Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

Williams-Sonoma

Williams Sonoma logo
Company type	Public (NYSE: WSM)
Industry	Consumer Retail [1]
Founded	Sonoma, California in 1956
Headquarters	San Francisco, California ]]
Key people	Charles E. (Chuck) Williams, Founder Howard Lester, CEO
Products	Cookware, Dishware, Furniture, Home Furnishings, Linens and Specialty Foods
Revenue	(U.S.) $3.539 bill. (FY2005 net) (U.S.) ($3.137 bill)
Number of employees	7,700 full time as of January 29, 2006
Website	www.williams-sonoma.com

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) is an American consumer retail company that sells kitchenware, furniture, linens and other housewares and home furnishings, along with a variety of specialty foods and retail items. Its international corporate headquarters and primary offices are located in San Francisco, California. The company primarily generates revenue through retail and direct-to-customer channels ([[mail order catalog|mail-order catalog] and internet).

The company operates 560 retail stores (2005) in the United States and Canada under its various brand names, including 255 Williams-Sonoma, 180 Pottery Barn and 90 Pottery Barn Kids stores. Other brands include Williams-Sonoma Home, West Elm, Pottery Barn Bed & Bath and PBteen. For fiscal year 2005 the company reported revenues of more than (U.S.) $3.539 billion and claimed more than 7,700 full-time employees.

Williams-Sonoma maintains a large centralized distribution center in Olive Branch, Mississippi, just outside Memphis, Tennessee. The facility serves both its retail stores and direct-to-customer orders. The complex spans approximately 3.2 million square feet and is planned to expand.

History

Williams-Sonoma was founded in 1956 by Charles E. (Chuck) Williams (b. 1915) in Sonoma, California, selling professional-quality cooking merchandise for home use. In 1958, at the suggestion of customers and friends, Williams relocated the store to San Francisco. In 1971, along with---and at the suggestion of---regular customer Jackie Mallorca, Williams published a mail-order catalog to expand his business beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.

Williams has credited the selection and merchandising of products in the store as primary contributors to Williams-Sonoma's success: [2]

Not many people in this country had seen some of the things we were selling, so I thought you should see each pan in the best possible way. I put them up on a shelf in size order, with all the handles facing the same way, ensuring that anyone walking in would see the display at its best angle. If somebody wanted to buy something, he had to ask me to get it for him, thus creating conversation. As in the upscale stores I had worked in, I tried to build the place so that it demanded that customers be served.

Williams-Sonoma's primary flagship store on San Francisco's Union Square.

The company was incorporated in California on April 9, 1973, and brought on a management team to oversee the business. Beginning that same year, the company opened new stores in several other locations, including Beverly Hills, California. The new management team soon ran the company into debt and Williams decided to sell his share, although he was retained to help guide the selection of merchandise and production of the catalog.

The company went public in 1983. In September 1986, Williams-Sonoma acquired Pottery Barn, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1999, the company created Pottery Barn Kids and further expanded the Pottery Barn brand with PBteen in early 2003. Also in 2003, the company launched the contemporary West Elm brand. This was followed by the debut of upscale Williams-Sonoma Home stores in 2005 and specialty retailer Pottery Barn Bed & Bath in 2006. Williams-Sonoma Home is a high-end purveyor of home furnishings, while Pottery Barn Bed & Bath focuses on that brand's popular bedroom and bathroom furnishings.

October 20, 2001, marked the opening of the company's first international stores in Toronto, Canada. Today, the Canadian division claims 14 stores representing the Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids brands in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, Canada. Plans in 2008 include opening a Pottery Barn and a West Elm store in Plaza Las Americas, the retailing facility in the Caribbean and the first American-style shopping mall built in Puerto Rico as well as one of the largest in the southeastern United States.

In 2005, Williams-Sonoma entered into an agreement with CBS News "The Early Show" to broadcast a popular segment called "The 5-Minute Cooking School." This segment introduces viewers to cooking techniques, styles and recipes. The special series is televised from Williams-Sonoma's East Coast flagship store at Columbus Circle in New York City. (The brand's primary and West Coast flagship store is on Union Square in San Francisco.)

References in popular culture

• In 2004, Oprah selected Williams-Sonoma Home Bedding to her list of "Oprah's Favorite Things 2004." [3]

• In 2005, Oprah selected Williams-Sonoma's croissants to her list of "Oprah's Favorite Things 2005." [4]

• In 2007, Oprah selected Williams-Sonoma's melamine mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons; Perfect Ending Cupcakes and Breville's Ikon Panini Press (sold by Williams-Sonoma) to her list of "Oprah's Favorite Things 2007." [5]

• In the hit television show Sex and the City (Season 1, Episode 3: Bay of Married Pigs), the character Carrie Bradshaw helped her date pick a "top-of-the-line cheese grater from Williams-Sonoma."

External links

• Photos of Williams-Sonoma flagship store in San Francisco
• Williams-Sonoma, Inc. website
• Oprah's Favorite Things 2004
• Oprah's Favorite Things 2005
• How Williams-Sonoma got started. The company's history according to the founder, Chuck Williams.
• Design Trade Program - good summary about what each Williams-Sonoma subsidiary does.
• Design Packaging Inc.