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Williams Sonoma

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. The company primarily generates revenue through retail and direct to customer.

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 Williams-Sonoma Home, West Elm, Pottery Barn Bed + Bath and PBteen. 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: 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.

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. This was followed by the debut of Williams-Sonoma Home stores in 2005, and Pottery Barn Bed and Bath in 2006. Williams-Sonoma Home is a high end purveyor of furniture and home furnishings, while Pottery Barn Bed and Bath focuses on Pottery Barn's popular bathroom furnishings.

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.

In 2005, Williams-Sonoma entered into a partnership with CBS News "The Early Show" broadcasting 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 the Williams-Sonoma flagship store at Columbus Circle in New York City.

Source: Wikipedia - News Reports

WILLIAMS-SONOMA NEWS