Herend was formally brought to the U.S. marketplace in 1957 by Robert and Lois Grimm, owners of a high-end dinnerware and home accessory store in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. Upon seeing a few pieces of Herend through a chance encounter, it was love at first sight for the Grimms. Their passion for Herend soon led them to Hungary to meet with the Herend Manufactory and discuss distributing Herend in the U.S. That was the beginning of Martin’s Herend Imports, Inc., sole U.S. importer and wholesale distributor of Herend. Today the Grimms’ daughter, Dianne Murphy, and her daughter, Kimberley Kimball, are the proprietors of Martin’s, which distributes Herend to more than 400 fine retail stores nationwide. These carefully handpicked retailers are the only authorized sources of genuine Herend porcelain in the U.S.