Martin Roberts Design
Martin Roberts Design is a Stamford, Connecticut-based retail design consultancy serving furniture, mattress, luxury, and specialty retailers across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean with comprehensive design services and proprietary concepts such as Wallscaping and the Sleep Simple Experience.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersWeston, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Martin Roberts Design does
Martin Roberts Design is a Stamford, Connecticut-based retail design consultancy founded in 2010 by Martin Roberts. The firm serves furniture, mattress, home furnishings, luxury, department store, airport, and university retail clients across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, providing exterior design, brand identity, interior design, signage and graphics, space planning, and visual merchandising services. Its proprietary offering includes the Wallscaping display concept and the Sleep Simple Experience mattress selection prototype, supported by a consumer-research methodology combining shop-alongs and video audits.
The business operates as a virtual model — a small team of 1-10 employees leveraging remote collaboration rather than a traditional studio footprint — and earns revenue primarily through professional services fees for bespoke retail projects. A secondary income stream comes from licensing or royalty arrangements tied to standardized prototype concepts, such as Mattress First and Sleep Simple, designed for franchise or licensee rollout across multiple locations. Distribution is anchored by preferred-designer partnerships with the Furniture First buying group (178 members, 446 stores, $1.7B aggregate sales) and the Dovetail Alliance consortium.
Strategic intent centers on productizing repeatable retail formats while maintaining boutique, principal-led delivery. Marquee outcomes include a 28% lift in mattress department sales at Kloss Furniture under the Mattress First concept, doubling of mattress sales share from 8% to 18%, and 10-50% sales increases cited across comprehensive redesigns. The firm carries reputational assets including work in the MoMA permanent collection and a Procter & Gamble Moment of Truth award, but operates without external funding, subsidiaries, or disclosed financial scale.
Martin Roberts Design firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Martin Roberts Design
- Legal name
- Martin Roberts Design LLC
- Website
- https://mrobertsdesign.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Martin Roberts Design is a Stamford, Connecticut-based retail design consultancy serving furniture, mattress, luxury, and specialty retailers across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean with comprehensive design services and proprietary concepts such as Wallscaping and the Sleep Simple Experience.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Martin Roberts Design industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Retail Design Services
- NAICS
- Interior Design Services (541410), Graphic Design Services (541430), Industrial Design Services (541420)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM), Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG)
Keywords
Where Martin Roberts Design is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Weston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Martin Roberts Design business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Retail Design Consulting: Comprehensive retail design services including store design, brand identity, space planning, and visual merchandising for furniture retailers, mattress stores, and home furnishings businesses. Projects range from single-store renovations to multi-banner mall concepts.
- Prototype Store Design: Development and licensing of standardized store concept prototypes like the Mattress First and Sleep Simple concepts that can be rolled out across multiple locations by franchisees or licensees.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Martin Roberts Design product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Martin Roberts Design is a retail design consultancy that delivers comprehensive retail environment design services for furniture retailers, mattress stores, and home furnishings brands. Its offerings span exterior storefront design, interior layout, brand identity development, signage, space planning, and visual merchandising systems. The firm also develops proprietary retail concepts such as Wallscaping and the Sleep Simple Experience for prototype rollouts.
Product overview
Martin Roberts Design is a retail design firm offering a comprehensive suite of design services centered around creating impactful in-store experiences for the retail industry. Their core service offerings include Retail Store Design, Brand Identity Design, Visual Merchandising, Space Planning, Signage & Graphics, and Exterior Design. The company also develops proprietary retail concepts including 'Wallscaping' for home furnishings retail and the 'Sleep Simple Experience' for America's Mattress. They specialize in furniture retail design, mattress retail concepts, bookstore environments, and general retail storefront design. The firm operates from Stamford, Connecticut and serves clients across the US, Canada, and Caribbean.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Retail Store Design
- Brand Identity Design
- Visual Merchandising
- Space Planning
- Signage & Graphics
- Exterior Design
- Wallscaping
- Sleep Simple Experience
- Graduation Center
Quantifiable outcome
- 10-15% sales increase from furniture store remodeling projects
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Martin Roberts Design
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Martin Roberts Design technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Martin Roberts Design partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Furniture FirstcoreMRD was selected as a preferred designer for Furniture First's 178+ member retailers. This relationship enables MRD to provide store design services to members of the buying group, which collectively operates 446 stores generating $1.7 billion in annual sales. MRD also designed the new logo for Furniture First and consults on their Mattress 1st bedding store concept.
