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Williams Sonoma history
Williams Sonoma company history timeline
Starting in 1956 with a Passion for Cooking
In 1956, tired of his carpentry career, Williams bought and began to renovate a building in Sonoma that included a failed hardware store.
1956: Charles Williams opens a store in Sonoma, California.
Williams-Sonoma's direct-to-customer business began with the introduction of the company's first catalog in 1971, called A Catalog For Cooks, marketing some of the company's products.
1972: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is formed as a corporation.
A second store was opened in Beverly Hills by 1973.
By 1977, the Williams-Sonoma chain had grown to five stores.
The company's first distribution center was opened in 1977, in Emeryville, California.
In 1978, Williams sold the company for $100,000 to W. Howard Lester, a former IBM salesman and founder of several computer services firms, and his partner, James McMahan.
In 1982, the company's catalog sales expanded when it acquired the Gardener's Eden catalog, then posting $100,000 in annual sales.
In 1982 the company purchased Gardeners Eden - a catalog offering plants, tools and garden related accessories.
Catalog mailings reached 30 million customers by 1983, and catalog sales accounted for more than 75 percent of the company's $35 million in annual revenues.
The company went public in 1983 as Williams-Sonoma, Inc., trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol WSGC. That year, the company also began distribution of its Hold Everything catalog, offering storage solution products.
By 1984, with sales reaching nearly $52 million, earnings had sunk to a mere $38,000.
The company's expansion led to the opening of its first distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1984.
By 1985, sales climbed to $68 million, earning the company a net of $2.4 million.
1985: The firm establishes a second retail chain, Hold Everything.
By 1985, a retail version of the concept was opened in Corte Madera, a quiet, upscale suburb north of San Francisco.
Ever expanding its brand, the company issued a Williams-Sonoma cookbook in 1986, as well.
The company's sales surged to $136.8 million, and net earnings of $3.4 million, by year-end 1987.
Following their proven business plan of establishing retail and direct channels, the company began mailing out the first Pottery Barn catalogs in 1987.
The company continued to grow aggressively, raising the number of Williams-Sonoma stores to 64 in 1988.
A fifth catalog was added to the Williams-Sonoma ranks in early 1989.
In 1989, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. took another step towards a leadership position in the home-furnishings market with the launch of the Chambers catalog.
With all the new business, the company began to outgrow its Memphis distribution center, and finished expansion of the center in 1991, extending it 307,000 sq. ft.
Sales in 1994 reached $528.5 million, for net earnings of $19.6 million.
1994: The Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn stores undergo a series of changes, including a new store format.
Hold Everything, with 35 retail stores in 1995 and its own mail-order catalog, offers a unique line of storage and organization products for the home.
Williams-Sonoma’s predictions in 1995 called for the company to reach $1 billion in sales by the turn of the century.
Since 1995, the Pottery Barn bridal registry has continued to grow as quickly as its predecessor."
In the following year, Chuck was added to the "Who's Who of Food and Beverage" by the James Beard Foundation, who also honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
Alber joined the company in 1995.
The first, in Las Vegas, NV, was opened in 1996.
Building on the successful venture, Williams published another book in 1997 about the history of food in the United States entitled, Celebrating the Pleasures of Cooking.
In 1998, the firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange and sales reached $1.1 billion.
Sure enough, the firm launched the Williams-Sonoma online bridal registry in June 1999, allowing customers to shop online for registry items.
The Gardener's Eden catalog was sold in 1999, as part of the firm's new strategy, which focused on its remaining brands and Internet business.
So, in 1999 the Pottery Barn Kids catalog was introduced, featuring a full line of furniture, bedding and more - all made especially for kids.
The Williams-Sonoma TASTE magazine also came to market in 2000, adding yet another publication to the company's arsenal.
Two years later another opened in Oklahoma City, OK, and in 2000, a third was opened in Camp Hill, PA.
So, in 2000, the Pottery Barn Bed + Bath catalog was launched to provide a more focused and in-depth exploration of products for these two rooms - from quilts and nightstands, to towels and faucets.
Williams-Sonoma will further efforts to streamline supply chain operations and lower expenses begun in 2001, with inventories down 10 percent from the previous year.
Officers: W. Howard Lester, 66, Chmn., 2001 base salary $899,787; Dale W. Hilpert, CEO, 2001 base salary $754,038; Charles E. Williams, Founder and VChmn., 86; Laura J. Alber, Pres.
Receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2001
The new brand was scheduled to sell lower-end kitchen and housewares items and was designed to complement the Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn brands--it was expected to launch in March 2002.
In a 2002 report, United States Bancorp Piper Jaffray upgraded Williams-Sonoma stock to Strong Buy, based on stronger than expected sales and the belief that the company is in the middle of a beneficial operational turnaround which would allow it to outperform others in the retail market.
Williams-Sonoma plans to test a new catalog in 2002 called West Elm.
Being inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Culinary Institute of America in 2002
The premier catalog was released nationwide in April 2003.
The Pottery Barn brand further expanded with the launch of PBteen in early 2003.
Premiering in September 2004, the Williams-Sonoma Home catalog marked the concept's launch.
The first Williams-Sonoma Home store opened in September 2005 on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, California.
Williams-Sonoma Home launched its e-commerce site in fall 2006 to immediate success.
By 2009, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was operating 610 stores with an annual revenue of over $3 billion.
In May 2010, Lester retired, and Laura Alber was named CEO of the umbrella organization.
In November 2011, the company acquired Portland, Oregon-based Rejuvenation, a manufacturer and direct marketer of light fixtures and hardware with stores in Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
The company launched a lifestyle brand offering personalized products, Mark and Graham, in November 2012.
Williams Sonoma's e-commerce sales were approximately 52 percent of its parent company's revenue of the first quarter of 2015.
"Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Encyclopedia.com. (June 21, 2022). https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/williams-sonoma-inc-0
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Williams Sonoma competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kohl's | 1962 | $16.2B | 110,000 | 1,367 |
| Vudu | 2004 | - | 180 | - |
| Neiman Marcus Group | 1907 | $4.9B | 13,500 | 11 |
| Nordstrom | 1901 | $15.0B | 74,000 | 1,053 |
| The Home Depot | 1978 | $159.5B | 500,001 | 22,818 |
| Sears Holdings | 2005 | $1.4B | 85,000 | 746 |
| Gap Inc. | 1969 | $15.1B | 117,000 | 44 |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | 1853 | $6.4B | 15,100 | 752 |
| Tailored Brands | 1973 | $2.9B | 19,300 | 780 |
| PacSun | 1982 | $797.8M | 10,300 | 941 |
Williams Sonoma history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Williams Sonoma, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Williams Sonoma. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Williams Sonoma. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Williams Sonoma. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Williams Sonoma and its employees or that of Zippia.
Williams Sonoma may also be known as or be related to Williams Sonoma, Williams-Sonoma Inc, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and Williams-sonoma, Inc.