Velocity Art and Design started in 1999 as a Web-only venture in the basement of John and Lara Tusher's house in Seattle while he was an elementary school teacher and she was a nurse. They offered high-design brands like Vitra and Pure Design, and were among the first to sell Jonathan Adler online. They developed enough of a following to open their first bricks-and-mortar store a year later, and this month they moved to a 3,000-square-foot space in the rapidly gentrifying South Lake Union neighborhood.
IBRIDE TRAYS, $59
''The hunting-lodge-chic trend really has legs,'' Mr. Tusher said. ''Anything with animals or a reference to animals in nature did very well for us this year.''
HELLA JONGERIUS POLDER SOFA FOR VITRA, $8,750
(NO LONGER IN STOCK)
''Shoppers said they loved it, but they just didn't pull the trigger on it. I bet if I had a showroom in New York I could put it in the window and sell it like crazy -- people there really care about having things other people don't.''
OVAL DINING TABLE BY TORD BOONTJE
FOR MOROSO, $5,557
''We're definitely taking risks at the new showroom, like this black glass dining table with a floral pattern that covers the top. Maybe people won't love it in Seattle, but I'm trying it because I think it's hot.''
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