&sq=&lang=&file=File:Design_Research_International_-_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_1322.jpg) Design Research was temporarily revived as a street-visible exhibition in 2009 | |
| D/R | |
| Founded | 1953 in Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Founder | Ben Thompson |
| Defunct | 1978 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy; Brand rights acquired jointly by Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn |
Design Research (abbreviated and trademarked as D/R) was a retail store founded in 1953 by Ben Thompson in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and which introduced the concept of lifestyle store. In the 1970s under subsequent ownership, it became a chain of a dozen stores across the United States, and went bankrupt in 1979. Thompson's goal was to provide "a place where people could buy everything they needed for contemporary living",[1] notably modern European furnishings and in particular Scandinavian design.
Without question, D/R was the most influential force in twentieth-century America in creating an awareness and appreciation for modern design in the consumer world.
Rob Forbes, founder
Design Within Reach[2]
D/R has continued to have an outsized reputation: in 2000, a survey of influential design stores named D/R as number one, though it had then been closed for 22 years.[2] The store influenced later retailers like Crate & Barrel,[3] Design Within Reach,[1] Pottery Barn, Workbench, and Conran's.[4]
- ^ a b Pilar Viladas, "One-Stop Living", The New York Times September 29, 2010 [1]
- ^ a b Rob Forbes, "Foreword: Who's Your Daddy?" in Jane Thompson and Alexandra Lange, Design Research: The Store That Brought Modern Living to American Homes, 2010 ISBN 0-8118-6818-4, p. 7 excerpt available
- ^ Joseph P. Kahn (November 1, 1985). "On Display: Founder Gordon Segal's sense of selling as theater has made Crate & Barrel one of the world's most admired and imitated retailing operations". Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
- ^ Suzanne Slesin, "Design/ Research Store Starts Its Final Sale", The New York Times June 1, 1979