About Us

The mother-daughter team of Annamarie and Brigid McAlpin has been serving the Chicagoland area since 1982. Annamarie is now retired but occasionally helps Brie's Estate Sales with jewelry preparation and pricing. Brigid is the founder and owner of Brie's Estate Sales.
 

Annamarie has a Fashion Merchandising degree from Dominican University, River Forest and has completed the Floral Design program at Harper College, Palatine. She worked at Talbots Outlet, Park Ridge for 13 years, responsible for the store's display and merchandising.

Brigid has a Finance degree from Marquette University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. She worked as an accountant for 2 years and then as a computer programmer for 12 years before leaving the corporate world in 2002 to start her own business. She sold QVC customer returned clothing on eBay full-time for 7 years, operated a retail store for 8 years and has been conducting estate sales full-time since 2010.

Annamarie and Brigid have designed and created a number of different products over the years such as hair accessories, hats and jackets. From 1995-2015 we designed vintage glass bead and crystal jewelry under the company name Windy City Jewelry. In 2004 we formed an artist's group, Flower Girls Gifts, to provide local boutiques and galleries with an expanded selection of floral-themed gifts in addition to the jewelry.

In 2006 we decided to combine the concepts of handcrafted and vintage into one store, Brie's Gift Gallery, where we offered the work of an expanded group of artists in addition to vintage home accessories and small furniture pieces placed on consignment by local residents. As Brie's Estate Sales grew, we decided to close the retail store in 2014.

In 2022 we rebranded Brie's Gift Gallery to C'est La Brie's, which means "it's Brie's" in French and is a play on words on the expression c'est la vie, meaning "that's life." C'est La Brie's is an online store and French Market-style pop-up sale location. We conduct sales in October in Mount Prospect and in February in Scottsdale. Jewelry remains our specialty, with a focus on sterling silver and costume, vintage and newer. This business is completely separate from Brie's Estate Sales - our inventory is curated from our private connections and does NOT come from our estate sales.

Annamarie and Brigid have over 30 years of experience in selling items of all sorts. Our business, retail and merchandising background makes us uniquely qualified to not only present your belongings in the best possible light but to get top dollar for them. We treat your home like our own and our customers like our guests. We go the extra mile to provide excellent customer service so a wonderful experience is had by all.