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Stephen Gordon founded Restoration Hardware in Eureka, California, in 1979 while restoring a Victorian home and finding affordable, high-quality hardware and fixtures unavailable. The company expanded slowly in Northern California and Boston before raising outside capital from Cardinal Investments which allowed it to accelerate its expansion. The company had 47 stores when it went public in 1998, ending the year at over 65 stores. It then expanded to over 100 stores in 31 states, with $369.5 million in net sales by 2001.
In 2001, Gary Friedman joined the company from Williams-Sonoma, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer after being passed over for the CEO position at Williams-Sonoma by Howard Lester. Restoration Hardware's sales were waning and the company was seeking additional capital. In 2005, Gordon left the company in order to take over as CEO of Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog Company. In 2007, Sears Holdings Corporation purchased 13.7% of the share of Restoration Hardware, prompting speculation that Sears might attempt a full takeover. After the United States housing bubble burst, the company was slated to close two stores in 2008, including the original store located in Old Town Eureka, and open one in Canada. In June 2008, the company completed the transaction without Sears Holding, but instead with Catterton Partners.
Catterton took Restoration Holdings private in June 18, 2008. That year, the company also launched its baby-and-child line. In 2012, Restoration Hardware underwent an initial public offering, trading at $24 a share at its opening. The company was renamed RH, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RH. In 2007, about 65% of the company's products were made outside the US, particularly from contract manufacturers in southern China. The company is the largest importer of Belgian Linen and Italian bedding in the United States.RH created a small spaces line in 2012, composed of furnishings scaled down for smaller living spaces. The 2014 Small Spaces source book depicts 18 different smaller-scale homes in the United States and Europe. In 2013, RH also released the Objects of Curiosity source book, showing character pieces, artifacts, and unique décor. The tableware line was released in 2013.In 2012, the company was accused of copying the designs of other companies, specifically those used for the US military. On March 7, 2013, RH opened a gallery in Boston's Back Bay in an 1864 brick and brownstone structure at 234 Berkeley Street. In May 2013, the company announced a multichannel RH contemporary art platform when it acquired the first edition of Rain Room by Random International with exclusive showing rights in North America. RH loaned Rain Room to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the U.S. premier of EXPO 1: New York from mid-May through July 2013. In 2014, RH opened a 70,000 square foot store which Atlanta Magazine called RH's "next-generation full-line design gallery", which includes amenities like a 50-foot infinite pool.RH operates six stores in Canada: one full-line design gallery at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, three galleries and two outlets.
