Last month, it was Nutiva, and this month it is Restoration Hardware and Tissue Banks International.

If you read the city Manager’s Weekly Report, you were informed that Restoration Hardware is moving its corporate offices from Corte Madera to Richmond, where it already has a presence but will be adding 200,000 square feet and 100 employees. The company was in the news yesterday for going public and raising $124 million.

I happened on to a meeting at City Hall with city staff and Restoration hardware staff on Thursday and asked what motivated them to move to Richmond. They responded that there simply is no more space available in Marin, and having already occupied a 50,000 square foot sample warehouse in Marina Bay, they found Richmond an attractive location and the City of Richmond easy to work with.

The facility at 2900 Atlas Road will house a photography studio for web photo sets, a samples warehouse, and corporate offices. The anticipated 12-set web studio is projected to be ready for production in early spring of 2013.  RH is projecting 100 employees at the Atlas facility at full capacity.  The majority of employees (60-80) will work in the web photo studio.  The warehouse will store samples needed for photo shoots and will employ up to 20 people.  In addition, the facility will house some corporate offices.  RH is relocating and expanding the photography studio presently located in Corte Madera and consolidating the samples warehouse currently located at Marina Way South.

Bringing new businesses to Richmond 100 employees at a time is having a huge impact on our economy and is proving that despite what the Chamber of Commerce says, the Richmond City Council majority has created a business friendly climate.

Tissue Banks International (TBI), a non-profit, non-governmental network of eye and tissue banks, and the largest provider of ocular tissue in the world, is relocating to Richmond from San Rafael.  TBI closed escrow on the purchase of a 57,800 square foot building at 880 Harbour Way South. TBI/Tissue Banks started as a single eye bank in 1962, and has grown to a network that covers the United States and reaches around the globe.   Each year, more than 130,000 TBI tissues are used in transplant surgery, with thousands more utilized in research and medical education. TBI is a recognized innovator in the field of eye and tissue banking and has led advancements in recovery, processing, and distribution of allograft tissue.

The following story is from the AP:

Restoration Hardware jumps 29 percent on first day

Associated Press
November 03, 2012
NEW YORK — Shares of Restoration Hardware jumped in its first day of trading, as investors decided to take a bet on a familiar retail name and the gradual housing recovery.
Shares rose $7.01, or 29.2 percent, to $31.01 in Friday afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The home decor retailer and its shareholders raised $124 million, selling 5.2 million shares for $24 each.
Restoration Hardware, which operates more than 70 retail stores, is going public several years into a turnaround.
The company was losing money when it was bought by a private equity firm in in 2008. It has since redesigned stores, revamped its product line, and focused on a higher-end market.
In the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, the company had net income of $20.3 million, compared with a loss of $8.1 million in the prior year. Revenue rose 24 percent to $958.1 million.
Restoration Hardware sells items in a wide range of categories including furniture, lighting, textiles, bathware, décor, outdoor and garden, and baby and child products.
Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc., based in Corte Madera, Calif., is trading under the ‘‘RH’’ ticker symbol.