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The Wooden Duck
Category: Shopping Home & Garden Furniture Stores Furniture Stores [Edit]
1823 Eastshore Hwy(between Virginia St & Hearst Ave)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 848-3575
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 10 am - 6 pm
Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
Lauren P. said: "Almost seduced by a beautiful pricey recliner at DWR, then discovered KCC and found two beautiful, more comfortable, affordable chairs. Kent and Abdul are patient, knowledgeable and straightforward. A great shopping experience. If you…" read more »
27 reviews for The Wooden Duck
Review Highlights
"of their furniture with reclaimed wood."
(in 5 reviews)
"If you're looking for bargains, get on their mailing list."
(in 3 reviews)
"...purchased a handsome reclaimed teak console with simple..."
(in 6 reviews)
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27 reviews in English
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Review from Lisa G.
Pleasant Hill, CA
9/3/2011
I LOVE, love, love the custom bench that I ordered from the Wooden Duck! I thought that the choices of designs, woods and finishes were wonderful. The sales people were very helpful. I will buy furniture from them in the future!
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Review from Grilled C.
San Francisco, CA
1/26/2012
I stepped in dog $#!^ upstairs today. When I notified the girl working, she said "Oops, Ill go take care of it!" referring to the pooh upstairs. I was offered windex and a roll of paper towels to clean the shoe I was holding in my hand. I asked "You expect me to clean your dog's $#!^ of my shoe?" She said "I kind of have a thing about feet" and I said "I kind of have a thing about dog $#I^". I cleaned my own shoe and will never be back to the Duck. Nice furniture, now I will never buy it. And for the record, it was the Yorkie.
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Review from David O.
Oakland, CA
8/2/2011
I'm pretty mixed on these guys. I originally wasn't even going to write a review, but finally decided I had to, to warn other folks about what they're getting into.
As other reviewers have indicated, they make GREAT looking furniture. Almost all reclaimed wood. And the people are very nice and friendly.
Unfortunately, that's about where the good ends. Our experience:
- We ordered a dining table + benches, to be built for us. They took the order down (on paper; no computers here) and promised to call us when it was ready for viewing, which they do before they stain the furniture.
- About six weeks later, we got the call to come view. We showed up, and there was our table... and ONE bench. Oops, they said, the order clearly shows two; we'll build another.
- A couple weeks later, we show up again... there's the second bench, and its the wrong size! Oops again they say, our fault, we'll fix it.
- A week or so later, they call, we show up. No second bench. Oops they say, we called you by mistake. Sorry about that.
- Another two weeks went by before everything was finally ready.
Total time was about three months, which was OK. But we had to visit over and over, which I wasn't happy about. At least our table did come out looking nice.
UPDATE: One final word of warning....all of their finished furniture is clear coated with laquer, not polyurethane. That means it is NOT WATER RESISTANT. I spoke with them about this today, after getting an ugly water stain on our brand new $3K+ table, and they said that laquer is the 'only way they can finish wood in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way'. Their recommendation was just to 'always use coasters' and never let the table get wet. Not sure that's as easy as they think, especially if kids and whatnot are around. -
Review from Cam N.
San Francisco, CA
10/19/2011
Our experience started off well at the Berkeley Wooden Duck, the sales staff initially spent a lengthy amount of time with us when choosing the perfect table and chairs and we left the store excited to see the table in its initial stages after 6 or so weeks.
However, after seeing the table quickly during the week last week, we went back at the weekend to see it again only to find out that someone else's name had been put on the table and promised to them the day before as there was no tag on it. Their table was actually next to ours and built to the wrong size so they apparently offered them our table. Then, to top it off the employee made us feel guilty for saying that 'no' we didn't want their larger sized table, we preferred ours, and didn't even apologize for the mix up.
This is not really the customer service you are expecting when buying anything let alone an expensive custom built dining set. So we are disappointed that it came to this. Hopefully it will be a great dining set but the journey hasn't been fun i'm afraid! -
Review from Edmund L.
Orange County, CA
3/31/2011
It's quite simple. To maximize value to the consumer, The Wooden Duck contract builds their furniture in Asia and finishes it in Berkeley. Overseas factories + ocean containers = uncontrollable delays.
Pros: Well made all-wood furniture in a variety of styles with several stain options available at an excellent price point.
