Gladding McBean Pottery

Reprint from Home Accents Today's The Landfair Retail Focus:


Market Street building in San Francisco, using terra cotta trim.

Earlier this month I posted about Elements International. The Portland company decided to open their "To The Trade" showroom floor to the public prompting me to ask on Linkedin "To The Trade Only - Is That Still A Valid Business Model?" I received a large number of responses and invite you read them and add your own thoughts to the mix.

I asked Karen Ingalls about her store and top sellers. She pointed out Gladding McBean (GMB), maker of Architectural Garden Pottery. I had never heard of the company and nothing has ever been written about them at "Home Accents Today."

The company began over 125 years ago when pottery clay was discovered in Califorrnia. Initially, the clay was used for sewer pipe, but over the years GMB expanded its line to include fire brick, roof tile, chimney pipes and ornamental garden pottery. To this day it still provides the red tile for roofing at the prestigeous Stanford University.

Today GMB is an maker of architectural garden pottery. "Gladding has combined the old world craftsmanship with new technology such as laser scanning and sophisticated computer aided design to provide customers with infinite creative possibilities." Ingalls has singled two pieces for you readers of this blog:





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