Room & Board Plays Impossible To Get

Private equity sees big growth for the retailer, but founder John Gabbert prefers his own pace

BusinessWeek, October 1, 2007 — By all conventional standards, Room & Board should be bigger than it is. The Minneapolis-based furniture retailer, which runs just nine stores, has a devoted base of customers who rave about its hip design and customer service on message boards and blogs. Its sleek styles, priced between the highbrow midcentury classics at retailer Design Within Reach and the flat-pack furniture from Ikea, are often featured in magazines alongside brands several times its size.