Cons: Nothing is in stock. Put your order in and don't expect it to show up for two to three months.
Customer Service: The warehouse staff have always been helpful and prompt. It appears the salespeople are burdened with an old-fashioned ordering system where most of the paperwork is handwritten, so it's difficult to track progress. So it's not that they don't want to help you, it's just difficult for them sometimes. And I'm sure it gets frustrating for them too.
Also - while you are the customer, a little patience and courtesy goes a long way sometimes.
I've bought about $3,000 of stuff from them over 3 seperate orders. I'd buy from The Wooden Duck again. Just manage your expectations, and calender a reminder call to followup a week or two after the quoted date - you'll be fine. -
Review from Jonathan U.
Oakland, CA
4/26/2011
I gotta be honest Yelpers, I was a bit worried after reading the reviews here about the time it would take to get the awesome bed and bedside tables that my wife and I bought at their recent sale. We were quoted 6-8 weeks, and I figured big sale weekend + reviews for delays on here - non stained furniture+ customer service problems should= 13 weeks or so. Oh was I wrong. We got the furniture last night, a whole 3 weeks after ordering it, and they even wanted to deliver a few days ago.
We had great customer service with Eric who was patient and helpful, gave us his cell number and took the time to answer all of our questions. The delivery guys were nice and quick and on time. Finally, the furniture is beautiful, such an upgrade from Ikea, nice wood, very sturdy frame, and I'm very happy with the products.
When we save a bit more $$$, we'll be back for more. -
Review from Steve M.
Alameda, CA
5/31/2011
I've purchased quite a bit of outdoor furniture and a custom entertainment center from the Wooden Duck, and I plan to purchase a dining table from them as well in a month or so.
The Wooden Duck is a simple trade-off: You can get good deals on attractive, solidly-built furniture if you're willing to accept that it can take a while -- sometimes quite a while -- to get what you order.
If you're in a situation like I am where you're replacing your cheap-o IKEA furniture (and can therefore afford to wait), this can work out nicely. If you need your furniture immediately, this probably isn't the place for you. -
Review from Cheryl B.
Oakland, CA
8/28/2010
I've been really patient with the Duck before writing this review. Initially, I would have given 3 or 4 stars for the furniture itself, especially the outdoor furniture, and the buying experience, but have to take off stars for receiving furniture that's damaged and unusable. Also, for getting the runaround from a rude owner and from staff who might be trying to do the right thing but ultimately aren't up to solving a simple problem.
We ordered furniture in June and had a good experience with the sales staff. However, some pieces arrived without handles, and another piece arrived without the pegs for shelves. We were told we'd be be mailed some pegs for one piece and sent two other pieces back for handles. One was returned with a big dent, a delivery problem probably but definitely noticeable.
After 3 weeks, we're still waiting for the pieces we need to set up the shelves for the other piece. And, to make it worse, we're in a cycle of making several calls a week, being told the piece is in the mail and alas never getting it.
Sorry Duck, I'm enjoying the furniture that is functional but won't be back and definitely won't recommend you to others. -
Review from A V.
Kensington, CA
10/21/2009
The Wooden Duck has brought pressure on Yelp Mgt. to have my other review deleted, so here goes again.
Several years ago, we responded to an ad by the Wooden Duck for an armoire that was listed on sale...........when we got there, the staff was not only extremely rude, but wouldn't honor the sale. After the way
we were treated, and after their complaints about my reviews, suffice it to say, we will boycott this store forever.
I find it interesting that yelp pulled my other review, but didn't originally pull the response from Wooden Duck to ME, implying that because I'm a woman, I must be unstable. Way to go Yelp and Wooden Duck!!Comment from Eric G. of The Wooden Duck 5/3/2009
I've been in charge of the advertising for the Wooden Duck… More » -
Review from T W.
Berkeley, CA
1/3/2007
What stories were told in those old Jakarta homes whose planks have found new life as Mission style chairs sitting around my farm table? What winters did the Sierra mill endure from which the huge pieces of fir, the width of which can hardly be found today, has been reincarnated into said table? And if I merely want to assuage my environmental guilt, I sit at my folding round table and matching chairs at my breakfast nook, my porch, or the yard when needed, all made of plantation harvested teak.
