"Designer Says: RH = Real Headache!" - 04/14/21 Edition
Stephen Says Column




Dear Stephen,

I am an interior decorator in Dallas. My husband is a regional manager for a major contract manufacturer, and he subscribes to BoF. My husband and I met when I was doing contract design, and he called on me as a client.

I am a very busy, full-fledged residential designer active in my local ASID chapter. I own a small design practice. I mostly do high-end residential design and sometimes the office of a client. I have two designers who work for me and an assistant. We live in a neighborhood not too far from where Dr. Phil and his wife live. There's lots of money on Deloache Avenue in Dallas and they, like so many other well-off homeowners, are pouring money into redecorating their homes, indoors and outdoors.

It's not just because we are spending more time indoors, because in Texas we are not. It's because my clients want to live in interiors that reflect who they are and change as their families change. If it is a big project, and I am moving walls or changing bathrooms or kitchens, I have an architect I work with who stamps my plans. So yes, even residential interior designers read BoF, and I love your column and your take on the industry. I have also heard you speak in designer/decorator Clubs on Clubhouse.

OK, here is why I decided to write. I have seen you mention Restoration Hardware many times in your column, and they are all over the news with their stock value growth, surpassed only by Tesla. It's OK if Warren Buffet keeps getting richer, but my problem is RH is affecting my business.

I charge a fee for design time and all the associated services: FF&E, paint color selection, finishes and project management and a percentage of what the contractor gets. All the normal stuff interior designers charge for. I make a lot of my money by ordering furniture for my clients, either as a percentage of the cost or a mark-up through a trade showroom. I have favorite brands like every designer, and do lots of custom specifications. I use Janus et Cie, Holly Hunt, Christian Liaigre, Holland and Sherry and my local favorites Perennials and David Sutherland. In Texas we go big, and we like mostly traditional or transitional.

My problem is I am getting flak from clients who want everything to look like what they saw at RH. Yes, even in this Richie Rich area my clients can think no further creatively than the experience they had walking into the local RH store. Then they want to duplicate some setting they have seen there. And it's worse when they have lunch there.

Do you think there is something in the water? Restoration Hardware employs its own interior designers, while offering a premium membership to outside interior designers. It's a Catch-22 — RH is taking my business while asking me for business.

I saw you describe RH as the "Trader Joe's of furniture, with Whole Foods prices." So true. How do I explain to my clients that shopping at RH is no different than shopping at Crate & Barrel? They are certainly not selling iconic brands like DWR — it's just coolly branded stuff. Hard for me to compete with cool, and it is eating into my profits. To me RH does not stand for Restoration Hardware, to me it stands for Real Headache! What can I do?

Signed,

Uncool Headache
 

Dear UH,

I hear you, but RH is here to stay, at least for now. The stock is the new WeWork, and we all saw how that turned out. I have heard Gary Friedman's charisma is sometimes compared to Adam Neumann's, so ...

OK, now to your problem. Say what you will about RH but the customers like it. The stores are real experiences, and I have been to many of them. I love the experience myself. No Kool-Aid in the water of the restaurants, just lots of Cool with a capital C. And if your clients are in or near

Old Preston Hollow in Texas, and they want RH, then give them RH!

You're running a business to make money, and RH is not preventing you from doing that. Join RH as a designer and learn about the privileges and discounts. Then modify your standard client contract and indicate if the client requests or designer specifies any products from RH, DWR or any major retailer, a surcharge (you pick the number) will be added as a part of the fee. That is fair and most clients will not balk.

So stop complaining about or fearing RH and embrace it. Latch on to their cool and their branding and marketing efforts, turn them into an extension of your own cool. It makes your jobs easier, and you get a happy client.

I am not saying surrender your own design style. Create your design with your favorite suppliers and let them compare prices and quality. Give your client the RH option if that is what you think they want. That is my advice, and you can take it to the bank!

You sound smart so let's face it, it's fairly easy to find out where the RH product is made and often what suppliers are private labeling their product for them. Many times if you cozy up to the right RH salesperson they just blab it. And if you see your favorite trade product sold out to RH, something you used to buy from a trade showroom now competing with you as a RH vendor ... well, don't specify them anymore if you feel that is a problem.

Everyone needs to make a living so if to-the-trade brands are OEM or private labeling for RH, then maybe you should be using RH, too. If you give each client two options when requested you can still win. If you cannot beat them, join them. Right now RH's formula is on fire. Do not try and put it out, just make the most of it while it lasts.

Stephen
 

You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at: StephenSays@bellow.press
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Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of The Viscusi Group,
global executive recruiters located in New York.
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