Restoration Hardware To Open Central Ohio Distribution Facility

Furniture World Magazine

Restoration Hardware Inc. has signed a lease for a distribution center in West Jefferson, a move that could create 350 jobs in Central Ohio. The Corte Madera, Calif.-based specialty retailer announced it signed a lease for an 800,000-square-foot distribution center it expects to have ready by summer 2008. The facility will serve the company's East Coast retail stores and its non-furniture direct-to-customer business. Opening the West Jefferson facility will allow Restoration to phase out a third-party facility it operates in Nashville, the company said in a release. The company also was looking at Kentucky and Georgia for the project before signing the deal in Ohio. When Restoration was still negotiating with other locations, the state awarded the $17 million project a seven-year, 50 percent Job Creation Tax Credit valued at $1.1 million because the facility is projected to create 350 jobs within its first three years of operations. While the credit is contingent upon the facility staying open for 14 years, the lease Restoration signed is for 15 years. Restoration Hardware sells home furnishings, bathware and hardware. The company, which employs 3,800 workers, operates 102 retail stores and eight outlet shops in the U.S. and Canada. It recorded $3.4 million in profit on $712.8 million in revenue last year.