By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Feb 18, 2016 at 5:01 PM

If you remember Restoration Hardware as a store in the mall that sold primarily tchotchkes and door pulls, the new Third Ward outlet store that opened today at 224 E. Chicago St. might surprise you.

The massive, light-filled space – formerly the home of Rubin’s Furniture – is stocked with furniture including couches, chairs, tables, cribs, dressers, patio items and more. There’s also a large selection of rugs, light fixtures and decorative sculpture along with a table that’s stacked with nostalgic kids’ items such as a sock monkey kit, wooden yo-yos, mini Etch-A-Sketches and dominos.

The prices for most items are discounted by 20-50 percent of the prices in retail stores, catalogs and online.

Restoration Hardware is an American home-furnishings company headquartered in Corte Madera, Calif. It morphed in concept numerous times to appeal to a variety of budgets and shoppers, from swinging singletons to new parents. There are about 70 stores in the United States and Canada.

This is the only Restoration Hardware outlet in Wisconsin. The Mayfair Mall store, which was much smaller, closed in 2013 after 12 years in business.

We stopped in at the new "RH" today to check it out. Here's a peek at what we saw. 

1. 36,000 square feet!

2. 50 shades of neutral tones

3. As far as the eye can see

4. Big hands; awkward high fives

5. Take a load off

6. A reinvention of the wheel? 

7. Horn section

8. Save now, sit later

9. Let there be ...

10. Sock banana not included


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.