Publications & Sites 
Secondhand furniture store expands to second store in Hinsdale
This dining room set is among the used furniture for sale at 44 S. Washington, where the Courtyard is storing the merchandise it cannot fit in its store at 63 Village Place.
Article Extras
Updated: November 23, 2012 2:37PM
HINSDALE — The Courtyard, a consignment store in Hinsdale, will expand to a second location at least for the near future.
For two days after Thanksgiving, The Courtyard will resell high-end furniture and home accessories in the former Gap Kids store, at 44 S. Washington St., in downtown Hinsdale.
The selection includes dining room sets, cabinets, end tables, coffee tables, upholstered chairs, couches and a fireplace. The dining sets range in price from a table with 12 chairs for $4,800 to a table and chairs for $495.
The Courtyard resale business has been located at 63 Village Place, in a building owned by the Hinsdale Bank & Trust Co., for 16 years, but it has run out of room for all its merchandise.
“Massive amounts of furniture have been coming on the market over the last year or so, with the economy like it is,” said Marna Slawson, development manager for the Wellness House and liaison to The Courtyard.
Sales at the consignment shop are shared 50-50 between the owner/donor of the item and the nonprofit Wellness House in Hinsdale, which provides services to cancer victims and their families.
“It has been a wild ride the last year, always trying to match the inventory to our space,” Slawson said. “It’s so hard to turn away something we think we can sell. It’s a balancing act.”
The store keeps merchandise for up to 90 days, reducing the price each month the item does not sell.
The Courtyard has been storing its excess furniture for free in the rear of the old theater building, which now houses Cine restaurant. That space is no longer available, so Jay Javors, president of Midwest Property Group, which owns that building and the vacant Gap store locations, invited The Courtyard to display and sell its overstock in the empty Gap Kids spot.
“We are the benefactors of people who are kind to us,” Slawson said.
She said Jay Javors has been instrumental in providing space and for over 21 years, Hinsdale Bank & Trust has been generous.
The Courtyard, at 63 Village Place, and its temporary store, at 44 S. Washington St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 24. After those dates, the Washington store will be open by appointment only. For more information, call (630) 323-1135 or look at the website, www.shopthecourtyard.com.
