Retail real estate veteran David Stanchak, who's opened more than 2,500 store locations and managed real estate portfolios while working for RH, Dick’s Sporting Goods, DSW Shoe Warehouse and others, is back at RH to unlock the value of some of its properties via sale-leaseback transactions.
Corte Madera, California-based RH, a seller of design-focused luxury home furnishing and other goods, said this week that Stanchak returned to the company as chief real estate and transformation officer. Stanchak also will lead RH's "efforts to monetize the Company’s significant portfolio of real estate assets in the United States and Europe," the company said. He spent the previous several years at the Wheelhouse Family Foundation, a nonprofit group he co-founded that supports people who help those in need in Pittsburgh.
Stanchak worked at RH from April 2015 through May 2021, serving as president and chief real estate officer. RH Chairman and CEO Gary Friedman credited Stanchak with leading the chain's gallery platform expansion across the globe and transformation of its existing stores into design galleries with integrated restaurants and wine and coffee bars during his first stint. Those moves, including Stanchak's "pioneering Sale–Leaseback Development projects," helped position RH as a top luxury home furnishings brand in North America, Friedman said in a statement.
Now Stanchuk appears poised to expand that sale-leaseback program centered on selling store properties and leasing them back to free up cash for other uses. During RH's latest earnings call, in December, Friedman hinted at more potential real estate transactions. "We ended [the third quarter] with real estate assets that we believe have an estimated equity value of approximately $500 million and that we plan to monetize opportunistically as market conditions warrant," he told analysts and investors according to a transcript.
As of Nov. 1, RH operated more than 130 stores including 73 RH Galleries and 43 RH Outlet stores across the U.S., Canada and Europe.