Ballard Designs

Ballard Designs is an omnichannel retail company that designs and sells home furniture and accessories with a European influence.[1] Formally part of Cornerstone Brands, a subsidiary of HSN Inc. (NASDAQ: HSNI) [2] , the company is now one of the Qurate Retail portfolio brands, collectively owned by Qurate Retail Group (NASDAQ: QRTEA, QRTEB). There are currently nine retail stores: Two in Florida (Tampa and Jacksonville), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Natick, Massachusetts, Atlanta, Georgia, Tysons Corner, Virginia[3], Garden City, New York, Charlotte, North Carolina[4], and Fort Worth, Texas. [5][6][7] There are also three outlet stores: one near its corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, one near its distribution center in West Chester, Ohio, and a third in Margate, Florida.[5][8] The company also publishes a design blog as a resource for ideas and decorating advice on interior design and entertaining.[1] Customers are able to shop in-store, online or through a catalog.[9]

History

Ballard Designs was founded in 1983 [10] by Helen Ballard. Ballard got her start in the retail industry after winning Metropolitan Home magazine's home decorating contest. When the photos of her Ansley Park condo were published, more than 500 readers contacted the magazine asking where they could buy Ballard's furniture and accessories, especially a dolphin-based table. A year later, Ballard quit her job, sold her home and started Ballard Designs.[1] The first catalog was a two-page black-and-white brochure featuring a replica of the dolphin-based table from her home. It became Ballard Designs' first big seller.[10]

In 1996 Ballard Designs merged with Cornerstone Brands,[10] publisher of several home and apparel catalogs, including Frontgate, Garnet Hill and Smith+Noble. Cornerstone Brands was acquired by IAC/InterActive Corp in 2005 and later became a subsidiary of HSN, Inc.[2] In 2007, Ballard Designs opened its first retail store in Tampa and expanded less than a year later to Jacksonville.[11]

Ballard continued to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Ballard Designs until she retired in 2002. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Brands.[12]

In 2010, the company partnered with award-winning designer, Suzanne Kasler, to create its first designer collection.[13][14]In December 2012, Ballard Designs launched the Ballard+ app, an augmented reality shopping application developed by Marxent Labs which allows consumers to interact with the Ballard Designs catalog using their iOS device.[15] The app has since been discontinued.[9] Two years later, renowned interior designer and entertaining expert, Bunny Williams, became the second major designer to offer a signature collection under the Ballard Designs brand.[16][17] Internationally noted designer Miles Redd[18] was welcomed by the brand in 2017 with a collection of furniture and accessories inspired by classic architecture and old Hollywood. That same year, Ballard's parent company, HSN Inc., was acquired by Liberty Interactive, owner of QVC Home Shopping Network. Liberty Interactive was renamed Qurate Retail Group in 2018.

Today, Ballard Designs circulates more than 45 million catalogs annually [1], operates an e-commerce website, and maintains a decorating blog and podcast.[19]The company's retail expansion continues in 2018 with the opening of its flagship store in Atlanta[20][21], and a second Texas location in Dallas[6][7].

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About Us". Ballard Designs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Cornerstone Brands part of IAC spin-off". Business Courier. August 21, 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "tysons-national-harbor-land-first-to-market.html". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  4. ↑ "New store coming this fall to SouthPark mall". charlotteobserver. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  5. 1 2 "Retail & Outlet Locations". Ballard Designs. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Ballard Designs, a popular home furnishings catalog, is the latest new brand to open Texas stores". Dallas News. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  7. 1 2 "Ballard Designs opening stores in Texas | Furniture Today". furnituretoday.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  8. ↑ "Retail Profile: Ballard Designs | Home Accents Today". www.homeaccentstoday.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  9. 1 2 "Order Information". Ballard Designs. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 Leslie, Katie (August 10, 2008). "Ballard Designs Celebrates 25 Years of Offbeat Home Décor". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  11. ↑ Del Franco, Mark (July 23, 2007). "Ballard Designs Opens First Store". MultiChannel Merchant. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "Helen Ballard Weeks". Forbes. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  13. ↑ "Suzanne Kasler for Ballard Designs collection to debut in August | Home Accents Today". www.homeaccentstoday.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  14. ↑ Sapienza, Terri (2010-08-26). "Ballard Designs, a different kind of catalogue". ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  15. ↑ Dave Larsen (22 December 2012). "Marxent launches "tap-to-buy" catalog app". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Bunny Williams Launches a New Collection for Ballard Designs | Architectural Digest". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  17. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/jura.koncius. "Bunny Williams and Ballard Designs join forces". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  18. ↑ "Designer Miles Redd launches furniture collection with Ballard Designs | Furniture Today". www.furnituretoday.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  19. ↑ "Best of Atlanta 2017: Hometown chain: Ballard Designs". Atlanta Magazine. 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  20. ↑ "first-look-at-ballard-designs-new-flagship-store.html". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  21. ↑ "flagship-ballard-designs-new-flagship-store.html". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
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