- Dovetail AlliancecoreMRD's relationship with Dovetail Alliance, a consortium of home furnishings industry service providers, resulted in their selection as Furniture First preferred designer. Dovetail Alliance offers services including advertising, ecommerce, electronic signage, sales training, store concepts, store design, transportation, human resources, market research, real estate solutions, and turnaround management.
- JostensminorMRD collaborated with Jostens and the University of Arkansas to create a Graduation Center in the campus bookstore, enabling students to order custom regalia, class rings, and announcements through an interactive wall display.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Martin Roberts Design competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Chute Gerdeman: Retail design consultancy focused on customer experience, store concept, and visual merchandising for major retail and consumer brands — directly comparable to MRD's experiential retail design offering.
- WD Partners: Retail design and strategy firm specializing in store design, brand strategy, and rollout programs for retailers and restaurants — overlapping strongly with MRD's prototype licensing and chain rollout capabilities.
- JGA Incorporated: Southfield, MI-based retail and brand environment design firm with deep experience in furniture, home goods, and specialty retail — closely aligned with MRD's core furniture and mattress retail focus.
- FRCH Design Worldwide: Cincinnati-based retail design consultancy serving major global brands with store planning, concept development, and visual merchandising — directly comparable in service mix and client type to MRD's retail design practice.
- Little Diversified Architectural Consulting: Design firm with a dedicated retail practice that designs store environments, prototypes, and brand experiences for national retailers — overlapping directly with MRD's specialty retail design work.
- Nelson Worldwide: Design and architecture firm with a strong retail practice covering store design, brand environments, and rollouts — comparable in service breadth and retail vertical focus to MRD.
- P|W Studios: Retail-focused design consultancy working on store concept, visual merchandising, and brand experience for specialty retailers — comparable in boutique positioning and retail-specific methodology to MRD.
Broad incumbents
- Gensler: Global architecture and design firm with a sizable retail practice serving many of the same brand clients as MRD — competes in retail environments as part of a much wider service portfolio.
- CallisonRTKL: Large global architecture and design practice with a significant retail design and brand experience group — competes for the same large retailer assignments as MRD but from a much broader portfolio.
- Interbrand: Global brand consultancy with retail and experiential design capabilities that overlap with MRD's brand identity and in-store experience work, though operating at much larger scale and scope.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Martin Roberts Design social profiles
Digital presenceMartin Roberts Design financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Martin Roberts Design leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Martin Roberts Design funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Martin Roberts Design M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Martin Roberts Design
What does Martin Roberts Design do?
Martin Roberts Design is a retail design consultancy that delivers comprehensive retail environment design services for furniture retailers, mattress stores, and home furnishings brands. Its offerings span exterior storefront design, interior layout, brand identity development, signage, space planning, and visual merchandising systems. The firm also develops proprietary retail concepts such as Wallscaping and the Sleep Simple Experience for prototype rollouts.
Is Martin Roberts Design a public or private company?
Martin Roberts Design is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Martin Roberts Design founded?
Martin Roberts Design was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Martin Roberts Design based?
Martin Roberts Design is headquartered in Weston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Martin Roberts Design make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Retail Design Consulting is the primary driver. The others are prototype Store Design.
Who are Martin Roberts Design's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Chute Gerdeman, WD Partners, JGA Incorporated, FRCH Design Worldwide, Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Nelson Worldwide and P|W Studios. Broad incumbents are Gensler, CallisonRTKL and Interbrand.
Does Martin Roberts Design have an API?
No public API is recorded for Martin Roberts Design.
What industry is Martin Roberts Design in?
Martin Roberts Design's product category is Retail Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAL, Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design, with a secondary code of BPAHAKAB, Interior Design Services. Its NAICS code is 541410 and its SIC code is 7330.