| Type | Public (NYSE: WSM) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer Retail [1] |
| Founded | Sonoma, California in 1956 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Key people | W. Howard Lester, CEO |
| Products | Kitchenwares, Housewares, Furniture, Home Furnishings, Linens and Specialty Foods |
| Revenue | (U.S.) $3.539 billion (FY2005 net) (U.S.) ($3.137 billion) |
| Employees | 7,700 full time as of January 29, 2006 |
| Website | williams-sonomainc.com |
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) 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 Francisco, California.
The company operates 560 retail stores (2005) in the United States and Canada under a portfolio of brands, including 255 Williams-Sonoma, 180 Pottery Barn and 90 Pottery Barn Kids stores. Other subsidiary brands include Williams-Sonoma Home, West Elm, 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. Perhaps their biggest competitor is Le Gourmet Chef.
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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 customers 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 Area. By 1972 he was sending out thousands of catalogs, took on partners, borrowed money and opened more stores.[1]
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 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 Hills, 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 Lester, an Oklahoma entrepreneur[2] purchased the company in 1978, which at the time had revenues of $4 million and debt of $700,000, in 1976 for $100,000.[3]
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 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 Toronto, Canada. Today, the Canadian division encompasses 15 stores representing the Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm brands in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, Canada. In 2008, the company opened Pottery Barn and West Elm stores at Plaza Las Americas in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, a district of the capital San Juan.
In 2005, Williams-Sonoma entered into an agreement with the CBS News weekday program "The Early Show" 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 Circle in New York City's Time Warner Center. (The brand's primary and West Coast flagship store is on Union Square in San Francisco.)
In November 2011, the company acquired Portland, Oregon-based Rejuvenation, Inc., a manufacturer and direct marketer of light fixtures and hardware with stores in Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles. [4]
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.
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