Ha! I've been meaning to post about this, too, since I received my "thump" last week. I'm an old-school (early 1990s) RH fan from before their Belgian/Gustavian days, and have spent maybe $1500 there in the past decade. Yet I warrant these coffee-table style catalogs delivered UPS to my front door.

Here a link that explains their marketing strategy. Or tries to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why Restoration Hardware is Lavishing Millions on Luxury Stores and Catalogs

They are insane. I won't buy anything from them on principle. And no, all the Pottery Barn catalogs I get put together wouldn't comprise even half of RH's current, vile leviathan.

I try so hard to limit my carbon footprint. When I receive an unnecessary use of paper like this, it makes me so angry. Why not give me an extraordinary experience online or perhaps have sales staff that actually wants to help me when I visit the store? I wouldn't mind a little breadth of choice either. I don't have a house that lends itself to massively proportioned furniture. Oh, wait, maybe I'm not the target customer. Then, why are they sending me that 300 page tome?

I totally agree. My husband was speechless when he saw it. I am going to call them and have me taken off their mailing list because it's absurd. That must cost a fortune to send, let alone the waste of paper. It went right in the garbage. And everything looks the same. Do I really need 8 books or more?

Sueb: what is the color of your staircase??

Scanmike, my husband was speechless too when he saw them in our driveway (wouldn't fit in the mailbox, so the postman drove up our long driveway to drop them off by the house -- more environmental assault). And when he found his tongue, he asked why on earth did I order so many catalogs? He had a hard time believing RH would just send a pile like that without a request for them.

Also, the plastic used to wrap the catalogs looked nasty. Wonder if it was recycled plastic, at least?

I'm not a rabid environmentalist by any means, but this raised even my hackles. Restoration Hardware is completely out of touch with the times, IMO. Strange company.

oh,boy. I don't think that'll even fit in my mailbox.

Scanmike -- the wall color? BM Everlasting.

Sueb btw your runner looks wonderful!

I think it's an attention-getting mechanism. They are in the "There's no such thing as bad publicity" camp, and since the size of the new catalog starts a thread every time a new one comes out, they are getting what they want. :)

I called when mine arrived last year and asked to be taken off the mailing list. Since I imagine they buy customer lists, I'm curious to see if I got back on and will get the stack anyway.

I always call companies and cancel catalogs when I get them. I can't stand how they add up and having to throw them away. However, I absolutely love Restoration Hardware! I shake when i go in that store!

The article is pretty amusing, they are so full of themselves! I used to enjoy their stores, but they became dark and depressing. I'll be in Boston in a few weeks, so I'll check out their new "Gallery" store ... at 40K sq.ft I hope they've brightened it up or I might need medication to cheer me up after walking through the store! ;-)

oh. my. GOD.

ME TOO!!!!!

UPS delivered 17 lbs worth of catalogs to me, and i don't know why! i'm going to call RH tomorrow and rip them a new one. crazy!

My husband got the THUMP. How he got on their mailing list, I have no idea.
He doesn't shop & has never set foot in RH.

well, i do know why. i mistakenly bought a LOT there when we were building. mirrors and other items. i wish i could return everything!

never shopping there again. and when i say that, i mean it. macy's pissed me off in 1985. that was the last they saw of me.

Found this thread on the sidebar. I got the pile too and actually took the time to look thru' all of them: black, greys, browns and various shades of off-while. Depressing!

I don't know how I got on their mailing list either. 20 years ago I really liked their stores, but haven't been in one since they quickly removed the local one... lasted only a few months.

And, I'm like many of you, I could only see the waste; but most of the mail we get is just as wasteful.

Take a look at www.catalogchoice.org , a site that allows you to opt out of catalogs you don't wish to receive. Since opting out of the RH catalog following receipt of an obnoxiously heavy edition that I discussed in a previous thread on CC, I haven't received any more RH catalogs.

Catalogchoice.org has been covered in the NY Times and other mainstream news outlets. It's free and permits you to stipulate the type/frequency of mailings (including none) that you want to receive from each company.

I used to like RH and still enjoy a few of its products, but marketing via an approach that seems to signal environmental disregard leaves me cold.

Of course I did have to flip through about half of the pile last night and had to laugh -- in their "small spaces" section they have, for example, a chair that is 41" across. That is NOT a small chair.

kswl -- thanks! I'm very happy with it.

westelle, you raise a good point. This oversized lump of RH advertising is obnoxious, yet it would be interesting to keep stacks of all the catalogs I receive over a year period and compare which company is worse.

Edit:
lazy, thanks for the info about catalogchoice.org. I'm headed there now.

This post was edited by jujubean71 on Wed, May 21, 14 at 9:08

Got my lump of thump yesterday. DH had it sitting on the island and pointed to it when I walked in the door and asked 'what is this'? I laughed and immediately knew what it was because I had just read about the RH mail-out and sueb's post. Last night I finally tackled the plastic and flipped thru the titles. Couldn't believe the 'baby' catalog was almost the largest one! Kept a couple to flip thru later but the rest ended up in the recycle bin.

Violet, your mail carrier would never have delivered this...it was sent UPS. I'd love to call and rip them for the dastardly deed but it would do no good. I'll visit catalogchoice and opt out there. Thanks for that reminder.

UPDATE: i sent RH a lovely note and demanded they first, remove me from their mailing list, and second, send UPS back to pick up their waste.

UPS will be here tomorrow.
if everyone who received their mass mailing would do the same, i think chances are slim they pull something like this again.

You know~ if I were to stack-up all the Bed and Bath catalogs I received in the past 2 years since (apx) Nov.'12 when I received my last RH jumbo mailing ~ What would that stack look like ???

