Restoration Hardware moving to Southdale with luxurious rooftop restaurant

Restoration Hardware, the luxury furniture and home furnishings retailer now called RH, will close in Edina's Galleria on Sept. 26 and open a much larger free-standing "gallery" store on Southdale's southwest corner one day later.

RH's new gallery store is a three-story mansion that will be nearly four times the size of the Galleria store. At 50,000 square feet, it will include a rooftop restaurant and barista bar.

In other locations such as Chicago and West Palm Beach, the restaurants alone have brought in $4 million to $6 million annually, according to a statement made RH CEO Gary Friedman.

In most locations, customers are allowed to take a glass of wine as they roam around the store, but a 2018 House bill that would have allowed that in Minnesota, authored by Rep. Dario Anselmo, R-Edina, did not pass.

The Galleria store will not have a moving sale, store employees said Thursday. Nor will the floor model merchandise be sent to the RH outlet at West End in St. Louis Park.

Most national retailers now send clearance or floor samples to a centrally located warehouse and then distribute them among all outlets. RH has nearly 40 outlet stores in the U.S., including the St. Louis Park location that opened in 2018.

Representatives at the Galleria confirmed that Sept. 26 will be the last day of business for RH in their center, but there are no immediate plans to lease RH's space this year.

"Restoration Hardware has a lease through the end of 2019 with the Galleria," said Wendy Eisenberg, general manager at the Galleria, in a statement. "We're continuing discussions with prospective prospects for the space and hope to have an exciting announcement next year."

California-based RH currently has more than 15 other "gallery" locations in the U.S. but only select locations have a restaurant, including Chicago, New York City, West Palm Beach, Yountville in Napa Valley and Nashville.