Crate and Barrel SoHo to open Marimekko shop-in-shop Oct. 14

Home Accents Today Staff -- Home Accents Today, 8/13/2010 3:00:51 PM

Marimekko is expanding its brand in the U.S. via several channels including the opening of a Manhattan showroom this month and, in mid-October, a 1,775-sq.-ft. Marimekko shop-in-shop in home furnUnikko by Maija and Kristina Isola, Marimekko 100% cottonishings retailer Crate and Barrel's Soho, N.Y. store. The two companies are also exploring further opportunities for collaboration, including additional U.S. shop-in-shops and e-commerce. The relationship between Crate and Barrel and the 60-year-old Finnish design house has spanned more than four decades.

Launching October 14, 2010 at the Crate and Barrel location in SoHo, New York, the Marimekko shop-in-shop at Crate and Barrel will feature textiles, bed and bath and other interior decoration products, plus bags, accessories and a representation of apparel.
     Marimekko announced it is forming a new subsidiary in the U.S. to manage and develop the local operations in collaboration with the brand management firm C2Group. C2Group is led by Lynn Shanahan, Karen Martin and Allison Niles. Each with extensive industry experience, the three formed their partnership after working together at Tommy Hilfiger, holding the roles of Group President of U.S. Wholesale and Licensing; Senior Vice President of Women's Design; and Senior Vice President, Merchandising, Design and Production, respectively.
     The company's long-term objective is to expand the distribution of its products in the U.S. through high-end department and specialty stores as well as by increasing the number of Marimekko stores. Current U.S. retailers include Marimekko concept stores in New York, Cambridge and Miami.

According to a company press release, the relationship between the two companies was forged in the early sixties when Crate and Barrel Co-Founders Gordon and Carole Segal discovered Marimekko at a store in Denmark. The goal of the Segals' newly-formed home furnishings business was to offer well-designed, useful, quality products at a value to their American customers - Marimekko was an ideal fit. In 1967, Crate and Barrel presented the first Marimekko fabric collections, followed by a clothing line several years later.
     "In 1967, we unrolled our first bolt of Marimekko fabric," Segal once commented. "Quite frankly, our stores have never been the same since. Marimekko gave drama, color, and excitement to every wall it tumbled down and every table it covered."