Umbra (company)
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| Private | |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Paul Rowan and Les Mandelbaum |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
| Products | Housewares |
| Website | umbra |
Umbra is a home accessories design and manufacturing company founded in 1978 by childhood friends Les Mandelbaum and Paul Rowan. The company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada has satellite offices in the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States, and China (Shenzhen and Shanghai). Umbra sells more than 2,000 home products through over 25,000 retailers in 120 countries.
History
Les Mandelbaum, Co-founder and President of Umbra, founded a company called Trans-Canada Hardware (TCH) in 1976, which specializes in supplying parts for musicians instrument cases. His childhood friend, Paul Rowan, a graphic designer in the process of decorating his apartment, was unhappy with the available window treatments at the time and had opted to create his own design. The shade was manufactured at TCH and introduced at various trade shows. Buoyed by a positive response, Les and Paul officially founded Umbra (Latin for ‘shade’) in 1978. Their mission was to “bring thought and creativity to everyday items
through original design.”
Umbra opened its first flagship store in Toronto's creative Queen West District in 2007.
Umbra products are found throughout the world at independent and big box retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Walmart, Target, Crate&Barrel, MoMA Design Store, and on many e-commerce sites such as Wayfair and Amazon.com. Internationally, Umbra has a retail presence in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, China, Israel, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. Products are also available for purchase through the Umbra and Umbra Shift e-commerce websites.
Design Competitions & Mentorships
For many years, Umbra has engaged students through university collaborations, design competitions and mentorships. A portion of the contest designs goes to support the participating design schools and students. To commemorate the company’s 20th anniversary, Umbra partnered with Pratt Institute in New York City in 2005. The winning design, Miron Lior's CONCEAL Shelf, became one of the brand's most successful products with over one million pieces sold worldwide to date. Umbra continues to host numerous design competitions with institutions in Canada including Carleton University, the Ontario College of Art & Design University, George Brown College, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Humber College, Sheridan College, NSCAD, University of Alberta, Université de Montréal and Humber College. In the US, they have worked with Art Center, California State University Long Beach, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Pratt, Rochester Institute of Technology, Savannah College of Art and Design, Philadelphia University, as well as in Europe. Umbra also as a partnership in Korea with KT&G Sangsangmadang.
Design submissions are also accepted through the Umbra website.
Umbra has an in-house design team headed by Matt Carr, Vice President of Design, consisting of over 30 designers in Canada and abroad. Many independent designers have also collaborated with Umbra. Designers who have made notable contributions to Umbra are listed blow:
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