Room & Board
Encyclopedia
Room & Board is an American
furniture
and home furnishings company based in Golden Valley, Minnesota
.
John Gabbert founded Room & Board as a subsidiary of his parents successful furniture store company (Gabberts), of which he served as president. Unlike the other stores, Room & Board specializing in stylish and modern furniture and soon spun off to become an independent company with Gabbert at the helm. It presently has 600 employees and operates 11 stores in seven states plus six delivery/distribution centers around the country. According to the company's website, 90% of Room & Board products are American-made and 95% are exclusive to Room & Board. The company partners with small, family-owned businesses to produce their sofas, chairs, tables, office, bedroom, and outdoor furniture. Room & Board's Shop From Home business, which consists of a print catalog and Web site, is the fastest-growing segment of its business. Hoover's lists Euromarket, IKEA
, and Pier 1 Imports
as competitors. Room & Board returns are all sent to the company's Golden Valley distribution center, attracting local buyers as well as shoppers from surrounding states.
Plus an outlet store
in Golden Valley, MN
. Vladimir Kagan
, designer of a 1950s Serpentine sofa that sold at Christie's
for 190,000, made a copy called Hahn, configured with the back on the left or right, that the Room & Board website sells for 1,899. In 2010, throw pillows were part of a makeover of a bachelor's apartment. Also this year, House Beautiful
magazine’s marketing department, which gave away 40 blue chairs to tie in with their March 2010 issue on the color blue, chose a midcentury silhouette blue velvet chair sold by Room & Board as one of its more substantial offerings. "It's so nice," said Nichole Rallis, an opera singer and student of music who found the chair near Astor Place
in Manhattan
.
More recently, Room & Board's Lace pendant lamp was featured in the September 2010 Real Simple article called "Decorating With Grey".
(MCAD) students of furniture design to develop outdoor seating. The company today sponsors a contest for MCAD students to design an alternative to a sleeper sofa.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
and home furnishings company based in Golden Valley, Minnesota
Golden Valley, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,281 people, 8,449 households, and 5,508 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,982.3 people per square mile . There were 8,589 housing units at an average density of 839.5 per square mile...
.
John Gabbert founded Room & Board as a subsidiary of his parents successful furniture store company (Gabberts), of which he served as president. Unlike the other stores, Room & Board specializing in stylish and modern furniture and soon spun off to become an independent company with Gabbert at the helm. It presently has 600 employees and operates 11 stores in seven states plus six delivery/distribution centers around the country. According to the company's website, 90% of Room & Board products are American-made and 95% are exclusive to Room & Board. The company partners with small, family-owned businesses to produce their sofas, chairs, tables, office, bedroom, and outdoor furniture. Room & Board's Shop From Home business, which consists of a print catalog and Web site, is the fastest-growing segment of its business. Hoover's lists Euromarket, IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
, and Pier 1 Imports
Pier 1 Imports
Pier 1 Imports Inc. is a Fort Worth, Texas based retailer specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories and seasonal decor. The chain operates over 1,000 stores under the name Pier 1 Imports in the United States, Canada, Mexico...
as competitors. Room & Board returns are all sent to the company's Golden Valley distribution center, attracting local buyers as well as shoppers from surrounding states.
Locations
- Culver City, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Santa Ana, CA
- Denver, CO
- Washington, D.C
- Atlanta, GA
- Chicago, IL
- Oak Brook, IL
- Skokie, IL
- Edina, MN
- SoHo, NYSohoSoho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
Plus an outlet store
Outlet store
An outlet store or factory outlet is a brick and mortar or online retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowing customers to watch the production process like in the...
in Golden Valley, MN
Major Designers
- Yves BeharYves BeharYves Béhar is a designer, entrepreneur, and sustainability advocate. He is the founder of fuseproject, the San Francisco and New York based design and branding firm he established in 1999...
- Mario BelliniMario BelliniMario Bellini is a world renowned Italian architect and designer.He graduated from the Milan Polytechnic - Faculty of Architecture in 1959 and began working as an architect himself in the early 1960s...
- Achille CastiglioniAchille CastiglioniAchille Castiglioni was a renowned Italian industrial designer. He was often inspired by everyday things and made use of ordinary materials...
