When you can't afford the WeWork... Cruise out the day on a Chamberlain Velvet Sofa in an RH store, where the rustic yet sleekly modern decor will inspire your every PowerPoint. While the whole economy seems to move online, the upscale home-furnishing company (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) is doubling down aggressively on its brick-and-mortar game:
- Hotels: RH Guesthouses will be the company's first foray into the hotel industry (suite comes with RH chaise).
- Residences: Pre-furnished homes and condos will be RH's first experiment in the North American housing market.
- Yachts: RH will also be offering a yacht named "RH3" to charter for well-furnished Caribbean and Mediterranean getaways (casual).
All about the "lifestyle branding"... RH CEO Gary Friedman believes it can "make the climb" to the top of the luxury mountain by embodying a luxe lifestyle through aggressively physical experiences:
- RH already has its Galleries, impressive palaces in metropolitan hubs like LA and NYC that provide more of a wow-factor than a shopping trip.
- The new brick-and-mortar expansions are all part of Friedman's plan to create "an ecosystem of products, places, services and spaces that elevate the RH brand."
Bold CEOs make contrarian bets... With shopping already heading online 2 years ago, RH put its faith (and $$$) behind offline experiences — it dropped $50M on a huge NYC flagship store complete with a rooftop bar. And now while the corona-conomy accelerates the online push, RH is going harder than ever on physical locations. TBD whether it'll compete in the new market of stays and experiences. RH's CEO: "This is a time to be defined by our vision, not by a virus.”