In social settings, when people find out I am an interior designer - some way, somehow West Elm gets brought up. People love it or skeptically hate it. I admit, I have not been in the residential world for a very long time. But there's something about West Elm that I just have to get off my chest - you've dropped the ball, are a disappointment, make me roll my eyes and question the logic of whoever wants to enter into a brand partnership with you.
I'm recovering from covid and decided to switch gears from Bravo bubble gum nonsense TV and cruise the interwebs for some design content to read up on. I actually wanted to grab some images from Mitchell Gold and maybe start adding some better content to this here blog, but to my surprise they've gone fully under. I heard the news second hand earlier this week, but thought it was just a local store that shut its doors. As you can see, my current state is that of an under-energized, ill-informed, covid-recovering, semi-cynical designer. I'm in need of a boost because MGBW closing, and that is sad news.
It's 2023, August and I thought I would lift my spirits to some positive feedback from another retail store - West Elm. West Elm Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of westelm.com (trustpilot.com). I'm curious to see how they're doing these days. Retail isn't easy, and this company is popular? Is it? I'm not sure... because I can't get away from hearing people's complaints. Every time I mention I am an interior designer people from the retail customer world volunteer their very own I survived West Elm story in hopes that I can help them understand what went wrong. I haven't heard too much about them lately so, I figured a redemption story would brighten my mood.
Wow I was wrong. It was sad to see how recent the complaints about West Elm were submitted. But it motivated me to pick up my game and do what I set out to do with Patrons of Design. To keep the promise I made myself, I'm not going to spend the next lines shining a light on negative experience people have had for years on a single company. Instead, I'm renewing my enthusiasm for shedding light on glowingly gorgeous design companies that deliver good design.
I've got some exciting, design-related travel coming up and this post is a person kick in the ass to remind myself to capture and share more examples of good design that people can bring into their lives.
Additional points of interest:
I noticed a lot of the complaints relate to shipping time, so take that with a grain of salt.
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