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Show TheSalt Lake Tribune BUSINESS Friday, March 12, 1999 CENTERPIECE Ursn BRIEFS CONSUMER CORNER >_>. Blame Boomers for Boom in Renovation aS CEOof Restoration Hardware wasonce a psychologistfixing up a decaying Victorian Unocal Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., has agreedtoselloil and natural-gas fields anda gas-processing plant in the Rocky Mountains to Tom Brown Inc. for $76.4 million in stock and cash. Includedin the transaction are about 65,000 unde- veloped acres in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and North Dakota. a The Murdock Group Career Satisfaction Corp., Salt Lake City, has opened a newbranchoffice in Portland, Ore. The company provides job-searchassistance and “Our products have a other upwardly mobile white-collar types be- commonality despite the variance of goods of high perceived value andclassic tailoring. We like to gantrading in their briefcases for the more wholesomepursuit of running bed and breakfasts, Stephen Gordon gave up a career in psychologytorestorea ricketyVictorian house in Eureka, Calif. It was 1979 when Gordon, then only 26, be- think ofit as an unpretentious fice backtoits original quaint glory. But antique door knobs, turn-of-the-century light cad Besides door handles, knobs and pulls, most merchandise is decidedly modern instead of turn-of-the-centuryretro accurately puts it The next year, Gordon opened his ownre- tail store in Eureka specializing in hard-to- day trading firm, has opened a branch office in “When the company started, it reflected moreof the name,’ Gordon admitted. “In the find interior building and decorative materi- Midvale. The office will be operated by The Walter Group and managed by George Moldenhauer, who. previously has managed several other brokerage firms in Utah. a _The Homestead Resort, Midhas received the American Aatmpeile Association’s Four Diamond Awardfor the 12th consecutive year. interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate © Pier 1 and Cost Plus. als to help other home restoration fanatics Today, 19 yearslater, his dreamis nolongera very beginning, wewerea resource for renovating older homes. You wouldn't have seen little shop of knobs and handles. With 65 stores throughout the United States and British Columbia, including one in Salt Lake City, a catalog division witha circulation of 4 million, and roughly $200 million in net sales in 1998, Restoration Hardware is now a formi- leather sofas but things morefitting of what you'd see in Victorian homes.” Though they haven't completely forsaken theitems that tug at the heartstrings of do-it- yourself restorers everywhere, like the spit- and guidelines, the developersare likely to bring back anything fromkitchen tables to bathroom cleaner whenon a buyingtrip. Gor- homefurniture becameeasier in spring 1998 when Restoration Hardware purchased a furniture manufacturing companyin Sacramento called Michael’s for $5 million plus unspec- the economy. Fifteen-year mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, averaged 6.75 percent this week, also the highest since mid-May and up from 6.70 percentlast week. create specifically what its customers are asking for, and keep the price lower by cutting Drugstore Remedies Getting Better Labels ified future payments. Now many of Restoration’s majorpieces are designed and built by the companyitself. That allowsit to shined, hickory-handle Tim Allen-signature hammer, other unexpected products for sale, profitable retail realm of eclectic home-decorating chains. That circle includes Pier 1 Imports. Oakland-based Cost Plus, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn, owned by San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma Inc. ries for the company’s target customer. “Our customer is dead center among the out the middle man. blasé items are given a certain pricey panache. For instance, why mount a plastic or baby boomers, as | am. We've always had a Integrating turn-of-the-century charmwith buying strategyof tryingto ascertain whatthe View is a marketing organization, customer wants. Really, we're just buying what we like and assuming there are enough ceramic bathroom tissue holder to the wall home furnishings, door pulls. bath items, cleaning supplies and even a few fun, nearly has merged with Zion whichrepresents morethan50os- trich ranchers in the Intermountain West. It also manages a meat processing plant in Fillmore. Or- ganic Foodsis a producerof free. rangeostrichs. Restoration Hardware offers a potpourri of The RBI Cos, Salt Lake City. receivedfirst placein the Associatca’s National Safety Awards Pro: gram. RBI won the award in the heavy /industrial categoryfor hav. ing recorded morethan 1.2 million man hours in 1998 with nolost time accident Crossland Mortgage Corp., First Security Banksubsidiary received a superior loan servic! performance ranking from Fred: die Mac for the third consecutive quarter. Crossland services more than $15 billion in mortgageloans. Judge Orders Psych Evaluation For Suspect @ Continued from B-1 the allegations against Black's Ti tle are rare. Most companies are reprimanded for things such as failing to file a report with the state insurance department Accordingtostate records, the Insurance Department in late 1997 considered Black to be oper ating the agency under hazardous when you can have your tissue gracefullyroll off of a glistening brass bathroomtissue stand says we knowwhat otherbaby boomers would like. What pricecleanliness? How about $12 