DWR Settles Lawsuit with Supplier

March 22, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 23, 2010 Contemporary home furnishings retailer Design Within Reach has resolved a lawsuit filed by furniture supplier Heller, Inc., over the Bellini, which sells for $150.

The retailer issued the brief release that said both parties "are pleased with the resolution of this dispute and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship in the future."

The case revolved the plastic chair designed by Mario Bellini for Heller, which then turned around and sold the chair to Design Within Reach for resell in its stores, catalog and online. The chair was quite successful for the retailer and appeared on the back cover of the first Design Within Reach catalog in 1999.

According to the case, Heller sold a significant number of the chairs to DWR and then in 2008, Heller noted a "confusingly similar chair" in the DWR catalog selling for $50 less than the Bellini's price tag.