Vibe: Modern, largely ready-to-assemble furniture.
Founded: In 1986 by college buddies John Christakos, Maurice Blanks and Charlie Lazor.
Employees: 30, including 12 in Shanghai.
Design staff: Five: Christakos, Blanks, Brad Bray, Scott Smrstick and Warren Young.
Located: Northeast Minneapolis.
They also design for: Target, Crate & Barrel, Home Depot, the hospitality industry and dormitory housing. Redesigned store interiors for Gap Kids.
First upholstered product: 2006.
First Dot Spot: 2007.
Dot Spots: The company has opened 10 of these store-within-a-store concepts in various retailers nationwide and in Canada. The Minneapolis "spot" is inside Roam at 811 Glenwood Av.
About that name: "We were looking for a name around the time that Prince changed his name to a graphic symbol," Christakos said. "So we were considering just a blue circle without any words, but then realized pragmatic issues of not being able to be listed in the phone book or know how to answer the phone if you didn't have any letters."
Other endeavors: Short Film Series, unorthodox catalogs, e-newsletter with an attitude.
Website: www.bludot.com.
Family members and a lawyer say they have been blocked from access to the bedside of Bonfilia Sanchez Dominguez, while her husband was detained and shipped to Texas within 24 hours.
