I walk by a home with various empty Crate & Barrel boxes on the sidewalk at the curb. Obviously, someone has some new home décor or furnishings. The retail giant Crate & Barrel does seem to have some good bargains sometimes. The name Crate & Barrel evokes a warehouse image where things are inexpensive. I’m sure that’s the image the company is trying to convey. However, the website has recipes for raspberry frangipane tart and veggie & bacon quiche. So, it sounds a bit more upscale than a warehouse. Plus it has a wedding registry. It also has free design services, so it can’t be too pricey. Let’s find out more about it.
Founding According to Wikipedia, Gordon and Carole Segal opened the first Crate & Barrel store on December 7, 1962, at age 23. The 1,700-square-foot space in part of an old elevator factory was located at 1516 N. Wells St. in the then-bohemian Old Town neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The inspiration was their honeymoon in the Caribbean, where the Segals saw inexpensive yet tasteful European household products for sale. They became interested in providing functional yet aesthetically pleasing products to young couples just starting out. Surprised to see that European manufacturers offered many beautiful and durable products at reasonable prices, they were inspired to start their own store in the United States. The Segals started by recruiting an employee and leasing an abandoned elevator factory on Chicago's Wells Street. They traveled throughout Europe buying directly from glassblowers, ceramicists and factories making French copper pots and simple white bistro dinnerware. The first store opened in response to a flourishing of world trade in home furnishings due to the early 1960s, round of talks about the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The Segals sought out small European companies that were not represented in America and negotiated direct purchases from these factories that could be sold to the consumer while avoiding a wholesaler's markup. To this day, a majority of Crate & Barrel's products are direct imports from Europe, though Thai, Mexican and Indian glass and textiles can also be found in their stores. The Segals derived the company name by the materials that they originally used to display items in their Chicago store. A friend suggested they call their company "Barrel and Crate," but Carole thought they should reverse the order of the words. They turned over the crats and barrels that the merchandise came in, let the wood excelsior spill out and stacked up the china and glass. This helped emphasize their strongest selling point, that their products were direct imports.
In 1966, Segal and the designer Lon Habkirk visited the Design Research store in Cambridge, Massacusetts, which had an "enormous influence" on their retailing approach. Habkirk later remarked: "Eventually we took the whole idea and translated it into a reproducible formula."
Growth In 1968, the Segals opened their second store in the Plaza del Lago shopping center in suburban Wilmette, Illinois, and third in Oak Brook, Illinois in 1971. Its first store outside the Chicago area opened in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in 1977. In 1979, it opened its second Cambridge, Massachusetts store in the building designed for the recently closed Design Research, which they had so admired. By 1985, the chain had grown to 17 stores and has continued to grow. In March 1995, it opened its first New York location — its 59th location — in Manhattan. After selling a majority stake to German mail order company the Otto Group in 1998, the company had financing to increase its rate of expansion.[ Otto became the sole owner in 2011. By 2002, it had grown to approximately 100 locations and over 135 locations by late 2004. Crate & Barrel's flagship store, located in Chicago on Michigan Avenue in the “Magnificent Mile,” closed in January 2018; the building became the world’s largest Starbucks coffee roastery and retail space. Today there are 93 Crate and Barrel Stores, including 10 outlets, in the United States and Canada.
In 2019, Crate and Barrel partnered with the Cornerstone Restaurant Group to open The Table at Crate, a full-service restaurant at the Crate and Barrel Oak Brook store in Oakbrook, Illinois. It also acquired Hudson Grace, a boutique home decor, entertaining and gift brand based in San Francisco. Crate and Barrel plans to grow the Hudson Grace brand through retail expansion into niche markets and an invigorated online presence to engage new and existing customers across channels.
International expansion Crate & Barrel Holdings has 22 stores in Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru,Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates. In September 2008, Crate & Barrel opened its first location outside the United States, at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[ A new two-story 35,000-square-foot building — similar to other newly opened stores in the U.S. — was constructed. A second Canadian store, in Calgary, opened in October 2009. A third Canadian store opened in Mississauga, Ontario, on October 28, 2010, at Square One Shopping Centre. Further stores opened in 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta at Southgate Centre, another one in spring 2012 at Carrefour Laval Shopping Centre in Laval, Quebec and another in Oakridge Centre mall in Vancouver, British Columbia in early 2013. Future international expansion in Canada and possibly other countries is also reportedly planned. In the fall of 2009, the company reported plans to open two stores in Dubai in 2010 via a franchise agreement with Al Tayer Group.
Crate & Barrel opened its first Asian store in Singapore in January 2013, occupying two floors at Ion Orchard. Crate & Barrel has two stores in Taiwan, one is in Taipei and the other in Taichung. Crate & Barrel opened its first store in Peru in 2015, and opened its first store in Colombia on December 2016 in Bogota- Parque La Colina Mall, via a franchise agreement with Falabella retail store. On July 2017, Crate & Barrel opened its first store in Central America in San José, Costa Rica, inside Avenida Escazú mall.
