Our History

The History of Designandgrace started in the town of Burslem. I was born in this centuries old community, part of the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is referred to as the "Mother Town" of that city, which was an amalgamation of 6 towns that grew up in the 18th century on the back of the ceramics industry. That was back in the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Fast forward to the late 1960s and I was a management trainee at the famous pottery manufacturer, Wedgwood. A career of almost 25 years then ensued, before the UK economy hit hard times, domestic manufacturing was under extreme stress, and the new trend was to become outsourcing. I was let go from a senior management position.

By good fortune, an opportunity arose to start a distribution business, importing kitchenware products, selling to retail stores and the hospitality industry. The timing was good, because of a growing interest in cooking at home, fueled by popular TV shows featuring well known chefs. The business grew, as did my knowledge of a wider range of European housewares products.

Getting married to my wife Lynn, and moving to her home state of Texas was the next big step. In due course the UK company was passed to my son, and a fresh challenge was called for. Something stirred me to open a retail store in Grapevine, TX - our new home town. Designandgrace was born.

A transition to e-commerce was made in 2010, just at the time when online retail was starting to grow exponentially. Our relationship with Alessi, Jura, and other European vendors has grown. New plans are being worked on, to take yet another step forward - this website is the beginning.