Design Research (store)
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", 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
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 |
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. The store influenced later retailers like Crate & Barrel, Design Within Reach, Pottery Barn, Workbench, and Conran's.