Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is a high-end American consumer retail company that sells kitchenwares, furniture and linens, as well as other housewares and home furnishings, along with a variety of specialty foods, soaps and lotions. Its international corporate headquarters are in
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The company operates 560 retail stores (2005) in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
under a portfolio of brands, including 255 Williams-Sonoma, 180
Pottery BarnPottery Barn is an American-based home furnishing store chain with retail stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Since September 1986, when it was purchased from GAP, Inc, Pottery Barn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc....
and 90 Pottery Barn Kids stores. Other subsidiary brands include Williams-Sonoma Home,
West ElmWest Elm is an upscale retail store that features contemporary furniture designs and other housewares. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. There are currently 37 stores in 18 states, the Canadian province of Ontario, and Puerto Rico. Customers are able to shop in-store,...
, Pottery Barn Bed & Bath and PBteen. The company reported revenue for fiscal year 2005 of more than (U.S.) $3.539 billion and claimed more than 7,700 full-time employees.
History
Williams-Sonoma was founded in 1956 by Charles E. (Chuck) Williams, selling professional and restaurant-quality kitchenwares for home use. Chuck Williams was one of the titans of the American food revolution. He had a tough childhood made even more so by the great depression. By the time he was a teenager he was on his own working his way through high school at a California date farm. During WWII he repaired war planes in East Africa and India. In 1953 took his first trip to France. He quickly fell in love with French kitchenware such as copper cookware, and is quoted as saying "I knew this was something that wasn't found in America, but thought people would want." Soon after, he formulated a plan to import French cookware into America. He settled in Sonoma, California in 1947 and taught himself how to build houses before opening his first shop several blocks from the town square. The store quickly became a destination. In 1958, at the suggestion of
customerA customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
s and friends, Williams relocated the store to San Francisco. In 1971, along with—and at the suggestion of—regular customer Jackie Mallorca, Williams began publishing a mail order catalog to expand his business beyond the
San Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. By 1972 he was sending out thousands of catalogs, took on partners, borrowed money and opened more stores.
Williams has credited the selection and
merchandisingMerchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
of products in the store as primary contributors to Williams-Sonoma's success:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2003/09/01/350785/index.htm
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 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 stores in several new locations, including
Beverly HillsBeverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, California. The new management team soon ran the company into debt, however, and Williams decided to sell his share, although he was retained to help guide the selection of merchandise and the production of the catalog.
W. Howard LesterW. Howard Lester was an American businessman who took over Williams-Sonoma in 1976 and acquired Pottery Barn in 1986, building a major catalog retailer that had more than 600 stores and annual sales of $3.4 billion by the time of his death.-Biography:Lester was born on August 14, 1935, in Durant,...
, an Oklahoma entrepreneur purchased the company in 1978, which at the time had revenues of $4 million and debt of $700,000, in 1976 for $100,000.
The company
went publicAn initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in 1983. In September 1986, Williams-Sonoma acquired Pottery Barn, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1999, the company introduced Pottery Barn Kids, and it 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
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Today, the Canadian division encompasses 15 stores representing the Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm brands in Toronto,
CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
and Vancouver, Canada. In 2008, the company opened Pottery Barn and West Elm stores at
Plaza Las AmericasPlaza Las Américas is a shopping mall in Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, located at the intersection of Routes 18 and 22. It is near the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, and the WKAQ-TV's studios. "Plaza", as it is known to many Puerto Ricans, was the first indoor mall built...
in
Hato ReyHato Rey is a former ward located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three wards of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico:*Hato Rey Central*Hato Rey Norte*Hato Rey Sur...
,
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, a district of the capital
San JuanSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
.
In 2005, Williams-Sonoma entered into an agreement with the CBS News weekday program "
The Early ShowThe Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
" to broadcast a segment, "The 5-Minute Cooking School," which presents cooking techniques, styles and recipes. The special series is televised from Williams-Sonoma's East Coast flagship store at the
Shops at Columbus CircleThe Shops at Columbus Circle is an urban shopping mall in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, New York City — a complex of skyscrapers that was completed in 2003. It is located at Columbus Circle, next to the southwestern corner of Central Park...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's
Time Warner CenterThe Time Warner Center is a mixed-use skyscraper developed by AREA Property Partners and The Related Companies in New York City. Its design, by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, consists of two 750 ft towers bridged by a multi-story atrium containing upscale retail shops...
. (The brand's primary and West Coast flagship store is on
Union SquareUnion Square is a plaza of bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks. The area got its name because it was once used for rallies and...
in San Francisco.)
In November 2011, the company acquired
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
-based
Rejuvenation, Inc.Rejuvenation is an American manufacturer and direct marketer of light fixtures and hardware. The company builds most of their lighting in Portland, Oregon. Williams-Sonoma acquired the company in November 2011. -History:...
, a manufacturer and direct marketer of light fixtures and hardware with stores in
PortlandPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
,
SeattleSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Though Williams-Sonoma has the word "Sonoma" in its name to indicate the lifestyle of Sonoma County, there are no Williams-Sonoma stores in Sonoma County.
External links