Williams-Sonoma
|
|
| Type |
Public (NYSE: [1]) |
| Founded |
In 1956 in Sonoma, California |
| Headquarters |
San Francisco, California |
| Key people |
Chuck Williams, Founder
Howard Lester, CEO |
| Industry |
Home Furnishing Stores [2] |
| Products |
Cookware, Dishware, and Food |
| Revenue |
$3.539 bill. (FY2005 net)
($3.137 bill) |
| Employees |
7,700 fulltime as of January 29, 2006 |
| Website |
www.williams-sonoma.com |
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) is an American company that sells specialty cooking utensils and other housewares, along with a variety of foods including gourmet coffees. Its principal office is in San Francisco, California.
Williams-Sonoma store in San Francisco's Union Square.
In 2005, the company operated 560 retail stores 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 brand names include Hold Everything (which folded in 2006), Williams-Sonoma Home, and more recently, West Elm. For fiscal year 2005 it reported revenues of over US$3.539 billion and 7,700 fulltime employees.
The original Williams-Sonoma was founded by Chuck Williams in Sonoma, California in 1956 as a store selling restaurant-quality cooking utensils, such as heavy sauté pans and huge stockpots, for home use. In 1958, at the suggestion of customers and friends, Williams moved the store to San Francisco. In 1971, Williams, along with, and at the suggestion of regular customer Jackie Mallorca, produced a sales catalog to expand the business beyond the Bay Area.
Williams has credited the layout of merchandise in the store as a cause of Williams-Sonoma's success: [3]
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.
The company was incorporated in California on April 9, 1973, and hired a management team to run the business. That same year the company opened new stores in other locations, including Beverly Hills, California. The new management soon ran the company into debt and Williams decided to sell his share of the company, although he was retained to choose merchandise and produce 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, Williams Sonoma created the Pottery Barn Kids, and the brand was further expanded with PB Teen in early 2003. Also in 2003, West Elm was created.
October 20, 2001 marked the opening of the company's first international stores in Toronto, Canada. Today, the Canadian division has 14 stores representing the Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and Pottery Barn Kids brands in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.
External links
- Williams-Sonoma website
- How we got started. Chuck Williams's own account.
Categories: Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Retail companies of the United States | Companies based in San Francisco | Fortune 1000
