Sur La Table, Inc. is a privately held retail company based in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, that sells kitchenware including cookware, cutlery, cooks' tools, small electrics, tabletop and linens, bakeware, glassware and bar, housewares, food, and outdoor products. As of October 2018, Sur La Table sold products in 184 stores in 32 states across the United States, the District of Columbia, as well as through their website and

catalog Catalog or catalogue may refer to: *Cataloging **'emmy on the 'og **in science and technology ***Library catalog, a catalog of books and other media ****Union catalog, a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries ...

Cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...

classes are available in over 80 stores. Sur La Table has a blog, ''A Sharp Knife & Salt'', that focuses on food, chefs, restaurants and products. Many of the company's stores offer culinary classes with plans to include a kitchen in every new store. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. In

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, ''sur la table'' means ''on the table''.

History

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

founded Sur La Table in 1972, opening a single retail location in Seattle's

Pike Place Market Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Pu ...

. In 1995, Collins sold the company. In 2005, Kathy Tierney took over as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and advocated an expansion policy of opening new stores in "lifestyle centers", malls, and on city streets "with a mix of upscale national

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

s and creative local merchants, anchored by an upscale or organic-themed

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

that encourages frequent trips." Sur la Table became the second-largest specialty cookware retailer in the United States behind

Williams Sonoma Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956. History In 1947, Chuck Williams settled in Sonoma, California ...

. In January 2011, Sur la Table launched a website and gift registry program. In September 2011, Sur La Table was purchased by

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

-based

Investcorp Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, ...

. On February 18, 2020, it was reported that Sur La Table and

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual television, factual and lifestyle television bra ...

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

Kitchen streaming service would team up together to produce a "first-of-its-kind cooking ecosystem" which will allow students to participate with the in-store cooking class via online streaming. In June 2020, the company announced that it would indefinitely lay off 27 workers, or about 18% of the staff, at its corporate headquarters in Georgetown. The separations began on July 1 and did not include severance packages. In July 2020, Sur La Table filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

and was acquired by

Marquee Brands Marquee Brands is a holding company founded in 2014 that owns several brands in fashion and home cooking. Marquee Brands is sponsored by employee-owned investment management firm Neuberger Berman. Brands *Anti Social Social Club *BCBGMAXAZRIA *BCBG ...

and

CSC Generation CSC, Csc or CSc may refer to: Awards * Conspicuous Service Cross (disambiguation) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (New York) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (United Kingdom) Science and industry * Cancer s ...

for $88.9 million.

References

External links

* Retail companies of the United States Companies based in Seattle Private equity portfolio companies Pike Place Market Home decor retailers American companies established in 1972 Retail companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in Washington (state) 2011 mergers and acquisitions Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 2020 mergers and acquisitions Central Waterfront, Seattle {{US-retail-company-stub