On Wednesday I went to the new RH here in Atlanta. It is the largest one in the United States.
7 floors. Full of beautiful things......but pretty much nothing you can take with you. I guess they can save money in bags.
It is basically just a showroom now.
Here are some pictures...
This is where you park.....whoops....this is where you HAVE to valet park.
The back entrance.
There were boxwoods every place you looked....I counted 80 in this area....
The outdoor areas were my favorite!
Don't get me wrong....I love RH....I don't want a whole house of it but they have some great things! I just can't believe you can't really buy anything. When I asked the floor manager about that she said you can buy Christmas Decorations, stocking stuffers and some bath robes.
Whoopie.
The Baby and Kids floor was pretty.
Loved these felt animal heads on the wall...
Hand painted music notes on the wall....
French writing.....remember my sister did that on her DR walls 15 years ago:)
Another awesome area was the roof top....I wish I could have my Christmas party there:)
Here is the view from the top....this is a new area that has all been recently built in my neighborhood. They started it 7-8 years ago and then it sat like an eyesore during the recession. It's called Buckhead Atlanta and they are trying to be the "rodeo drive" of the south!
The front entrance...
Another thing the floor manager said to me when I complained just a little about not being able to buy anything.....was "we are not Ikea. People fly in for the day to see the merchandise....write up an order and fly out."
Oh. Scratching my head.
Alrighty then.....guess what?
I might do some Christmas decorating this weekend. No promises but I'm starting to feel the urge.
W'ell see how that goes.....stay tuned on Instagram for previews:)
20 days until Christmas.....
Shayfab
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31 comments
I love their Chicago store, but there is no valet parking. lol I hate that you can't really buy anything there either, except a few knick knacks. They make you order/ship everything. Thats the only thing I hate! But I love their style, I have their Flatiron Dining room table and am still in love with it.
i was wondering about that store when I saw it across the street from my fine dining experience at Steak 'n Shake (a must!) a few weeks ago. From the telephone book sized catalogs to the gynormous furniture scale, to this, I think RH is getting too big for its britches. I miss the original retail stores.
wow. I'm with you about RH in moderate doses. but now, it seems like they might be getting a major 'tude.
love the photos!
are you going to scott's next Friday? I am planning on it....donna
You are very lucky they let you take pictures! After ordering several hundred dollars worth of hardware for our kitchen cupboards, my husband pulled out his phone to take a picture of what we had just ordered. A clerk rushed over and told us we were not allowed to take photographs as it was intellectual property! He said we could refer to their photographs on the Internet. The store has become very snooty I think! And, it is very irritating to have to order, wait, and pay shipping!
They did the same to the giant one in Boston.So now anything you want, including little things like christmas lights, knick knacs, etc. you have to order on line! No thanks! I can't believe how rude the guy was to you!
I love to shop virtually with you! But I guess that's all you got to do too... window shop!
What a treat! Must have been like walking through the ginormous catalog, ha! Happy Friday Sherry!
Sounds to me like an identity crisis. #dumbbusinessmodel. But then again, I'm a cranky lady because I don't even recognize my beloved city from those Buckhead pictures. And I'm stuck in cold OH now. So who knows, it might be a brilliant way to sell things to an established market share of people who ordinarily impulse shop.
Now that's impressive! I'd hate to pull up in my old, beat-up car, though. Or park around the corner and walk ;)
I love RH too and use many pieces in client design work - I get so frustrated that they have just a limited amount of product in their stores and NO stock! The Portland store knows me well and has allowed me to go in their back 'sample closet' to pull finishes and fabric memos myself when I am working on clients projects - that's how much they are sick of my complaining!!
That ATL store is amazing!
xo~Jill
I guess looking is supposed to be better than buying. Not sure about that.
One like this opened a few years ago in LA (huge outdoor area and only two floors, not seven) and I could NOT figure out the marketing plan of not being able to buy anything. Retailers stay up nights thinking of ways to feed our need for instant gratification. SMH!
These showrooms are gorgeous but I too can only handle a little of this look in my home...teeny tiny bit. How will they stay in business? Time will tell.
Great photos, but I'm with you -- bizarre that you can't buy anything! A little too elitist for my taste, guess I'm sticking with Ikea and West Elm! Enjoy your weekend!
xo Heidi
i'll take a whole house of it! oh wait. i do have a full house of RH and stuff i tweak to resemble it. obsessed really i am. those felt heads! the moss in the giant bowl! and recently when i shopped the outlet near me, bill gates had just left. yep. celebrities be keepin em in bizness. peace.
