Roche Bobois of San Jose

Of the 3 times I’ve been to Roche Bobois I’ve never felt anything inspiring about their selection.
This is the ULTIMATE in overpriced, obnoxious, euro-​inspired bourgeois nonsense if I’ve ever seen it… and I’ve been to Design Within Reach a number of times!
The main difference in DWR and RB though, is that DWR is actually MORE within reach than RB.
The only good thing about RB is that one or two of the pieces in the showroom at any given time are actually good designs. I’m sure they will copied by some other manufacturers and made available to the public after being built in one of the number of outsourcing countries.
I wonder if people in France (or Italy where real design is done) actually fall for this charade. The placement of RB in a «not-​to-​upscale» mall such as Westgate seems kind of wrong but they were probably banking on unscrupulous dot com millionaires coming down from Saratoga/​Los Gatos/​Monte Sereno to purchase some $ 10K couches or $ 5K chairs. It would make sense that they would only have to sell a few items a month to break even… since I highly doubt that the materials comprise any substantial portion of the sale prices.
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Tavo T.
(seeing as you use public reviews as an email system)
thanks for the opinion… and it is just that. Unilocal is for honest opinions not style magazine reviews.
i KNOW how the designs originated there… that doesn’t mean that the store will find anyone receptive in that area (i live in saratoga and i still don’t find enough gaudy individuals who are interested in those designs — thank god).
design within reach is similar in that it takes a FEW original cutting-​edge designs and most of the good ones are from the 50’s (that’s also debatable as well) and makes them widely «available» but even their supplies are ridiculous and overabundant (even cliched at this time). once you’ve recognized corbusier in lex luthor’s or every drug dealer’s house in mainstream media… they’re no longer ahead of the curve in terms of innovation.
it’s not an education issue like you think… it’s a taste issue. this store is very «niche» oriented and 99% of the people will not appreciate it.
those designs at RB are really not worth the price gauging they are accustomed to (even if it does go to the artist). anyone can come up with those designs and if you are into collecting… you are paying for the design AND construction (the eames’ had it down with some nice woodworking) but there is really nothing special about most of those pieces.
the only people being embarrassed are those getting stuck with those items.
i would recommend sending some people (or going in person) to the SF store if you believe that someone else’s review is incorrect (which is logically impossible since it’s an opinion and is not bound by any objective criteria).
if they truly deserve a better review… then feel free. i haven’t seen any useful information or any compliments in your 5 star «review» yet.
if you find some pieces worthy of mentioning then i am very curious to see what they are. it may just win over some more people who you see as «embarrassing»
cheers!

Your typical furniture store touting «European designs» that look the same as everywhere else. Why is the Westgate mall filled with stores I’ve never heard of before?