Here's why: The luxury furniture brand decided to introduce a dramatically unique way of marketing their merchandise. Across selected major cities, they have opened stand-alone museum-type galleries to display their items. This is no joke. These buildings are major structures and are massive, usually 4-6 floors of vast space.
When I say gallery, this is exactly what I mean. In fact, Restoration Hardware has aptly named these buildings, "RH Gallery."
We spent our Thanksgiving in Boston this year and were able to visit the 'RH Gallery' that opened there in Spring 2013. They must have spent multiple millions of dollars in renovations on this 40,000 square foot space. The results are quite breath taking. Read more details from Architectural Digest here.
See photos from my personal Vivid Home tour here:
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| Courtesy Architectural Digest |
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| Courtesy of Architectural Digest |
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| Courtesy of Architectural Digest |
They still have accessories around the store to capture the attention of browsers. These faux fur hats were a hit with my family and we walked out with two for the kids. I got an infinity scarf.
The elevator lift is vintage, antique and impressive. It is all glass and allows shoppers to view all levels of the store through the "hole" in the middle of the gallery.
The little boy's section had a cottage and hunting theme. My kids could have stayed and hung out there for hours. (Tempting to just leave them there...they'd never know I'd high tailed it over to Jonathan Adler).
The wall downstairs styled with typical athletic toys in an atypical way.
Meanwhile, upstairs, one floor had a game room and entertainment type feel to it. The vast size of the gallery can be intimidating to some but I'd recommend embracing it with open arms. The staff was more than attentive and eager to help with even the smallest items. It's impressive to peruse through each floor and just take everything in. Keep your eyes peeled for the items that are styled on the tables...these are all available for purchase and make great gifts.
I hear from a friendly bird (D.B.) that Atlanta plans to open the largest RH Gallery in the nation in the Spring of 2014. Now I have even more reasons to visit that wonderful city!
What are your thoughts? Do you love the idea?
Cheers! Heather | Vivid Hue Home
I had no idea about this! we still have a restoration hardware store at our local mall. in fact, we just went there last week and bought a couch. wondering if they are going to keep that store or convert it. I live in Pittsburgh so I wonder how a rh gallery would do in our market.
ReplyDelete-- jackie @ jade and oak
Heather, I went there a couple of months ago and was blown away ... It truly is a showhouse of the most wonderful kind! It is museum like! Happy Weekend! xo
ReplyDeleteOh that silly Resto. They really know how to do it up big, don't they.
ReplyDeleteI was scrolling through your post and just had to comment on RH! The bad part as a designer is that they hardly carry and merchandise in their stores anymore! I heard they were building a stand alone in Atlanta after they closed the Lenox store 2 years ago. In this instant gratification world....I know I don't like to wait for stuff....hope it works! Merry Christmas Heather:)
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