On June 21, The Shade Store and Business of Home gathered with designers in Minneapolis for an intimate dinner to celebrate The Shade Store’s new showroom in Edina, Minnesota, and the surrounding design community. At Giulia, a restaurant specializing in Northern Italian cuisine, guests were seated at one long table sumptuously set with beautiful floral arrangements placed atop a custom runner made from one of The Shade Store’s Martyn Lawrence Bullard fabrics. Michael Crotty, chief marketing officer at The Shade Store, and Kaitlin Petersen, editor in chief of Business of Home, welcomed designers with remarks as they enjoyed delicious food, great wine and meaningful conversations.

“After spending so much of the past two years connecting online, it’s especially refreshing to gather in an intimate setting like this one for an opportunity to truly get to know one another,” said Petersen. “So many attendees walked in saying, ‘I don’t really know anyone else working locally,’ and left with a jump start on a new support system and network.”

“We opened our Edina showroom earlier this year, our first location in the Minneapolis market,” said Crotty. “It was great for us to connect with so many of the talented designers in this area and get to hear more about their businesses and the opportunities that we have to work together.”