BETHPAGE, New York — Kravet has teamed up with The Shade Store to bring the company’s custom shades, blinds and draperies to Kravet customers as a shop-in-shop in eight Kravet showrooms. “I think it is a style trend and a simple way to provide an understandable finished product to a more educated consumer. There are now some very good and smart retailers in the mix,” says Cary Kravet, President of Kravet. “We’ve been working closely with professional interior designers for generations, to simplify the window treatment process for them and their clients and we understand the needs of this discerning customer,” says Adam Gibbs, co-founder and CEO of The Shade Store. The Shade Store’s history dates back to 1946 with a small fabric shop in Mount Vernon, New York. It started as a dressmaker evolved into a sought-after couture window treatment company for design trade and affluent homeowners. When the current generation came into adulthood (the Gibbs brothers and their cousin, Greg Spatz), they looked at the family business and turned the model on its head with the objective of modernizing the way people shop for custom window treatments ‘making custom simple’ for consumers. They now have 43 showrooms nationwide and are continuing to expand with more showrooms throughout this year and next. In terms of growth strategy, they tend to open showrooms in markets that have strong online sales. Those online customers have responded extremely well to the idea of having a place to physically shop for window treatments. “There is no better partner than Kravet to expand our reach to designers beyond our own 40+ showrooms and online tools and give even more professionals access to the simplified custom process we provide,” Gibbs adds. So far, two Kravet locations have added The Shade Store shop-in-shops. The Shade Store at Kravet will give customers access to its complete offering, which includes 11 categories of custom window treatments that are made in the USA and ship free within 10 business days, or less, according to a spokesperson at The Shade Store. The first Kravet showroom to welcome The Shade Store shops has opened in the Kravet D&D Building Showroom in New York City with additional shops scheduled to open in Naples, FL; Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Washington DC; and Philadelphia, PA, with swift plans to add Bethpage, NY and Chicago, IL to the list. The Shade Store expects to staff each location with window treatment design experts to assist Kravet customers who are looking to create custom roman shades, drapery and cornices using stocked materials and any Kravet fabric. Customers will also have access to the complete offering of The Shade Store materials for custom roller shades, solar shades, woven wood shades, wood binds and more. The Shade Store shop-in-shops will offer the trade exclusive discounts and nationwide measure and installation services. Both family-operated brands share a customer-centric culture and commitment to creating the very best experience. “At Kravet, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to make designers’ lives easier,” said Cary Kravet. “With this new initiative, we will be able to provide our customers with the ease of one-stop shopping for high-quality window treatments from the experts at The Shade Store using the very best fabrics – all without having to leave the Kravet showroom.”              F&FI