for a giant aluminum dust pan and $34 for a mop offering everything to everybody,” says Restoration Hardware is just one of thousands of stores, products and companies to lypse? nishings Wehavesomeunique things, but we're not founder Gordon, now 47 ed General Contractors of Ameri people like us who concur. It’s not really a strategic process. There isn’t a lot of research behind it. It’s more of an intuitive process that free days-of-yoreitemssuchas a wind-up toy tin robot. The focus remains onupscalefur- zeroin on partof the 77 million-strong demo- and chief executive officer of the Corte Madera-based company handful of locations by 1994 and slowly added stores until 1997, when the company went from 20 stores to 41. In 1998, that number skyrocketed to 65 Our plans include addinganother 25 to 30 troduced six years ago, in part beca' the ry ‘There’s been a trend over the last five years of affordable luxuries. Starbucks has always said [affordable luxury] is the heart of their success. A lot of people can’t afford a bauble. but they can treat themselves to ¢ latte. The dustpan is one of those luxuries Gordon said Alongwith innovation, the customerloyalty targeting t number increased to $13.2 million ‘Whenyou look at thesale of residential homes, the one thing that’s seen is a resur- in 1995. Revenues tripled in 1996 to $39.7 million, and were a doorknob away from $100 millionin 1997. When thefinal 1998 numbers are calculated, revenuewill come close to $200 million, Gordon estimated. A spokeswoman for the depart ment saidBlack failed to cooper ate with Insurance Department personnel andherlicense was re voked in November 1997 Several employees and ac quaintances of Biack said she used money from her company’s trust fund as late as early last year, accordingto areportby the Insurance Department’s frauddi vision priceand style makesit an “affordable luxu ing power andinfluencethat that section of tionthat stores like Restoration Hardwareare 1994 the company had $4.2 million in reve- nue company’s best-selling items sinceit was in- vans to a heightened national concern about the younger segment of the boomer popula- tinuing in the future,” Gordonboasted Store growth meant revenue growth. In Gordon said the dustpan has beenone of the the fate of Social Security reflects the spendthe population born between 1946 to 1964 has on the Americanculture. Retail expert Nate Franke, who heads the retail division of Deloitte & Touche, said it is stores this year. We seethat similar pace con- that will probably last through the apoca- graphic bulge known as the baby boom gener- ation. Everything fromthe popularity of mini- Growing at an astronomical pacein recent years, Restoration HardwareInc. had only a for $50? gence in the number of young yuppie baby boomers buying older homes and redecorat- ing and remodeling them ys. buying brand new homes. That's one of the niches they're and its line of affordable luxuries. Gordonbelieves Restoration Hardware can attributeits success to a strong corporate team anda lack of real competition althoughhis ideal custom- er comes fromwhat most people would consider a competitor: Pier 1 Imports FREE STUFF! 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State Street, Salt Lake City, www.norwalk-furniture.com 116 E, Winchester, Murray (South of Fashion Place Mall-Next to Borders) # 293-3223 Store Hours cone y-Friday 10-9, Saturday 10-6, Sunday 12-6 ) HOMES el UT (801) 297-717 THE FURNI TURE IDEA ) 7 readthe safety warnings. Suiwer & With Every Great VoiceStream ~ { The average this week, up from 7.06 percent last week, was the highest since mid-May and marked a significantly higherlevel than the 6.74 percent average at the end of January. The average reached a 31-year lowof 6.49 percentin early Octo- markets. Economists attribute the recent climb to strong demand in The search for suitably upscale yet down- modern tastes and baby boomernostalgia, Ark., Mac, the mortgage company, said ber as worried world investors trich of St. George. Zion ck, est level in 10 months, Freddie volved in product development. That doesn’t mean you'll find anything, besides maybe a kazoo, for a song. Even the most Organic Foods Inc. of Little tive week, to 7.11 percent, the high‘Thursday. don himself, though busyrunning his multimillion-dollar company,is still heavily in- dable powerplayerin thehigh-profile, highly like a $1.99 toy kazooandjar of cream-filled MoonPies, are meant to awaken fond memo- WASHINGTON — Theaverage = mortgages rose for a sixth consecu- © their instincts, rather than market research “Nearly impossibleto find.” Gordon more SummitTrading Inc., a Texas- whoshopsstores like Restoration Hardware, older home but with new touches.” Specifically, it is younger boomer women Finding unique merchandise to keep those boomersand their dollars flowing into stores is a time-consuming safari for Restoration’s product development team. Because they use Stephen Gordon Founder of Restoration Hardware stores , Toa 10-Month High | more toward the feminine touch,’ Franke said. gan scouring hardwareandantiquestoresfor vintage items to transform the run-down edi Mortgage Rate Rises trying to focus on with Restoration Hardware. These yuppies want to maintain the feel of an “Across the board, the niche they're attracting is both the husband and wife, but leaning store.” fixtures and special knick knacks trueto the character of the home were searce workplace productivity counseling oO based online stock KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Long before 9] |