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Restoration Hardware has unleashed its 2014 brand catalogs and the package makes Vogue's September issue look like a children's book. The mammoth mailer includes 3,300 pages of product and weighs in between 12 to 17 pounds (depending on who you ask).
The source books are part of the company's new drive under the leadership of CEO Gary Friedman. All 13 books were mailed out as one bundle at the end of May, instead of sending each book out at different intervals throughout the year as Restoration has done in the past.
According to a Retail Wire report, the huge package is the most environmentally friendly option for mailing catalogues. "While not intuitive, based on the size of our once per year mailing, we have made several changes that are both good for our business and much better for the environment than our previous methodology and those employed by our competitors," Friedman told Retail Wire. "We have moved from mailing our Source Book 10 times per year to once per year, reducing our pages circulated at the percentage of our sales by approximately 70 percent."
Not surprisingly, consumer backlash over the huge mailing has been swift and vicious. It provided endless Twitter fodder: the Daily Mail rounded up the best of the bunch, including "Oh I get it, the Restoration Hardware catalogs ARE the furniture," and "'Going out in the morning to clean up all the dead UPS guys who were delivering Restoration Hardware catalogs today."
Make a home gym out of it! Image via
A Tumblr account was born, Deforestation Hardware, that is seeking to organize a mass return of the catalogs back to a Restoration Hardware location in L.A. One woman was inspired to create a helpful list of "10 Alternate Uses for the 17 Pound Restoration Hardware Catalog" which includes helpful suggestions like an "All-In-One Home Gym Solution," a dog agility tool, and just leaving all the source books on display ("Nothing says 'I'm baller' like buying everything in your house from a single catalog").
· Restoration Hardware Bulks Up on Its Catalog Business [RetailWire]
· Why Restoration Hardware is Lavishing Millions on Luxury Stores and Catalogs [Racked]
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