Restoration Hardware

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Restoration Hardware (NASDAQ: RSTO) is an American furniture chain with 103 stores in 30 US states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Market capitalization (as of January 2006) is about $200 million, and the firm has 3,400 employees.

Restoration Hardware, Inc. is a specialty retailer of home furnishings, bath fixtures and bathware, functional and decorative hardware and related merchandise that reflects the Company’s classic and authentic American point of view. Restoration Hardware, Inc. sells its merchandise offering through its retail stores, catalog (800-762-1005) and on-line at www.restorationhardware.com. As of November 28, 2006, the Company operated 103 retail stores and eight outlet stores in 30 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.

1 History
2 Current
3 Competitors
4 External links

[edit] History

The idea for the company came in 1979, while founder Stephen Gordon was restoring his Queen Anne style house in Eureka, California. He had great difficulty finding authentic period hardware and recognized a need in the marketplace. The first Restoration Hardware store, based in Gordon's home, was opened in 1980.

[edit] Current

Since 2001, Gary Friedman has been the company's CEO and Chairman. Friedman was the former President/CEO of Williams-Sonoma. The company's headquarters are located in Corte Madera, California.

The company is not owned by any other home furnishing brands and is not affiliated in any way with others like Pottery Barn or Ethan Allen. However, in mid-2006 they established a new brand, Brocade Home, that is currently offered only through the website and catalog.

Most of Restoration Hardware's products are of a style that recalls an early-Twentieth Century New York, but they have recently added more modernistic products such as the German-designed Spritz series of bath faucets that recall the Bauhaus designs. They also carry their own line of paint with a selection of thirty-three colors, grouped into four shades each of yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, rose, three shades of white, and four shades of the company's signature Silver Sage. Silver Sage is painted throughout all 100+ stores nationwide.

Popularly known for their wide range of hardware knobs, pulls, hinges, and hooks, Restoration Hardware has expanded their selection to include bathware, textiles, furniture and gallery lighting to appeal to a larger demographic. Lines are designed to match or complement one another in color and style. The company also carries an eclectic variety of toys, gardening tools, gadgets, and seasonal holiday decor, which maintain an overall 1920s period theme.

Today, Restoration Hardware is currently straying away from the tools, toys and gadgets market and has focused on furniture quality and customer service.^{[citation needed]} A newly expanded selection of living, bedroom, dining, office, bath, and outdoor furniture, bath textiles, and bed linens are the core of Restoration Hardware. All Restoration Hardware furniture is made in the USA, bed linens are made in Italy, and bath textiles are made in Turkey.