Another six, five of them in California, opened two years later, followed by nine more in 2003. The rollout that began slowly is picking up steam with an additional 18 studio openings last year and another 18 planned for 2005. They now reach all across the country.

"These are actually studios, not stores," emphasizes Jordan Benjamin, a spokesman for the chain. "Customers can't walk out with product." Customers shop DWR Studios the same way they shop the company's catalogs and website. They place an order, and Benjamin says, currently "92% of orders are shipped from our warehouse in Kentucky or direct from the vendor the next day."

Because they are studios, not stores, these units don't follow any single format or size. Typically they range between 2,500 sf and 5,000 sf, but one on Columbus Ave. in New York City is just 1,800 sf and another could be as large as 10,000 sf. They are designed by Alberto Rivera, a lead architect at Los Angeles-based Dax Studios. Each studio's design is unique to its location, Benjamin says, "and all are geared toward interaction between the customer and the designs." Some are in historic structures; others in new buildings.

DWR offers more than 750 furniture, furnishings and accessory items. Among them are designs by such well-known modernists as Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Isamu Noguchi, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in addition to emerging designers from around the world. Not all of the DWR selection can be shown in a studio. "We show a representative sampling based on the size of a particular studio and take the opportunity to bring the best of what is suited to each market," Benjamin says. "In Miami, for example, we show more of our outdoor furniture than we do in northern locations."

Criteria for where studios locate "is proprietary," she says. The Columbus Ave. unit, which opened last November, is DWR's fourth in Manhattan and fifth in New York City. The first New York studio opened in SoHo in 2003, and "New York City continues to be a tremendous market for DWR," Benjamin says.

The current roster of studios illustrates that, in selecting a site, DWR not only pays attention to metro markets, but also to the neighborhoods within those markets. A company statement says locations "reflect the vibrancy of the (area's) design community." SoHo is a perfect example as is the Columbus Ave. unit on Manhattan's upper west side. So is the San Diego studio, which is in that city's East Village area, a neighborhood undergoing significant urban renewal characterized by residential lofts and artists' studios. The Minneapolis DWR studio is in Calhoun Square, another art-filled, emerging residential neighborhood.

"Studio expansion is a key focus of our current growth plans," says Benjamin. Toward that end, in November DWR hired Elizabeth Rivera to the newly created post of VP of studio operations. The appointment represents "a series of organizational changes that will effectively create separate, senior executive-led teams for studio operations and new studio development, according to Wayne Badovinus, CEO.

Rivera is former VP of stores for Pottery Barn Kids, where she was responsible for opening 83 stores of the kids' brand and for overseeing its ongoing management. At DWR, Badovinus says, "she will be instrumental in the effective management of studio operations into the future. The new organization," he adds, "will let the company benefit from Ray Brunner's keen skill set in expanding the business channel and in facilitating the opening of many more wonderful studios."

Under the reorganization, Brunner was named VP of real estate development. He now heads all aspects of expanding studio locations, including site selection, contract negotiation, and design and build-out.

In addition to showcasing DWR items, the studios are staffed with people who have a background in design and are steeped in information about DWR product. Studios also host events, often with speakers, in efforts to make them more like local design centers than stores.

While emphasizing studio expansion, DWR will also increase its catalog circulation by approximately 25% this year, according to Badovinus. DWR also has direct sales representatives who work primarily with commercial furniture users. He declined to disclose the proportion of sales represented by the company's various channels. He predicts an increase of between 30% and 35% in overall annual sales this year, which would put the total at between $152 million and $157 million.

In a report by New York-based SG Cowen & Co., analysts Lauren Levitan and Betty Chen of the San Francisco office say they continue to view the DWR concept "as having open-ended growth opportunities. The company's unique position and high-end target market should allow the company to continue to outperform an otherwise weak environment for home furnishings retailers."

While they specifically refer to the expansion of studios in their analysis, they also cite DWR's "lack of seasonality," and its "attractive inventory model," which they say should fuel increasing return on investment and cash flow. "As the company deploys additional online marketing tactics," they add, "we could see an acceleration in their ability to obtain additional operating margin leverage, which could fuel multiple expansion."

DWR went public on the Nasdaq last June. Trading started at $12 per share and has risen to above $16-per-share.