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Shopping at The Conran Shop feels a little like wandering in MoMA’s new design galleries. The two-story modernist glass pavilion could have been salvaged from a World’s Fair, and is filled with a well-curated who’s who of design. The brainchild of British furniture maker and design guru Terence Conran, the store opened in 1999 as the iconic brand’s only U.S. outpost; sister stores can be found in London, Paris and Japan. Conran’s offers a perky, populist presentation of the best of Good Design, focusing in particular on the modern (Eames chairs, Noguchi coffee tables, Arne Jacobson tabletop pieces) and the contemporary, like Tord Boontje’s Garland lampshades and Jasper Morrison’s Op-La tray tables. Upstairs, browse pod-like radios, stereos and small televisions, as well as vases, desk accessories, gift miscellany, shimmering gold and silver jewelry and even Bugaboo strollers. Downstairs, the store really explodes: find living room tableaux, home textiles and fabric-by-the-yard, lighting, linens, and massive expanse of kitchen supplies, including pieces from Bodum, Alessi and Umbra. — Andrew Sessa

Discover the children’s shop on Conran’s lower level, for well-designed books and puzzles, toys and games, as engaging as Conran’s stuff for parents.

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Conran offers up retro modernist wares to bring a sharp design sense to newlyweds' homes. A silver-and-clear lamp provides space-age lighting and the metal SoHo Spice Rack is a neat way to show off your culinary accents.

Find up to 70 percent off home furnishings and accessories at early January and midsummer sales. The annual sample sale, held in spring, offers up to 70 percent off of floor displays, buyers’ samples, and imperfect merchandise. The store’s holiday shopping event, held in November, offers 20 percent off on all purchases, excluding electronics and electrical appliances.

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• Ten Little Cities: The Design Maven (8/13/07)
• What's The Conran Shop's Best Seller? (10/18/04)