- Charles and Ray EamesCharles and Ray EamesCharles Ormond Eames, Jr and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames were American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.-Charles Eames:Charles Eames, Jr was born in...
- Foster & Partners
- Naoto FukasawaNaoto Fukasawais a Japanese industrial designer, born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. He graduated from Tama Art University in 1980. After having acted as the head of the American company IDEO's Tokyo office, he established Naoto Fukasawa Design in 2003...
- Frank GehryFrank GehryFrank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
- Vladimir KaganVladimir KaganVladimir Kagan, , furniture designer. Emigrated to the United States in 1938. Graduated from the School of Industrial Art in 1946, where he was an architecture major. Studied architecture at Columbia University. Opened his first shop in New York in 1949...
- Ross LovegroveRoss LovegroveRoss Lovegrove is an industrial designer, perhaps best known for his work on the Sony Walkman.- Biography :He studied at Manchester Polytechnic , graduating with a First Class BA in Industrial Design in 1980 and then went to the Royal College of Art, London in 1983 where he completed his master of...
- Jasper MorrisonJasper MorrisonJasper Morrison is an English product and furniture designer.Morrison was born in London, England. He was educated at Bryanston School. He received a Bachelor of Design degree from Kingston Polytechnic Design School in 1982 and a Masters degree in Design from the Royal College of Art, London, in...
- George NelsonGeorge Nelson (designer)George Nelson was a noted American industrial designer, and one of the founders of American Modernism. While Director of Design for the Herman Miller furniture company both Nelson, and his design studio, George Nelson Associates, Inc., designed much of the 20th century's most iconic modernist...
- Isamu NoguchiIsamu Noguchiwas a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...
- Richard SapperRichard SapperRichard Sapper, born 1932 in Munich, is a German industrial designer based in Milan, Italy. He is considered one of the most iconic designers of his generation, his products typically featuring a combination of technical innovation, simplicity of form and an element of wit and surprise...
- Philippe StarckPhilippe StarckPhilippe Patrick Starck is a French product designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style...
- Marcel WandersMarcel WandersMarcel Wanders is a Dutch product and interior designer, who drew international recognition for his Knotted Chair produced by Droog in 1996.- Life :...
- Hans WegnerHans WegnerHans Jørgen Wegner, , was a successful Danish furniture designer who contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His work belongs to a modernist school with emphasis on functionality. He is probably best known for his chairs.-Early years:Born to cobbler Peter M...
Publicity
Room & Board's products are sometimes featured in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan, , furniture designer. Emigrated to the United States in 1938. Graduated from the School of Industrial Art in 1946, where he was an architecture major. Studied architecture at Columbia University. Opened his first shop in New York in 1949...
, designer of a 1950s Serpentine sofa that sold at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
for 190,000, made a copy called Hahn, configured with the back on the left or right, that the Room & Board website sells for 1,899. In 2010, throw pillows were part of a makeover of a bachelor's apartment. Also this year, House Beautiful
House Beautiful
House Beautiful is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who purchased it in 1934...
magazine’s marketing department, which gave away 40 blue chairs to tie in with their March 2010 issue on the color blue, chose a midcentury silhouette blue velvet chair sold by Room & Board as one of its more substantial offerings. "It's so nice," said Nichole Rallis, an opera singer and student of music who found the chair near Astor Place
Astor Place (Manhattan)
__notoc__Astor Place is a short two-block street in lower Manhattan, New York City, which runs from Broadway just below East 8th Street, through Lafayette Street, past Cooper Square and Fourth Avenue, and ends at Third Avenue and St. Marks Place. The name is also used for the neighborhood around...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
More recently, Room & Board's Lace pendant lamp was featured in the September 2010 Real Simple article called "Decorating With Grey".
Philanthropy
As of 2008, for six years the company sponsored a contest for Minneapolis College of Art and DesignMinneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit four-year and postgraduate college specializing in the visual arts. Located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, MCAD currently enrolls approximately 1,000 students offering curriculum that includes...
(MCAD) students of furniture design to develop outdoor seating. The company today sponsors a contest for MCAD students to design an alternative to a sleeper sofa.