If your goal is solid, all wood furniture, if your goal is to banish any and all particle board from your home, if your goal is to reduce your carbon emissions (remember, while burning forests and paper releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so does rotting wood: reusing wood is another form of carbon sequestration), then pay a visit to The Wooden Duck. If you're waiting for lots of service to be sold on the furniture, this might not be the place for you.
Get on their mailing list, and be sure to look in the back where you can find true bargains.Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Valerie B.
San Francisco, CA
8/2/2006
The idea behind this store is what makes me like it the most: they make their furniture from recycled/reclaimed wood. I also love that the furniture is solid wood, where so many shops sell furniture that is particle board covered with real wood, which is just cheap and ridiculous (not to mention particle board/ plywood is really toxic).
The only drawback to this place is that when I went in there, nobody even said hello to me. This happened a couple of times, and when I finally asked for some assistance, it was like I was asking for the moon to be pulled a little closer. That was kind of annoying, but the quality of the furniture and the look is worth having a few rude people interact with you.
Plus, they have really cute huge dogs that walk around the shop. :) -
Review from Michael B.
Spokane, WA
3/8/2009
The wooden duck is basically our dream in furniture. It is all reclaimed wood, primarily teak, made with classic style and methods from solid wood. You won't see any fake wood or composite here, just tongue and groove construction and wood on wood drawer slides.
The sales people are not pushy at all, they ask you if you need help and disappear if you say no(but not to the point of being unable to find them). They are helpful when you make a purchase.
And oh the furniture. I could fill my whole house with it if I had a grand or more to spend on each piece of furniture. Now when I cruise craigslist I search for "wooden duck" hoping to catch someone unloading a quality piece of furniture for half or less. I haven't been that lucky, yet...Listed in: Where I shopped in the East…
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Review from Stacey M.
Oakland, CA
8/2/2009
The Wooden Duck sells beautiful furniture that is reasonably priced (unless you compare it to, say, Ikea, which is a ridiculous comparison for obvious reasons). It's a huge space that's fun to walk around - especially if the dog is around - and there's a great selection. Note that this is not sleek modernist furniture. That's not what they do and, if that's what you're looking for, you will be sad.
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I thought the service was great - someone asked me if I needed help, he answered questions, he pointed out that what I was about to buy had a scratch and hooked me up with a better one, and it was easy to set up the delivery. No one followed me around the store, pointing out things I might like, but I think that's a good thing.
And the sales are amazing - if you've got your eye on something, sign up for their mailing list and wait for the sale. I made the aforementioned purchase at a lovely 50% discount.
Love the Wooden Duck! -
Review from Anita L.
8/28/2008
We first came across Wooden Duck when our friends had purchased some items from them. They took us there one day when we were looking for furniture and I've been hooked every since.
Their furniture is well made and designs are in various types of wood. The California redwood is possibly one of the most expensive around but it is well worth the price if you're planning on purchasing an item which will last forever and can be passed down from generation to generation.
Prices were not that bad a decade ago, but it's gotten higher through the years. Still, for the quality of the products, and given how long they will last, I'd say it's still a great deal.
Armoires, head boards, cabinets..... they have it all. And if they don't.... have them custom make it for you! -
Review from SFMom O.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 1/25/2009
The Wooden Duck has redeemed itself! Our first experience was not positive. The salesguy was friendly but was either uninterested in selling us a custom table, or just perhaps not knowledgeable enough to help us with it. After reading my review here, one of the owners contacted me and apologized for our experience and assured us that yes, they do indeed build custom tables to specification. He did not attempt a sales pitch, but only apologized and set the record straight. We were encouraged by his candor and professionalism and soon made another trip to the Duck.
This time, we worked directly with the owner (cool guy named Eric. You rock!). For custom jobs, they have specific tables that can be tweaked according to your needs. We chose the "Shaker Arch" table, and requested specific height, width, and depth. Less than a couple months later, the beautiful piece arrived.....and just in time for a big party we had the next day. (that was a special request on our part and they were kind enough to move up our delivery date by 1 day) The table is utterly beautiful, with a glowingly warm and rich stain, distressed exactly the way we had requested. It is solid and of the highest quality...the kind of furniture you'd be proud to hand down to your children.
If you want a rush job, this may not be the right place for you. Every part of the table is carefully done by hand, by artisans who you can meet and talk with...their love for their craft is clear. The way they build their furniture is probably *exactly* the way stuff was built centuries ago. They don't use CAD images or do anything by computer, just old-fashioned math, paper, and pencil. Our new table is absolutely sturdy and hefty...a beautiful farmhouse look for our cottage kitchen.
