A few steps from the jewelry and gaming counter at 60 South Algoma Street, Big Ed’s Furniture and Consignment handles the larger side of the same long-running Thunder Bay business: secondhand furniture, tools, sporting goods, electronics, musical instruments, and general household consignment pieces that do not fit behind a glass display case. The shop shares its address, phone line, and ownership history with Big Ed’s Pawn, a Bay and Algoma Street institution that traces back to 1965, when founder Edwin Harju opened the original Ed’s Pawn Shop and became known around the neighborhood as a quick-witted character always ready with a story. Two brothers bought the business from Harju in 1999 and have run it since, expanding what began as a single pawn counter into a broader consignment and secondhand operation covering everything from dressers and dining sets to power tools and amplifiers.
The furniture and consignment side works on a straightforward model: sellers bring in gently used pieces, staff assess condition and resale value, and items go out on the floor at prices well below retail for buyers furnishing a first apartment, outfitting a rental, or simply hunting for a solid wood dresser instead of particleboard flat-pack. Because the shop sits inside the same building as the pawn and jewelry operation, inventory tends to turn over quickly and unpredictably, so regulars know that a good piece spotted on one visit may well be gone by the next. Alongside furniture, the floor typically carries musical instruments, tools, and sporting goods, all consigned or purchased outright through the same buy-sell-trade counter that has defined the business for decades.
Big Ed’s is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Sundays, with staff available by phone at 807-344-3777 or by email for anyone wanting to ask about a specific piece before making the trip. The Algoma Street storefront sits in a stretch of downtown Thunder Bay whose commercial buildings date to the 1930s, part of a block with a long retail history of its own. What distinguishes this particular furniture and consignment counter from newer secondhand shops around the city is its continuity: the same family-run pawn business, under only its second ownership group since 1965, now stocking full rooms of furniture alongside the jewelry cases that first built its reputation.
Anyone furnishing a home on a budget, downsizing and looking to consign quality pieces, or simply curious what solid furniture, tools, and instruments have come through the door that week has reason to stop by. Big Ed’s Furniture and Consignment is the furniture and household-goods arm of a Thunder Bay pawn business with roots reaching back to 1965, offering budget-friendly secondhand furniture and consignment sales under the same locally owned roof since 1999.