Management Barbara Turf, first hired in 1968, succeeded Gordon Segal as CEO of the company in May 2008. In November 2008, it was reported that sales for the prior year for the chain were $1.3 billion. Turf retired in 2012. Sascha Bopp was named to replace her.[ Sascha Bopp departed August 2014. While a replacement was sought, Otto Group asked Segal to return as a consultant. Doug Diemoz, formerly with competitors Restoration Hardware and Williams Sonoma, became CEO of Crate & Barrel on August 1, 2015. Doug Diemoz departed April 2017. It was announced Neela Montgomery would assume his role. Neela Montgomery, former member of the executive board with the Otto Group, led the company as CEO until August 2020, ending six-years with the Otto Group. Janet Hayes became the CEO of Crate and Barrel Holdings, a global home furnishings retailer including the brands Crate and Barrel, Crate and Kids, CB2 and Hudson Grace on August 1, 2020.
Products Crate & Barrel offers a variety of "upmarket" housewares, furniture,and related merchandise. These are displayed in the "vignette" style, where items are grouped together as they might appear in the home. The company was an innovator of this style, which has since become more widely used.
Sister stores Crate and Barrel has two sister brands. CB2 is a home furnishings division geared toward young adults created in 2000. The brand now has 15 stores across the U.S. and Canada. An additional store was planned to open in Denver in 2018. Crate and Barrel's kids brand The Land of Nod, acquired in 2001, closed all stores by the end of Spring 2018. On March 7, 2018 Crate and Barrel launched Crate & Kids, a kids’ furnishings, home goods and gifts product offering launching online and in 40 stores. In 2019, Crate and Barrel announced its acquisition of Hudson Grace, a boutique home decor, entertaining and gift brand based in San Francisco.
According to Dana Hanson’s article “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Crate and Barrel” in Money Inc.:
1. It’s a subsidiary of a larger parent company. Crate and Barrel is the business name that the store operates under. The real name of the company is Euromarket Designs Inc. It is completely owned by Otto GmbH. It was founded in 1962 in Chicago Illinois by Gordon and Carol Segal. It maintains its corporate headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois.
2. Crate & Barrel is a large retail chain. Crate and Barrel is a retailer that operates several small stores throughout the United States. The company is so large that it has even expanded its operations into Canada. There were 90 outlet stores in the United States and an additional 15 CB2 stores in Canada as of 2018. The company employs over 7,500 workers.
3. The founders were only 23 years old when they started the store. Crate and Barrel was founded by the Gordon and Carol Segal when they were just 23 years old. This is a fun and interesting fact about the store’s early days. The couple had been on their honeymoon in the Caribbean and when they were there, they came across some shops that were selling European products that were different than what they had seen in the United States. They were quite aesthetically pleasing, and they had a sturdy and durable design. Carol also noticed that the prices were reasonable. When they returned to the US, the couple were inspired to begin their own business that dealt in European imports of this quality. It was the idea of two very young people who were newly married and had no previous experience in the retail industry but look what they’ve accomplished.
4. The first store was in an old factory. You wouldn’t think that an old, reconditioned elevator factory would be a suitable venue to begin a European import store, but as it turned out, it was perfect for what the Segals had in mind. The space was 1,700 square feet, and it was in poor condition and in the Old Town section of Chicago, Illinois. They made the necessary repairs to the interior but left it in somewhat rugged condition. While some retailers went for a more polished and sophisticated look, the rustic appearance of the first store gave it a unique appeal that would set the tone for the business for decades to come.
5. Crate & Barrel sells direct imports. You can count on the quality and the authenticity of the products that you purchase from Crate and Barrel as much today as you could when they first started up the business. The Segals made a special trip to Europe when they were first starting out. They were looking for unique pieces that were made by European artisans. They struck agreements with the shops themselves and arranged to make purchases for their new store. This is how Crate and Barrel still operates today. They’ve added a few extra lines though. They now offer European Mexican, Indian and Thai imports in all of their stores.
6. The brand name was changed before the store opened. When the Segals first came up with the name for their new business, they had originally wanted to call it Barrel and Crate. It was at the suggestion of a friend that they swapped the order and came up with Crate and Barrel. It seemed to flow more nicely, and if their friend hadn’t spoken up back then, we might all be shopping at Barrel and Crate instead.
7. The name describes the interior of the store. When you think about it, the name of the store is actually ingenious. It makes you think of something very rustic, and that is precisely what they were going for thematically. They took this idea to the next level by creating displays for their goods literally out of crates and barrels. They were thrifty and saved money in the process. The Segals used the crates that the merchandise was shipped to them in and turned them over, stacked them in the appropriate configurations, strategically placed the packing wood excelsior from the crates to cushion the goods and used these to set up the attractive and rustic looking displays. This was a brilliant way to drive home the fact that the items really were direct imports that were fresh out of the packing crates.
8. Crate & Barrel moved ahead with a new marketing plan in 1966. The small company had been so successful that the Segals realized that it was time to expand, but they wanted to do it the right way. They took a trip to the Design Research store in Cambridge with designer Lon Habkirk to learn more about the approach they should take to retailing. They were looking for a formula that could be replicated to open more store locations, and this trip influenced the way that they handled the expansion of the business to maintain the purism in their original store.
