a third time (almost 5 weeks later) and he had the piece.
Not once did Barry apologize for the inconvenience! He seemed nice when I purchased the table but his customer service is god awful!
One last thing… My roommate ordered a bed from Barry and it was 2 months late. Thankfully it was only the bed and not the mattress. Otherwise, she would’ve had even more of an issue!

Super friendly people and excellent service. Ordered bedroom furniture over the phone for my aging uncle in Chicago. Spoke to a store owner. She could not have been more helpful and compassionate. I was very surprised by how reasonable the prices are considering this is CHICAGO. There’s something truly great about working directly with the owner of a retail store. So much better than the chain mega stores and all their gimmicks and yucky sales people. This places rocks. Thank you Avis and thank you Affordable Portables.

I needed a new futon for my living room and found just one I was looking for. This isn’t a really big furniture store at all. On the other hand, people like me with small apartments can get multipurpose pieces here. I was turned off by some of the prices though. Probably could have save a little by ordering online. Affordable is located right in Lincoln Park across the street from McDonald s. Parking along Clark is okay but it’s metered.

Affordable portables would have hands down gotten five stars if it wasn’t for their delivery service. Amazing customer service and helpful staff at the store– much more affordable than other places in the area. The husband and wife were both a delight.
The delivery on the other hand was awful. Rude is an understatement. I had measured everything beforehand to make sure my couch would fit — I knew it would be tight, but I also knew it would make it through. Both of the men snottily told me that they were not going to bring it up because it wasn’t going to fit and that it was now my problem. Bad answer for someone who is getting paid to move furniture. I paid you to move it into my apartment, not question my measuring. And yes, It did fit. You’ve lost my future business and will not being getting a recommendation to anyone I know.

The staff is very helpful but the furniture quality is HORRIBLE. I’ll say again, the quality of the furniture, though it looks very nice, is absolutely terrible.
We purchased most of our furniture new from Affordable Portables when we moved to Chicago and 1.5 years later barely any of it is still in good condition. We don’t abuse any of the furniture but it is clear that the couches and recliner are made very poorly and they fell apart after little more than a year (the couch’s center cushion lost its wooden supports and the entire left arm of the recliner separated recently).
The worst piece, by far, was the platform bed. Each night I slept, the supporting wooden slats would fall out 2 at a time and the mattress would lose support. After numerous calls to Affordable, they tried to issue me new slats (did not work) and they tried to cut plywood to support the mattress instead (cut it too short, did not work). Though those were honest attempts, I ended up trashing the whole bed and just buying a normal bed frame and box spring from a nearby store when I got tired of sleeping with my mattress on the floor.
You’d be much better off going to any of the neighborhood thrift stores and getting better quality furniture for a much better price. All of the furniture we got from Mt. Sinai resales on Diversey is made from high quality materials and has lasted us very well.

We bought our futon frame and mattress for our condo from here few months back. After moderate use, we are still impressed with the durability, quality, and fairness of the price here. We will be customers for life!
03÷2015− yup, still happy with the futon & mattress!

Said they’d be here at 12:00, it’s now 4:30. I took off work for this and had plans to be elsewhere by now and this has been a total disaster. I missed Andrew W.K. at Riot Fest for this. Not cool, Affordable Portables. Not cool.
edit: aaaaaand it’s 4:45 and they’ve told me it’ll be at least another 45 minutes, so today’s delivery is cancelled. No couch for me to lay on after a hard day watching Fall Out Boy.

Despite the negative reviews on Unilocal,I gave this place a try.
I was looking for a 3 person couch, and I knew my price range of upward to $ 700. At affordable portables, this gave a lot of room for selection choice.
Most of the other business patrons there were looking for cheap $ 150 futons, but I knew that I wanted something to last (as futons are more likely to break), and set my eyes on this Serta Couch.
Granted, the showroom is not the most sophisticated-​looking, but hey– if that’s how they’re keeping their prices down, I am not complaining.
The lady who was working there was SO helpful and assisted in picking the type of couch, the color, everything. She even tried helping me talk the price down, but of course the owner wouldn’t budge.
I live about a mile south of the store and was disappointed there was no free deilbery for such a short distance.
As for my couch? I have had it for a few months and love it.

Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Was it me? No. My friend who was with me? No. the young lady who works there? No. The owner of the place. Yes, sirree! That’s what stands out in my memory of helping a friend buy a small piece of furniture there. The owner was defensive, impatient and rude from the start. I had taken measurements and given him an exact idea of what we were looking for, so fortunately the abuse did not last long. We narrowed things down to 3 items and chose one rather quickly. The young lady there was helpful in writing things up. Then the owner priced the piece higher than the tag price. Glad he had the sense to back off of that!
I actually still have two pieces of Affordable Portable furniture from the 80’s which I bought when I lived in the neighborhood. They manage to cram quite a few nice things in there, and for the most part, the prices are good. It would just be nice if there were a discount on delivery for A) a small piece and B) a six-​block delivery. So even with the convenience aspect, there are other options for similar furniture at World Market, Target, Home Decorators, and of course online. It is nice that there is a small independent neighborhood furniture place like this. Just be sure to go in when the owner has gotten up on the right side of the bed and doesn’t make you feel like he’s doing a big favor by talking to you. You may want to phone first and ask.