The Branch Museum of Design in Richmond has opened 'Imagining Best Products,' an exhibition exploring the architectural and graphic design legacy of the former retailer Best Products. The show, curated by architect Don O’Keefe with Harvard Graduate School of Design students, features original drawings by James Wines, items from a 1979 MoMA exhibition, and building models. It coincides with the demolition of Best Products' old headquarters in Henrico, which is being razed for a new arena-anchored development, though the timing is coincidental.
The exhibition matters because it resurrects the forgotten design legacy of Best Products, whose innovative showrooms and corporate identity were shaped by art collector founders Frances and Sydney Lewis and avant-garde architects like James Wines. As the company's headquarters is demolished, the show preserves and celebrates this chapter of architectural and graphic design history, highlighting the tension between urban redevelopment and cultural heritage. It also honors the late architecture critic Eddie Slipek, who helped conceive the exhibit.