9. The second store opened in 1968. Just six years after the first Crate and Barrel was opened, the Segals were opening their second location. This one was in Wilmette, Illinois. By 1971, they had their third store in the emerging chain open in Oak Brook, Illinois. By 1977, another store opening followed in Boston, and this was followed just two years later with a second store in Chicago. This coincided with the opening of a branch in Cambridge, Massachusetts which was the second in that town also. They were well on their way to becoming the amazing and thriving business that they are today.
10. Crate & Barrel hit the Big Apple in 1995. It took 33 years from the time that Crate & Barrel opened its first store for it to reach its first New York location. The first store was in Manhattan, and it also happened to be the 59th Crate & Barrel store to open.
11. The Segals sold their share in 1998. In 1998, the store was thriving, and the Segals decided that it was time to let somebody else take the reins. A German company called the Otto Group started by buying a majority stake in the store. It was a mail order company, and it was solid and able to take the company to yet greater heights of expansion. The Otto Group purchased the rest of the shares in 2011 to become the sole owner of Crate & Barrel, and it is still the owner of the chain today.
12. Crate & Barrel went international. Up until September of 2008, Crate and Barrel only had locations open in the United States. Under the Otto Group, they made the bold step to expand into Canada. Their first Canadian store was a two-story operation located in Toronto, Ontario. The first store was a success, so Crate and Barrel continued expanding throughout Canada, adding stores in Calgary, Edmonton, Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia. This was the first time that the company had taken their business outside of the borders of America.
13. Crate & Barrel added other countries to its international portfolio. The store was so popular throughout the United States and Canada that the Otto Group decided to expand the business yet further beyond the borders of North America. In 2009, it made the announcement that it had signed a franchise agreement for a store to open in Dubai in 2010, with the Al Tayer Group.
14. Crate & Barrel expanded into Asia. The first store that the company opened in Asia was at Ion Orchard in Singapore. The two-floor retail outlet opened in January 2013. This was followed by a store in Taipei and one in Taichung in Taiwan, for a total of three stores throughout Asia.
15. Further international expansion. Crate & Barrel has continued to expand its international operations. After placing three stores in Asia, it moved forward and secured a spot at the Parque La Colina Mall after striking a franchise agreement with the popular retail store Falabella, in Bogota, Columbia. This location was officially opened in December 2016. It was followed by a store in San Jose, Costa Rica within the Avenida Escazú mall in the city.
16. The Toronto store has its own style. The CB2 store that is located in Toronto has a different tone than most others. It still provides the same upmarket housewares that the rest of the outlets do, but it displays them a bit differently. You would notice immediately that its displays are in “vignette” style groupings. It puts items together as they might appear if they were arranged in a home.
17. Crate & Barrel has a kids and young adults store. The Crate & Barrel store that is catered specifically toward young adults and children’s furnishings, home goods and gift items. It’s a CB2 store that is a sister brand of Crate & Barrel, and the first of these stores opened in 2000. It was followed by 14 additional stores in various locations throughout the United States and Canada.
18. The Land of Nod is now a Crate & Barrel brand.
Crate & Barrel acquired The Land of Nod in 2001. It’s a children’s brand that previously operated on its own until it was purchased by Crate & Barrel. After the acquisition of the company, Crate & Barrel made the decision to phase out the Land of Nod and close all of the stores by the spring of 2018. It plans to rename the company Crate & Kids which will be a brand under the umbrella of Crate & Barrel. It is estimating that 40 of these stores will be opened. There are also plans in place to launch an online store offering the Crate & Kids merchandise.
19. Crate & Barrel had a serious management problem, and Gordon Segal saved the day. After the Segals sold their share of Crate & Barrel, the new CEO appointed was Barbara Turf who took the position in 2008. When Turf assumed the job, the revenue estimates for the Crate & Barrel chain was at $1.3 billion. In 2012, Turf retired and Sascha Bopp was her replacement. Within one year of being on the job, morale dropped among employees at significant levels. The holiday season also showed poor performance. It was discovered that Bopp had made some poor management decisions along with staffing policies that were upsetting to the workers. He was terminated in the summer of 2014, but the company had no replacement in sight yet. When Segal was asked to come back and help get the company on its feet as an advisor, he was happy to help get the company culture restored and to bring up employee morale.
20. Crate & Barrel has not departed from its mission. From the first day that Crate & Barrel opened its doors in that small, abandoned elevator factory, it’s been true to its original mission. It’s a simple goal, and that is to sell high-quality and authentic European housewares at reasonable prices. It imports items that are unique and not readily available at other vendors in the United States. It still offers products that fall within its original goals, along with the addition of imported products from a few other countries. One thing that you can count on when you shop at Crate & Barrel is that you’re going to find a large inventory of housewares that are unique and something that you won’t find in most other stores. The prices are not cheap, but they’re very reasonable. You can depend on the quality and durability of its products, as Crate and Barrel has maintained this level of integrity.
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