malibu magazine home

8/4/2019 Malibu Magazine Home

1/5

FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF MALIBU MAGAZINE


2/5


3/5

Gary Friedman, chairman and co-CEO o Restoration Hardware,is doing something right i he could make my rugal 78-year-oldgrandmother swoon over his companys Italian Hotel Satin Stitch

bedding. Tis woman spent her childhood in a small village in Macedoniawhere eggs, butter and honey were standard bartering tools. She neverthrew out a paper or plastic bag unless it had been reused several times.Yet, as a master seamstress who worked with every material rom leatherand silk to lace and polyester, and sewing everything rom drapes towedding gowns, quality and cratsmanship are what she understood most.She was crazy or those sheets. While it was not unusual or her to drive10 miles out o her way to redeem a clipped coupon or a gallon o milk,

she happily spent hundreds o dollars on Restoration Hardware sheets,pillowcases and duvet covers.

Tis type o behavior is what Friedman and his team are banking on orthe success o the companys new transormation the kind that makesa person yearn or something they want, turning it into an irreplaceableneed. He joined the company in 2001 ater a decade at Williams-Sonomawhere he doubled its business and transormed its subsidiary, PotteryBarn, into a household brand. Restoration Hardware desperately neededthe Friedman touch. On the brink o bankruptcy, the Eureka, Cali.,company originally started as a period hardware store in the 1980sby a man restoring a Victorian home who was unable to nd what heneeded. wenty years later it had lost its way. Friedman said 50 percento the business at that t ime was discovery items tchotchkes like retrotoasters and bite-the-man dog toy kind o stu. Slowly he evolved thebusiness into a more premium home urnishings business, adding itemslike those wonderul sheets my grandmother loved and the ones Friedmanswears he sleeps on every night.

It was one o t hose businesses that was interesting but not relevant,Friedman said. It ailed to ll a need. Retail malls, he continued, aregraveyards or irrelevant short-term ideas that dont stand the test o time.At least with us, now you know that i you wake up in the morning and

need urniture, we have urniture. I you need lighting, we have lighting. Iyou need bedding, we have bedding. We are relevant in a lot o categoriesthat we artully put together with a stylistic point o view. I you need acouch, we have those, too.

Te recent downturn in the economy put Friedmans relevance theory tothe test. Many ill-dened businesses could not compete. Freidman believesthis was a great opportunity to liberate the company rom its constraintsand identiy its purpose to be a leader in the home urnishings designbusiness on par with the most highly regarding designers in the mosthighly regarded design capitals. He took the opposite route rom hiscompetitors. Instead o running or the hills, he ran up the hill. It is stil ltoo early to tell whether or not his gamble will succeed, but he continueswith a vengeance. Survival, he said, is also a great motivator. We had todecide what amount o risk were we willing to make, he said. When theoptions are gure it out or perish, you do things you may not want to do ina normal time. You become earless when you have to ght or your lie.

He and his team have scoured the globe in search o handcrated,artisanal products that inspire him. hey look or quality, integrityand authenticity words you hear oten in Freidmans presence. heyhave sourced products that originally come with one-o-a-kind price tagsand ordered hundreds o pieces, thereby lowering the price and making

unique design accessible to more people. His teams travels have been soextensive, there is now more than enough material to ill the companysnew 616-page catalog, dubbed The Source Book. he latest showcasein this new transormation is called he Gallery Beverly Boulevard, arecently opened 24,000-square-oot two-story retail concept plantedin the middle o the Los Angeles design district the irst o many

galleries planned to open around the country. Surprisingly, Friedmanstill cant decide what to call this new creation, so retail concept is theterm he is sticking with.

Te space is sleek and impressive without eeling cold or imposing.Tere is nothing wimpy about this store. Te soas are large and wide.Te lamps are tall and rotund. Te bookshelves are thick and st urdy. Anoutdoor, urban European garden sotens the lines, as does the resh oralboutique helmed by rave Los Angeles oral designer Eddie Zaratsian, andtheres an organic tea atelier by Bellocq inside the entryway.

Te Gallerys palette is primarily all shades o gray and white, mutedsage and wood. Te only striking color, even in the oral boutique, is

rom the yellow stripes o the Bellocq tea packaging. Te entrance wallsare lined with newspapers and global design books arranged underneathantiqued maps o cities and clocks baring the dierent times around theworld. Tis space is called the International Bibliotheque and is a gestureto a world that is coming together, Friedman said. Here in Los Angeles,you are just as likely to speak to people rom any one o these cities as youare to meet someone rom Chicago.

Te companys transormation directly represents Friedmans personalstyle. Sitting with him in Te Gallery Beverly Boulevard, his imprint isundeniable. During our interview he leans back, reaching or a pillowas i he was at home, knowing exactly where the pillow would be, orbetter yet, should be. Everything is as it is because Friedman wanted itthat way. He is the ace o Restoration Hardware, and this is his creativeexpression. Nobody has ever tried to scale an oering like this, he said.Nobody attempted to make home urnishings o th is quality in any kindo quantity beore. People have been responding and becoming inspiredby this. We like to say in our company that great brands dont chasecustomers, customers chase great brands.

