Restoration Hardware Reviews

Pros

the discount is very good.

Cons

management at the store at which i worked was not impressive over all. there were, however, some managers that were good and worked well.

Advice to Senior Management

change your color schemes for your stores. the dark chocolate and distressed barn wood is uninviting.

Pros

*They offer food in exchange for Overtime among other random incentives.
*The people are overall genuine folks and fun to be around.
*The facility is new and has a clean decor.
*Maxine, the cleaning lady is very nice and works hard to keep the building spotless.

Cons

*Favortism
*Frequent changes and poor leadership.
*Multiple responsibilities not outlined in the job description.
*Outdated software
*No ownership for bad morale and horrible location.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to value the people that you have. Do not continue to overload people and expect them now to get burnt out. All of the good advocates leave Restoration Hardware because of its location and low pay.

If Restoration does not change the morale and start living by the core values FAITHFULLY, they will always and forever have a revolving door in West Jefferson, Ohio.

Pros

Pay is decent; The core associates are good people; Innovative product lines

Cons

Poor senior leadership that places blame for their failures on subordinates. Scapegoats are a common leadership tool, and the core values are preached but not followed.

Advice to Senior Management

Clean house at the ODC.

Pros

In many respects Restoration Hardware was a great place to work. The product we were selling is excellent (and so easy to sell), customer service was very good which was an excellent support for us. Restoration Hardware hires generally amazing people and provides a lot of product information support which helps you to do your job. The pay was ok, my team were very flexible on hours within the contrains of the retail industry requirements. The standouts for wworking with restoration hardware were the in store people and product.

Cons

I worked at a smaller store although we still did big numbers. Sadly, there was a HUGE discrepency between what we were paid and what people at larger stores were paid even though we were in the same geographic area. With fewer staff and a smaller store, we still managed to exceed our targets month after month yet were paid less. I found that Company Managers (as opposed to store managers) were slow to communicate information especially prior to them closing our store. Unfortunately they lost excellent employees who might otherwise have taken up their offers of other jobs within the company because of this. It was handled badly.

Advice to Senior Management

You have a great company and sell amazing products. You hire very selectively and obtain great staff to represent you. Communicating your goals, aims and thought processes with more care will help you retain the people you have put so much effort into training and developing. Ensuring that hard work, dedication, acheivement and success, even smaller ones are acknowledged and rewarded will help you to achieve your goals. Don't forget the people upon whose shoulders you stand.

Pros

Restoration Hardware offers many opportunities to advance and move into a position that fits your skills and passion. There is lots of opportunity to work overtime and increase the meat in your paycheck.

Cons

They should pay their employees more to avoid the high turn over rate. They stress "people" but fail to dish out the money they invested to retain their talent pool.

Pros

Non-managerial employees are very nice, collaborative and hardworking.

Cons

Managers are a hindrance to success.
Dysfunctional management that changers initiatives within a day.
Job duties are vague. Some employees are overworked while other struggle to look busy.

Advice to Senior Management

Get your act together.

Pros

The people that are working at the stores are really vibrant and great to work with.
The dress code was recently changed and employees are now allowed to wear jeans - think "high-end hipster".
The company reinvented itself, and is now seen in the leading design magazines; this attracts more customers and designers, hence, you are always working on something.
The pay and benefits are competitive with other businesses.
There is a lot of updated technology that streamlines all the systems - it makes working with merchandise and customers much easier.
The customer service department has the nicest people that are able to help with anything and everything.
The leadership teams - both in the store and in the field - is top of the line; they listen to your ideas, they work with your specific schedule, and know the balance between being your boss and your friend.

Cons

Sometimes your schedule will have an abundance of hours, or no hours at all.
There are times when information that is passed down is repeated to the point that it is overkill.
At times, it might seem like sales goals are more important than actually helping out the clients.
Due to the brand reinvention, it seems that the company is looking to hire more people with design backgrounds.
The company tends to spend a lot of money on distributing pointless information or having information sessions that are too overdone.

Advice to Senior Management

I applaud the management for the recent changes that Restoration Hardware has undergone and continues to do; it has not only made being a sales associate easier, but it is so much more fun and rewarding. I would suggest that the management continue to distribute relevant information to their associates, and cut back on some pointless expenses. I also think that the management should continue to listen to their internal customers on a regular basis because they have so many wonderful and innovative ideas that will only help Restoration Hardware in the long run.

Pros

The pay and benefits are above average in the industry. The products are of decent quality. The commute is easy for anyone living in Marin County or San Francisco.

Cons

The only people who succeed at Restoration Hardware's Home Office are syncophants who never question anything said or done by the Co-CEO, Gary Friedman. The entire Home Office is a joke -- it's run like some childish popularity contest where you only succeed by back-stabbing your co-workers. There's no support from upper management as they are all only concerned with their own personal financial success. Even as they were doing three separate, massive layoffs in the course of less than two years (2007-2008) no one in upper management took a minimal pay cut or even considered it. There is completely wasteful spending on the part of Mr. Friedman that never allows for the proper level of staffing at the lower levels of Home Office -- some people work 60-70 hours a week while others enjoy daily two-hour lunches and don't even work 30 hours, even though they are salaried. This company will NEVER be successful until it cleans out the entire upper management team. And because it's such a toxic environment, the turnover rate is astronomically high as all the talented people have other options to find work elsewhere, so what you're left with are the less talented people who are stuck there becasue they can't get hired anywhere else. Sad.

Advice to Senior Management

This executive team is too arrogant to take advise from anyone. I do have one bit of advise for the investors though and that is to clean house -- starting at the very top ( Friedman) and working your way throughout the entire "C" Level team.

Pros

The product is amazing. It is a well respected home furnishings company. Leadership is receptive to communicating although any results are at a snail's pace. The "new" Restoration Hardware is very well received in the public. The "Core Values" align with my personal values.

Cons

THE PAY IS ATROCIOUS!! RH is trying to hire people for the "galleries" with design experience, education, retail experience, home consultation experience, business to business experience, clientele-ing experience, a "hip and cool" sense of style (and pocketbook to dress the part) and pay them $12/hr. merit pay increase is average of .03%/year and there are very few, if any, full time positions being offered. The only way to make more money is to get hired into a leadership (management) position. That means transferring to another store. But... if you are a top sales person, leadership is reluctant to recommend you interviewing for a promotion. It's a catch 22. The carrot is dangled, promising "big and exciting changes" in the next year, but every decision takes an act of congress to pass. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but this is the way it is in the SF BAY AREA. Every store is in the shadow of the "flagship store" in Corte Madera and under the microscope of the corporate offices also in Corte Madera. They are wanting to strengthen their relationships with the trade industry and develop a home consulting/design sector to the business... this week anyway. We'll see what the future holds.
If it all plays out like RH is projecting, those of us holding on will be rewarded... this week anyway!

Advice to Senior Management

Don't make any promises you can't keep. Stand your ground and support your team with corporate the way you do in the store.

Pros

It's a decent company that sells great products.

Cons

The products, while very nice, are obscenely overpriced. This can be stressful on the sales floor, though it's way less intense than many other retail gigs.

Advice to Senior Management

Management does a great job of communicating with the people at the bottom. I'd advise they offer low level employees a better salary rather than free merchandise to boost sales.