Is the use of recycled paper adding to the appearance of bulk ?

No~You don't have to be a RH shopper to be on their mailing list.
They are looking for prospective customers.
I think when I ordered from Wisteria I was put on their list.

I don't think that sending a truck to pick it up ,only to have UPS put it in their recycling can, is a good choice as far as carbon reduction goes.
Why does the catalog upset people so much ?
Is it the amount of pages ?
Is it the waste being added to the environment ?
Is it just that you don't like what they are selling ?

Ha. There is an angry discussion about this catalog going on on my local community Facebook page. RH certainly is getting a lot of publicity from this stunt. As the saying goes "there is no such thing as bad publicity".

well, having them send a truck is a good choice for me, considering i didn't ask for this. it has nothing to do with the carbon footprint (whatever that is) -it's about having to dispose of a 17 lb brick. that may not bother some, but it has bothered plenty of others.

i am also a catalogchoice.org user, so i get very few catalogs sent to my home. the RH mailing slipped through somehow, even though i had them on my list. but this business of sharing information between companies is awful. if you purchase anything, and have it shipped to your home -you end up on some list that's shared for a price.

"there is no such thing as bad publicity"

I have to disagree with this. An example is LuluLemon, I don't think they have rebounded from their bad publicity the last few years. You can't charge a premium and deliver mediocre quality and/or service.

The article said that RH had improved their quality and increased prices. I never noticed any improvement in the quality of their products. If anything I thought their drapes felt cheaper, more skimpy, than they used to be.

My six year old announces at 6pm: Mommy there's a big package by the front door.
(I knew exactly what it would be.)
We go outside and I tell her it's a stack of catalogs that I didn't want. She then says "Why would someone do that to you?"
Great question.

RH has the bleakest, most depressing take on interiors. Some of the pieces are nice, but taken as a whole they sap the life right out of me.

Well, no wonder why the UPS man looked angry as I saw him trudging across the lawn this afternoon, heard the thud, and then he HAD to ring the bell, just to make sure that I too felt his pain by making my dog go berserk.

I thought I was safe from the small sidetable aka a catalog. But no, my regular UPS man was off, I think he was hiding the 17# endtable somewhere in the warehouse. Substitute driver comes in, and wham--probably had hundreds of these to deliver today.

PS--I actually went out and photographed it on the porch. It's almost as big as my milk box. (yes, we have a milkman)

Geez! I'm feeling left out! No catalogs here and I've even ordered from them in the past several months.

It's coming, ppbenn. It's coming. Mwaa ha ha ha ha!!!!

Don B.

Oh yes it is!!! Mine arrived in southern CA yesterday, so the RH catalog pox is spreading!

I didn't get anything, hooray. I am constantly calling catalogue companies to be removed from their lists, but as soon as you buy something those %$*%^$%# put you back on. I swear I need a file clerk.

Not to mention, we pay for trash removal, by the pound. Since i can then prove I've been harmed (by the removal cost), maybe i can sue RH if they deliver such a monstrosity?

Maybe all publicity is good, but in the age of "green", sloshing around all this wasteful paper is awfully tone deaf.

Received them last year and will probably be getting them this year too. It used to be such a treat to go there back in the day.

Now the catalog presentation is so self conscious that it hinges on the ridiculous. They must really have an ax to grind with their former self and are now just going ahead and committing suicide. We know you can do black and white, dark and moody, the misty pic, but can you show us what something really looks like in a room? The specs and actually the cost and real colors? Not everyone lives in an altered state.

(reposted from other thread)

I thought it was an urban myth...or just a GW myth, but The Thump has struck my doorstep just now. Criminy!

yep, I got mine too. And they make a big deal out of how "environmentally friendly" they are by doing a big dump. ;)

It's all starting to look like the dreary wizarding houses in Harry Potter to me. Who want's to visit Snape?

Got mine last week. Went around the house and collected the Pottery Barn catalogs. Both are equal offenders. I ordered from PB, but never RH.

I bought a mirror (it was the right size and on sale) from RH a few months ago. My first and only purchase from them. I couldn't believe it when I came home to find that stack on my porch. I legit felt guilty about the waste of paper.
(and, yes, I looked at most of them, too. Where is color? It's like an old sepia toned movie. Ugh)

OMG! I got mine today. I can't freakin' believe it! Esp since I have never ordered or bought anything from these people. I've never bought anything from them as they are too expensive. Clearly they are too expensive as they waste money on creating, printing and delivering this ridiculous catalog.

I will have to call and complain as well...what a ridiculous waste of scarce resources. Have they not heard of the internet???

I unsubscribed and I sent them a screed. What a total waste!

I got mine a few weeks ago, same thoughts as everyone else. Then, last week while my DH was watching the business news, I heard the analysts talking about how RH is doing better than ever. Go figure...

I meant to post this the other day. One of the morning shows did a segment about the giant catalog. They said many customers are sending them back, hoping to send a clear message to RH. So at least it made the news in a bad way.

Marina, I agre with you. The catalog sucks the life out of me too!

Well, my email triggered the standard "oh we so care about the environment" response. I just hope somewhere in their marketing department, they are keeping track of the complaints they are receiving so they rethink this entire thing.

I'm afraid to post- I don't get the catalog and they'll probably track me down and add me to their list. I'm sure Marketing is keeping track of responses but they're reporting it "as look at all the attention we're getting!!" Marketing is not going to the boss with the info that their idea of a 20 pound catalog is not being received well, just that customer contact has increased by whatever %.