I don't want to turn into someone reviewing every grocery/furniture store they walk into, but World Market has some special magic, and I always seem to find more than I needed when browsing around. On this occasion I stumbled across Japanese Melon Soda (the caps are a sign of respect, this is fabled stuff in my recent history). I also loaded up on all of the interesting global candies you could want, which make for easy anytime gifts. The clearance shelves are worth perusing, as is the beverage display, end to end. Even if you don't find something you MUST HAVE, the products and labels are often interesting enough that it's worth it just to look. The staff has always been friendly and helpful, and they clue you in on the discounts you can get by signing up for text alerts. It's like everyone who works here is the younger sibling of someone who works at Trader Joe's. They're just as nice, but no one ever gives them any credit. read more

I am so confused at how to describe this store. If you've been here, you know what I mean. First, it's not a standard market. It does excel on offering many global food options. Lots of Japanese, French, German, Greek, Vietnamese, and more specialty items. I love the imported Oreos from Asia. There's also a section of decorations, clothing, and even quirky knick knacks you can give as gifts. There's a nice wine selection and kitchen items to browse. We've bought various artwork from here. It's hard to tell you why you should come here, but you should come here when you want to buy something unique and unexpected. read more

Wow - what a concept. I traveled all over the world for forty years, and my father before me for sixty years, and we both dug deep into local culture to find and barter for important historic objects, in Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, Burma, Turkey, North Africa, and Communist Eastern Europe, all purchases negotiated through unsavory black markets, and then I return to the United States to find that knock-offs of our historic artifacts can be purchased for pennies on the dollar at a corner store - IN CRYSTAL LAKE! I am ready to Die now. read more

They advertise a free gift with purchase all weekend, but I went Saturday afternoon and was told they were already out of the gift. "While supplies last," but you should at least have enough to give away for the first day of the promotion. Very disappointed and will not go out of my way next time to shop there and try to get the promotion. read more

I only ordered online but I love your store. When I do go inside, the employees are always sweet & helpful. I'm especially loving the pink Christmas "kitsch" collection, although I shopped too late. I'm hoping I can grab more next season. read more

Such a great spot to get just about anything from exotic food, luxurious bath products to kitchen appliances. Service is great and sales can be worth the trip alone. I just wish it was closer to chicago. read more

Cost Plus World Market is a fun niche store with an interesting vibe. I tend to visit when I'm looking for a unique gift or food product that I'm not sure I'll find in other stores. Their food section is filled with unique and adventurous international items. I tend to go to the chocolate treats when I'm there. I never leave without some Pocky or Kaola Yummy's! They're also a great place to pick up the new Clearly Canadian drinks, which I don't think are stocked well in my local stores. I enjoy their special collections, like their Halloween and Christmas items and, currently, their unique Hello Kitty collection, exclusive to World Market! (I'm a sucker for anything Sanrio!) They also have some nice cooking/baking utensils, which I'm also a sucker for. The cashier staff has always been friendly and wrapped any fragile merchandise I may have bought well at the register. Sometimes it can be hard to find staff on the floor, but, to be fair, I usually shop during weekday mornings, which may not be as staffed as a busy weekend. Overall, this is one of those stores that you'll go into never knowing exactly what you'll find-- and I like that about it! read more

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Absolutely wonderful company and wonderful people. The manager is a fantastic lady and deserves all the business in the world. It is always a clean and well maintained store. I give kudos to the whole company. 100/10. read more

Great location, great staff, wonderful food & wine tastings on the weekend! They have all the serving essentials for your next hosted dinner, great ethnic cookbooks, tagine pots, cast iron skillets, unique furnishings, and gourmet travel size foods perfect for picnic/gift baskets. Join their explorer rewards program. Enter your phone number at check out and it automatically applies any coupons/sales. Yay! read more

This place rocks. They have cool items, food, and wine from all around the world, as the name suggests. I buy the majority of my gifts here. They have a lot of reasonably priced, interesting items like cute notebooks, little trinkets, a huge variety of coffee mugs, wall decor, and... WINE! Around Christmastime (and maybe other times) they run a promotion in which you can buy four or more bottles of wine and get 20% off all of them. It's really not a bad deal when you're stocking up for a holiday dinner (or just buying for your drunky self), because you can find a lot of bottles for under $10, which leaves you paying about $30 for four bottles of decent wine. They also have more expensive varieties if you're a fancy pants. My mom's favorite part of the store is a station that was probably made for making gift baskets. There's lots of two ounce bags of coffee, nips of alcohol, small dishes of pate, tiny cheeses. She makes care packages for me out of these. It's awesome! The staff is friendly, and you get discounts if you get a member card. Amazing store! read more