FYI -- they build a lot (all?) of their furniture with reclaimed wood. So it's a huge plus to know you're doing your part for the environment. :-)
I highly recommend the Duck!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/29/2008
We came here thinking we could get a farmhouse-style table built to our specifications (we have a… Read more »
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Review from Kelly M.
Cambridge, MA
6/26/2010
The Wooden Duck sells beautifully made, solid, and usually recycled or reclaimed furniture in a variety of styles -- there's a Mission collection, an Asian-influenced collection, and a couple of more basic contemporary collections, as well as the custom work they will do. You won't find fussy antiques or overly-sleek mod-ness, but you will find a selection of pieces that will stand up to a lifetime of actual living [read: this isn't IKEA, and thank goodness for that]. Most pieces are unfinished and they will finish to your specs, or finish an unfinished piece to match another finished one if you're purchasing more than one item [we did this and the results were excellent].
If you're tired of looking in vain for furniture that's beautiful and well-made and not boring, go to the Wooden Duck. You won't regret it. (Well, you won't regret it, until you move to the east coast and can't just stop in to look for new pieces anymore; then you'll wish you'd never learned of it in the first place.)
Tip: join their email list to get advance notice of the fantastic annual sales [like, 50%+ off], and keep an eye out for floor samples and the amazing pieces they bring back from their extensive travels. The everyday prices aren't low, but you feel so much better about paying for this type of quality when you know you're going to love what you've purchased for years, probably decades, to come. On top of all that, the business is local, supports environmentally-friendly harvesting, and helps find new lives for Pacific Northwest factory wallboards, and you've got a great furniture company that I'd recommend to anyone. -
Review from James E.
Oakland, CA
8/25/2006
I love the Wooden Duck. Most of their items are recycled wood made into lovely home furnishings. Tropical woods come from older South-Asian homes and boats. North-American woods mostly from buildings. I have a beautiful fir dining table in my dining room from the Wooden Duck, as well as a nice, rustic bench of teak.
If you're looking for bargains, get on their mailing list. They have great sales twice yearly. 50% off generally on their yard furniture (great adirondack chairs) -
Review from Michael S.
Oakland, CA
6/1/2010
Just the facts:
Walked in, looked around, found the exact bench I wanted, at half the price I thought I would need to pay for a solid teak bench, was greeted warmly by the salesperson who asked if I needed help and she proceeded to answer all my questions, made helpful suggestions, wrote up the sale, went to the warehouse to ask someone if they thought the bench could fit in the car (it couldn't), and then answered more questions about care of the bench.
The bench was delivered this evening by extremely nice folks, who carried the bench up a hill to our backyard.
All in all, a completely satisfying experience. -
Review from Jenn C.
12/25/2010
Awesome, gorgeous and sturdy wood furniture that is way beyond my budget. However - they offer scraps of wood up for kindling and bonfires, and you'll find me scrounging at the little woodpile sheds at the edge of the parking lot. Re-use, recycle and use up the little end bits in your backyard BBQ!
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Review from Vanessa C.
Kensington, CA
8/19/2008
I recently purchased a handsome reclaimed teak console with simple lines and a gorgeous deep rich stain to complement my mid-century Danish furniture. Jake was incredibly helpful and patient as I debated several other outstanding pieces, all very reasonably priced, unique and functional.
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Review from Vanessa T.
San Francisco, CA
2/14/2010
The Wooden Duck has beautiful furniture, but you better hope you don't need it any time soon. We ordered a dining room table and hutch in November, it is now mid Feb, and despite being told we would have it in January - it is still not done. We have been putting off hosting friends because we have no place for them to sit for dinner.
They called us to visit our table and hutch prior to staining. We drove all the way out and all they could find was the table. No hutch. Today, when scheduling delivery, apparently the price I was quoted in November is no longer good. Only $5 more, but still, why quote $75 and charge $80? I suspect that everybody working there has inhaled a bit too much of the furniture stain, as every time we speak to somebody we get a different story. -
Review from Brian L.
