57th Street Bookcase & Cabinet

A month ago I was sitting infront of my old college bookshelf (IKEA naturally) and pulled out a textbook, the shelf collapsed. To my shock it caused a ripple effect after which the other shelves started to collapse. Thankfully I managed to get out of the way so it didn’t fall on me but I considered myself extremely lucky and was grateful it hadn’t hurt anyone else. Upon further inspection I realized the shelves had bowed under the weight of all the heavy textbooks and photo albums and it was only a matter of time before it came crashing down.
My boyfriends parents had bookshelves from this shop that are now 20+ years old and swore by the quality of them. So we stopped by to take a look… Don’t expect glitz and glam or a beautiful showroom. It’s very utilitarian — but, the guy who works there, Mark, was very knowledgable about their products and very friendly.
I was picky from the beginning — everything from the type of wood, color of staining, size, shelving and finishing was customizable. We ended up coming back 2x just to look at all the options again because we were so indecisive. Mark was very patient with us and suggested options that he thought would best suit our needs.
In the end, we bought a beautiful cherry bookcase that can easily hold the weight of all our books and gives us lots of room to add more books in the future.
As a warning — although the options are beautiful, sturdy, real wood and the employees are extremely friendly and knowledgable… You get what you pay for and this place is quite expensive. That being said, it was well worth it and we are very happy with our purchase!

We love 57^th Street Bookcase! We had custom floating bookcases built for our den. Sam was very helpful, coming up with both design solutions and ways to save money on the cases. It took a while to make them but they are beautiful and solid — just what we wanted. The installation guys were very professional and did a bang up job in a flash. The bookcases were definitely worth every penny. If we ever need custom bookshelves or casework in the future, we will order from this place without hesitation.

Superior quality and great customer service for custom-​made wood furniture that will last for years! We were looking for a carpenter to build out an entertainment center in a nook in my parents’ living room. Chip, the owner, really took care into designing exactly what we were looking for and more. He was very experienced and detailed that he not only spent a couple hours making the drawings with us at the store, but a second time as well when he emailed me a copy. He also personally came to measure the nook and then a second time to double check the measurements as it had to fit! It took about 2 months to make but was well worth the wait. The excellent quality and service is very hard to find these days. Delivery and installment was very professional as well. The cherry wood entertainment center came our beautiful and my hard-​to-​please parents loved it! Highly highly recommend!

Thrilled with the bookcases and the experience. My husband I spent approximately two hours with the owner, reviewing what size bookcase, finishes, trim and more. We designed beauiful versatile bookcases that will last and be enjoyed for a lifetime. Yes, they cost more than a furniture store, but they’re versatile and solid wood. Ya get what ya pay for, Set up and delivery was smooth and efficient. If you are ready for bookcases that will last a lifetime, this is your place.

I literally could not be happier with the bookcases that 57^th Street made for me. I live in a vintage place, and I had a very specific idea of the bookcases that I wanted: tall, almost like built ins (which 57^th Street can do), with a traditional counter and crown. I used cherry as the wood, and the dimensions for one bookcase were basically four feet wide, eight feet high. For a custom job, time from order to delivery was eight weeks. Total damage for two bookcases was $ 2500, so not cheap but in line with other good quality, big box stores, such as Room and Board. Plus the work was custom made to my specs! And 57^th Street is a small, local business!
In short, if you are in the market for high quality bookcases for fair prices, either ready made or custom, definitely check out this Chicago gem.

I have been looking for a bookcase since I moved into a new place in May and finally found what I wanted at 57^th Street Bookcase! I had gone to all of the typical furniture stores (i.e. West Elm, Crate and Barrel, Macy’s) and had not found anything that I truly loved that was also within my budget. I found 57^th Street by doing a google and figured, what the heck. So I went in to the store on Halsted on Sunday at around noon and the gentleman at the store answered all of my questions and really sounded like he knew his stuff. The shelves and drawers that they have in the showroom are beautiful but they didn’t seem to have exactly what I was looking for. So, I was directed to the sister store in Evanston which has a much larger showroom.
When I finally arrived to the Evanston store, Robert already knew my name (the guy from the other store had called to let him know I would be coming)! I told Robert exactly what I was looking for and he directed me to some pieces that met my qualifications. Again, everything was beautiful and solidly crafted.
I finally fell in love with a dark stained Cherry bookcase and asked if they could deliver it to me next Saturday. To my surprise, Robert said that he could bring it to me the same day (this was a Sunday, remember)!!!
As we speak, the bookcase is in my living room holding all of my books and more. I am extremely pleased with the service, quality, and value of the products from 57^th Street. I will be back for sure!