As a former WM employee (of a different location), it's taken me over 2 years to actually review this place (enough time for bitter feelings about "the man" to subside). I do have to say that the Crystal Lake location is A-Ok as far as WM standards go. I noticed that their rug caravan was going on, starting a few weeks ago, and I had been eying a flokati rug for quite some time. I received an email from them for an additional 10% off my purchase (sweet), and the rug purchase was too good to pass up. I went in & eagerly grabbed the first flokati that I saw, completed my transaction and hauled my purchase to the car. As I was loading it, I noticed a HUGE discolored spot on it (crap) and thusly carried the rug back into the store for exchange. An associate on the floor was nice enough to ask me if I needed help and then proceeded to check the inventory in the back for a better rug than the other one that was on the floor. During my stint at World Market, I will tell you, the absolute WORST job was trying to look through the rug pile in the back for a rug. I can't stress how much of a disorganized mess our rug area in the stockroom was, so for someone to be so willing to check the back for me was nothing short of amazing. My rug hero not only returned victoriously, but he also unrolled the sucker so that I could inspect it for discoloration. The rug looked great, and the store associate rolled the rug back up so that the face of the rug was inside the roll, safe and sound. The exchange process was as easy as showing him my receipt, pointing at the old, dirty rug (which looked a whole lot dirtier upon second glance...how in the world did I miss that?!), thanking him again, and walking out the door. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I have to say that the employees at the Crystal Lake World Market definitely make me come back time and time again. read more

I was lucky enough to go up to Shannon, about a credenza I saw online. She was very knowledgeable about furniture, plus made me aware of all rewards the store had to offer. Boy, was I happy to work with her on my order...she was also very polite. read more

I went into the store this evening to pay back a price difference in favor of the store since I was charged to little and the manager said keep the $10-Merry Christmas! Awesome! I plan on paying it forward to a local food pantry. Love this store, the people, the unique items, etc. read more

I love this place! Is it ok to say that? I have little (no?) sense of style but I can go through here and grab a few candles, tea cups, and cheese plates and make it look like I am soo chic. We bought our kitchen table from here and got a damn good deal on it. Ok, yeah, it came flat packed, but the thing is big, and solid, and heavy as hell. You can hardly tell and it looks great. The kid at the register even told us when to come in to purchase it so we would get it on sale at 20% off. Try it, you might like it! read more

I love this store! I do wish the employees were up to date on what emails are sent out by the company. We went in to just look around, remembered that there was an email sent out with coupons/specials for that weekend, but we couldn't remember exactly what was in the sale email. We asked 2 employees what the current email special was and neither one knew...so they went and asked management and were told that there was no special for our area. Then some guy came up with a bottle of wine and said, "here, this is the only special"... Got home and found that there was a special that included a buy $50 get $10 (guessing at the specific numbers) off...so it was annoying that the employees didn't know what email sales were sent out to their customers. read more

I love stopping in periodically for some Milka chocolate, Ritter Sport or Maltesers (for the record, I don't like malted milk balls such as Whoppers.. But these are amazing!) Also, the Cadbury Crunchie Biscuit cookies are sooo good. Also, I try some other products periodically such as tortilla chips and salsas, etc and they are always good! read more

I think it's VERY sad that world market is not offering FREE shipping on ALL orders!! I am a faithful customer that buys all my coffee from your store! I have been miserable without my world market coffee, but I refuse to pay for shipping!! Therefore I went and bought from another store where they DID have free shipping!! read more

This is a great place for interesting and unique items. It is similar to a Bed, Bath, and Beyond but has a much more to offer. The store will provides an amazing selection unique of wines and beers. In addition they have cooking utensils and many rare spices. While you are toting your food or wine selection enjoy the furniture options also! read more

Cost Plus World Market is what Pier 1 used to be when it first opened -- but way better. We've gotten things from our dining room chairs here to exotic ingredients needed to make ethnic dishes. At Christmas it is a must-stop for wrap, boxes and bags. Excellent stocking stuffers. Their food and kitchen gear selection is always fun to look through. read more

Definitely a quaint store with a large spread of international goods. There's a lot of furniture and decor for your home, of which we picked out a few cute items to help decorate a room in our home. The food sections is organized by country/region, and some of the items are interesting to see. read more

Wine selection is eclectic and fun. Coffee syrups, love 'em. Awesome sweets displays. Great home knicky knacks, decor stuff, etc. I love to browse. read more

Tried to buy a coffee table today and wanted to check the stain color prior to purchasing. The floor sample was almost pink in color. I am trying to match tables I already own that are more of a natural wood color. Was told by this sales person that she knew the 2 tables she had in stock had this pink hue to them and they couldn't open the box. Was also told that if the box was opened, the table would have to be put together and the store couldn't have more than one of the same table on the floor. So, then how does this sales person know that both tables they have in stock are of this same pink color? Obviously, they didn't want to take the time to check for me. How hard is it to carefully tape the box back up? There are only 2 legs and the table top. Certainly doesn't seem that difficult. Needless to say, I walked out without making a purchase and World Market Crystal Lake just lost a customer. read more

Great shopping experience. I was in need of chairs that only Crystal Lake location had for me. I called and Daryl checked stock and said I can purchase online and pick up in store. I tried to do so but little elephant that strolls back and fourth on web page was getting annoying after a 10 minute wait, I refreshed and the online cart said no longer available at this location. I called back and talked to Katie and explained. She assured me that Daryl and her would put 6 aside for me. I was non-trusting and the hour long drive left me anxious . I entered the store Katherine at the register assured me all was good and they were bringing the items to front of store for me. Not only did they do this but Daryl packed my small SUV Tetris style to accommodate my 6 chairs and my impulse purchase of two different style chairs. Thank you to the entire crew - with the exception of little old man in liquor department who berated me for attempting to use craft beer holder for my wine ( my bad, but do you need to be rude?) read more

Great place for packaged tea. They have varieties not available elsewhere at reasonable prices.

this place is pretty pricey. even some things which one can get almost every where for cheap, are 3-5 times as much. however, free tea and coffee samples in the back. read more