Restoration Hardware turned down a buy-out offer from Sears.
I don’t think anyone needs experience in the business world, consumer world, or world in general to understand this one. The only thing I don’t understand is how a deal like this even approached the table. I couldn’t even imagine the table these two companies would come together at.
A simple search on the Sears website for “table” will yield a page of 20 tables - 17 air hockey/ foosball tables and 3 dining room tables, starting at $249.99. That same exact search conducted on the Restoration Hardware site yielded a page of 10 tables - all bearing titles including a synonym for “wealth” or a luxurious travel destination (i.e. Estate Coffee Table, Hamptons End Table), as well as 2 table lamps, one priced at $500.00.
The Sears and Restoration Hardware homepages showcase quite a mismatch as well. Restoration Hardware features a lavish poolside chair surrounded by the pristine green of an untouched mountain range. The only prop that appears to be missing from this scene is a service bell. Meanwhile Sears looks like they uploaded a picture taken accidentally in a garage where the only green comes from four potted plants. The place is so filled with tool chests and landscaping implements that one can only assume this is the service entrance to the set of Restoration Hardware’s photo shoot.
Is this an anti-Sears tirade? Absolutely not. I’ll be checking out with them for Fathers Day, trust me. I just don’t see the connection or strategy behind their buyout offer.
Restoration Hardware didn’t either. They took up a deal with private equity firm Catterton Partners instead. Now their website definitely resonates with Restoration Hardware. That table pictured on the homepage - you think it’s straight from the Greenwich Collection?
Sources:
www.sears.com
www.restorationhardware.com
http://www.cpequity.com/