San Francisco, CA
10/3/2011
Just an overall terrible experience. I ordered a dining room table and bench. I was told 12-15 weeks and it actually took 18. The delivery guys showed up late on a Friday night and (after trying to get me to pay them more because of a flight of stairs, which the WD knew about) they complained about only having a two man crew when they should have had three. They tried one method of getting it in the front door and gave up in less than 10 minutes. One of the guys was about 5'4" and looked to be in his late 50s, and the other was way out of shape. I expected that another attempt would be made with a proper crew, or that they would go in the much easier back entrance. The next day the WD said I could either come pick up the table from their store in Berkeley myself (what?) or hire my own movers. Overall just unprofessional, and outright disrespectful when I tried to work something out with them.
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Review from Joy M.
Oakland, CA
4/25/2011
Nice furniture, mediocre service.
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Review from rachel p.
7/29/2008
once i got my very cool, very pretty rosewood armoire and dresser from zentrum furniture, i needed a headboard to go with it. unfortch zentrum doesn't really carry those, they have a small selection but that's about it. after shopping online and in rockridge, i kept returning to a simple, classic design that the wooden duck offers. i love that they used reclaimed wood, so i can feel good about not ruining our forests. and having a bed built just sounds so cool, doesn't it?
i'm lucky that i happened to like one of their bed designs, because they don't really have a large selection. this is the only reason why i'm docking one star. if they just upped the choice, i think this would be the perfect place to get your bed made. my order took about 7 weeks. i brought in a drawer from my dresser as a stain sample and they stained the bed to match.
their delivery guys were nice, on time and i paid to have them set the bed up for me, which they did, super quickly. i definitely recommend this place and will be back when i need bookshelves or a new coffee table. they also make some gorgeous dining tables if you happen to be in the market for that. -
Review from Shimi R.
El Cerrito, CA
1/23/2009
I had a really interesting experience with The Wooden Duck. I had searched for the right buffet to fit into my small 1920s bungalow for a long time. My dad was a carpenter and built most of our furniture growing up, including a koa wood (which was plentiful back then) dining table, so my standards for wood furniture are pretty high. I wanted a nice, clean, not-monstrous buffet to coordinate with a gorgeous mahogany dining table I got from Evolution outlet (now closed). Nothing I saw at any other store compared with the perfect piece I found at the Wooden Duck -- a beautiful buffet made of reclaimed teak that was both spacious and clean-lined. Piece was priced well considering it was solid teak and seemed well made. I happily purchased the piece in the late fall and it was delivered with no problem.
After a few months of rain, the drawers on the buffet started to get harder and harder to operate. (No metal glides on the drawers) After another month or so of relative humidity, they became nearly impossible to open/close. So i called Wooden Duck to see what they could do. They sent Jake over to take a look. He tried to fix it in my house. Didn't work, not due to Jake but because the piece was just a little faulty. I called and called and finally they took it away and 'fixed' it and brought it back. Still not good enough. I continued to be persistent and finally they replaced it with a unit identical except for the hardware and with drawers that wouldn't get stuck with the first rain. I've been happy ever since.
Moral of the story: you can get beautiful wood furniture from the Wooden Duck at prices well below other furniture sellers. You just might have to deal with occasional imperfections and service that's a little scattered --- not because they don't care, but because their speciality is wood furniture, not salesmanship. I took a lot of trouble to resolve the problem I had w/my piece, and so did they, so overall I'm satisfied w/my experience there. -
Review from John P.
Oakland, CA
8/5/2010
Like other reviewers here, I had a bad experience with The Wooden Duck. We ordered some chairs and were told they would arrive in two weeks. We had questions, actually misgivings about finding cushions for the chairs as the Duck does not carry them. We told by the same sales person they were a "standard" size and could get a set at Pier One. We ordered them and went off to Pier one- who told us they do not carry that type of cushion. Indeed they didn't, and neither did three other stores he named. After 7 weeks- we still do not have the order. The manager was quite condescending on the phone about the late order, refused a discount and only offered to cancel my order. In short, they carry interesting imported furniture but you may have to wait much longer than you were told, and your complaints, if any, may be met with indifference.
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Review from Jeffery M.
Mill Valley, CA
1/30/2010
Interesting furniture, most at reasonable prices, but the service is awful. For example, we ordered 2 bookcases on "back-order" with a quote of 6-8wks. It's now been 10weeks and they have no idea when/if they are coming. They can provide no information about the order at all. Painful lack of care about the customer.
