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Crate & Barrel

Original Crate & Barrel Store, 1968
This house furnishings retail chain was created in 1962 by two young Chicago residents, Gordon and Carole Segal. The Segals began with a small store in the city's Old Town neighborhood; they began to issue catalogs in 1967. Between 1968 and 1975, they added new locations in Wilmette, Oak Brook, and downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue. In 1983, soon after it started selling furniture, the company built a new warehouse and headquarters in suburban Northbrook. By the mid-1990s, when annual sales had climbed to roughly $300 million, the company already had 46 stores and was opening about 5 new stores each year. In 1998, Gordon Segal sold a controlling interest in the company to Otto Versand GmbH & Co., a German catalog company.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.

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