Climbing the Luxury Mountain: Lessons from Restoration Hardware

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Restoration Hardware. The average person would call RH a furniture company but RH is a company where the CEO feels as important as the business, and CEO Gary Friedman has aspirations well beyond selling furniture.

To break down RH, I'm joined by Drew Cohen of Speedwell Research. You may remember Drew from our breakdown of Floor & Decor. We cover how Gary Friedman took Restoration Hardware from the brink of bankruptcy and has built it into a brand with luxury aspirations. We go deep on the business model, why has RH been leaning into this in person experience despite a massive e-commerce boom, the reality of interior designers, inventory management, and orchestrating a supply chain when you sell monstrous couches. There's a lot to talk about here. It's a fascinating business with a fascinating person sitting at the middle of it. Please enjoy this breakdown of RH.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. 

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Show Notes

(00:02:27) - (First question) - Restoration Hardware’s relevance in the market

(00:04:37) - The origin story of Restoration Hardware

(00:07:58) - Insight into Gary Friedman’s backstory and his entry into RH

(00:09:52) - The current RH business model and how Gary has shaped that over time 

(00:17:14) - Their unique marketing funnels 

(00:19:47) - Their move into the luxury brand market

(00:21:24) - Explaining how the product collections are made up

(00:22:32) - Updated supplier relations model 

(00:25:25) - Insight into the RH sales model

(00:28:04) - Overview of the membership model and how it impacts the business

(00:31:42) - Peers within the industry that are using similar business models

(00:32:49) - Cyclical macro exposure sales growth over time

(00:34:09) - Their operations and logistics model

(00:39:03) - The impact of COVID-19

(00:40:15) - Expected working capital for RH and other furniture peers

(00:42:36) - Peer group average margin growth

(00:45:56) - Key decisions and investments that need to go right

(00:48:41) - European housing sizes and issues with American furniture

(00:49:52) - Capital allocation history within RH

(00:51:15) - How RH stays in style as decor tastes change over time

(00:54:02) - His overall insight towards Gary’s ideas and risky business experiments

(00:55:37) - His capital structure perspective for the future 

(00:58:09) - How RH is moving into the luxury market as other brands move out 

(00:59:09) - Lessons learned from studying Restoration Hardware