We're getting a new one too, only four stories, though. It looks to have all the same amenities as yours, it will be fun to stroll around with a Starbucks, if they let you! :)
I am in Oklahoma and even the tiny tiny store here....can purchase squat on the same day...everything is ordered from the floor or catalog.
Wow unbelievably gorgeous but I'm with you- I like to take stuff home with me! they are acting so untouchable and not for the average person. Even the mall store near me has to mail everything and returns are a bear! At least they should offer free shipping! Have fun decorating for Christmas! Xo Nancy
I love RH too but I'm surprised with that particular store's no buying policy. Love the outdoors and kids rooms too! I still would love to drop by since I only see most of their stuff in the catalog, it's nice to FEEL some things rather than just looking at them. :-)
I guess their business model has gone from customer-friendly (They really were fifteen years ago.) to pretentious. They seem to be in the business of aggravating their customers. First the environmentally-unfriendly shipment of 17 pounds of catalogs and now the inconvenience of having to order everything and wait for it. Not my idea of customer friendly.
Yes, there are things at RH that I absolutely adore. But their policies also confuse me. I understand they're going for a certain client, but some designers to the seriously rich folks think RH isn't good enough! Maybe I'm blissfully ignorant, but I'm surprised that market is large enough to sustain seven floors. Or that attitude. And by the way, RH, folks fly in to see IKEA and fly back out in a day. Okay, maybe not fly in, but they do drive their minivan a long way in! Seriously, if I won the lottery there would be some RHing going on in my home, but not a lot. Until then, I'll just be copying their stuff like most everyone else. I have the dough bowl, I have the moss.......! And yes, it would look amazing on my beautiful Salvaged Wood Trestle Table, the most expensive thing I own.
This I have to see! I can't believe the concept, but, I imagine some genius "idea" team sold them on it! Now for me, I would much more enjoy carrying out a bag full of goodies! I loved the old concept and enjoyed shopping in the Norfolk store.
My cousin redid her living room with RH furniture. Pricey! However, it's gorgeous and amazing quality.
I live about 30 minutes from their warehouse in Ohio. It is situated in a former farm field. No valet parking there unless you are a crow hitching a ride on a tractor. When I discovered their merchandise came from here instead of some exotic location...it became less appealing to me.
I am starting to feel like their stores are becoming more Anne Rice vampire genre than upscale home interiors. :)
When in Atlanta for the jan market will have to go see, curious. Their arrogance is nothing new. They approached a vendor in Atlanta mart, a friend, and told her that she would sell to them, at an "agreed upon price" or they would knock her off
Wow, have not been to buck head in a few years, rodeo road is right, did I spy Hermes?!
Debra
I absolutely love Restoration Hardware! Seven floors of showroom must have been so fun to wander!
xo. Leslie
Segreto Finishes
Shopping at RH isn't buyer friendly, and I hate that I have to request assistance to purchase a hand towel. Also, why are the stores so dimly lit? It's a little depressing especially since they've shied away from any colors beyond different shades of white, gray, and putty.
They are getting way too uppity. While a bit of their product here and there is nice, they are really just a step up from Pottery Barn. The order only is what you do with a real showroom that only sells to the trade. Get over yourself RH....and knock it off with the door stop catalogs!
Whoa,.. really amazing stuff. I really like the grouped framed botanicals, and those square furry poof things in the kids area. Kinda weird that you cant' really buy anything. Not to great for the instant gratification lovers like me...
Cindy
gorgeous but a bit crazy. who flies in to see a store and then flies home? I need to be doing what they're doing ;)
Yea I’m still stumped with their new business model, we have a beautiful RH in Indy in our high end mall and still I have heard people in the store saying they didn’t get it. Was it a showroom and if so why if it’s in a mall. I just think regardless of it being a higher end mall it’s still a mall and people with lots of money to spend will probably shop somewhere else besides a chain store. Don’t get me wrong I love going in there and think their things are gorgeous but I thought that before their change too and it seemed it was just more buyer friendly.
They stock nothing...no overhead that way. Lead time is never what they say, always longer. And they’ve changed the merchandise so much, not everyone lives in a factory or a cave...or California, God forbid. Everything made in China and prices are in outer space. Its definitely client specific...they do have a following but Im happy to say, I’m not one of them.
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