Why do you believe now is the time or this transormation?Great opportunities are born rom great moments. When the economy

turned, the world changed, and it gave us an opportunity to stand back andscan what we were doing. We saw everyone going one way by taking qualityout and lowering prices, but our view in challenging times is that peopleare more [careul] when making an investment. Furniture is an investment.We believe they are looking or more quality not less quality. Tey are notlooking or less uniqueness, they are looking or more uniqueness. And theyare looking to be inspired. In order to inspire others you have to inspire yoursel rst. We chose to make the business much more personal to us,and we wanted to do something that was the best in the world. We chose toconceptualize a new vision and create a new reality.

Were you bored?No, I wasnt bored, but the business wasnt a personal reection. Weknew that a lot o [businesses] were not going to make it through thesedifcult economic times, especially in the home urnishings business witha housing meltdown, and we could have been one o them that didnt makeit.. But [lets make them] at least remember us; then lets present somethingreally personal and special and what we believe in and that is what wedid. We believe that i you do something really compelling and authenticand original, and you are really excited about it, you tend to communicateit with more passion and you market it with more passion, and so it goes

rom running a business to creating a cause. Internally, we talk aboutcreating a movement. Tere are people who manage businesses, and in thismanaging, it is more about arranging and organizing the status quo. Tenthere are others who try and build brands, and that is a noteworthy thingto do, and it is in ashion to do so, but we are trying to create a design andstyle movement an inspiring, irreverent and personal one.

76 HOME

Interview bySonja Magdevski

op image: AlredYan,bottom let: ClintonPerry,bottom right: KathrynBarnard


4/5


5/5

Do you eel this is the beginning o a companywide transormation orthese stores?Yes. It will continue to evolve and change, as we remodeled al l o our existingstores last year. And people thought that was a big move. We opened in themiddle o the design district in San Francisco, and we thought there was anopportunity to place ourselves in the center o where all the design leadersare and put ourselves among the best so it would put us in a position to haveto aspire to that level and try to earn their respect.

Or scare them!Our goal is to try and earn the right to be in that company. It is a lotygoal. We have created an entirely dierent concept with this store here inL.A. the rst o its kind or the company. I dont know what to call thisyet a agship? We did what was inspiring to us. We took the parkinglot and turned it into a European garden with 65-year-old olive trees andcrushed-granite walkways. We wanted an urban escape that showcases ouroutdoor urniture and our perspective on outdoor living. In our entryway,we knocked out the whole ceiling to create a two-story entry. We wanted tomake it eel like you are walking into one o the great hotel lobbies in theworld to communicate our sense o the global aesthetic this rustic casualthat has a lot o scale and history.

Why did you pick L.A. or this fagship?Te same way the San Francisco design center was chosen. We wanted toput ourselves among the best. We wanted to orce ourselves onto the stageand say, Showtime! and see what we could do. We could have built thestore in the middle o the country and play it sae so nobody would see ourmistakes. In L.A., the day the store was about to open, we had 200 peoplehere, painters and all, right down to the wire putting all the nishingtouches on. Tat is the way it should be down to the wire. Every time

we push ourselves it helps us see something else, and around the corner wend something new.

Tell me more about this design movement?We are inspired to do something new every day and make something betterevery day. Tere is never a day that is the same. It is just not in our DNA.Similar to Apple, we are trying to create the best platorm or creative peopleon a global scale that is unparalleled. We are moving aster, and we havemore ideas every day because o the intense circles o energy that happenwithin. We push ourselves to renew a dierent level and authentically inspireourselves rom within. And we have been getting such great eedback romour customers. Tat just gives us more energy where this upward spiral iscreated, and it is like alling in love. Does that sound crazy?

Is there a place that you go more oten than others to inspire you?You always go to Europe because there is so much history there. I am alwayssurprised, because you never know where you will nd it, and you just ndthe current. You listen to locals or great tidbits. You try and listen andollow that current, and you never know where it leads. I your eyes are openthen you will nd it. For instance [we will visit old actories], and we ndstu 20 and 30 years old covered with cobwebs.

What region inspired you the most?I am so in the moment that I dont remember where I have been. I am moreinspired by people, and we have been lucky enough to associate ourselveswith really creative people. We dont really operate like a normal corporation.We operate like a very small business. We know how to embrace creativity

and get rid o the bureaucracy. Arpersonal relationship with us.

How many days are you travelinPhysically or in my mind? Probaus who cultivate relationships andthe business. We move pretty qui

What do you hope will bring p

to leave them with?I hope we will open their mindsRestoration Hardware a great pla resh perspective. And I hope and lives here. We are always godierent, and we hope people not or everybody, and we are notthe road, but at least they notice are proud. We must be able to d

You have a quote you look at daito do i you knew you could noattempt to do i you knew you coYes! I ail all the time, though I lot o people thought we were crato actually take quality and deswere nuts! o take a home urnistore and put it in the middle owere nuts! I think we are pretty uWho does that? Our answer isbuilding used to be a Williams-S

make it.

Didnt you used to work or WilYes, or 14 years.

So is this a little touch to themOh, I dont know. We will see i itjust happened to be available.

Why didnt you listen to the nayI you try and lead, you are alwayTink about Christopher Columhad on his way to America. He ho the world with him, so we knoyou are on to something good. Yowhat is new and exciting. You havsomething new. But we are not albe right. But it is going to be autdo the best we can. How can you

What is next, and where do you

I am just warming up! I seriouslright now is the most excited I hame blindly optimistic, but I havethan I am right now. What is neideas and things I cant share wityour eyes open. c

"To take a home furnishings business that was more of a chain store and

design district people thought we were nuts! I think we are prett y u

op and bottom let images: AlredYan,bottom right:Alex Farnum

malibu magazine home

Documents