Williams Sonoma Inc's Business Segments

Williams-Sonoma, Inc., incorporated in 1973, is a multi-channel specialty retailer of high quality products for the home.
In 1956, our founder, Chuck Williams, turned a passion for cooking and eating with friends into a small business with a big idea. He opened a store in Sonoma, California, to sell the French cookware that intrigued him while visiting Europe but that could not be found in America. Chuck’s business, which set a standard for customer service, took off and helped fuel a revolution in American cooking and entertaining that continues today.
In the decades that followed, the quality of our products, our ability to identify new opportunities in the market and our people-first approach to business have facilitated our expansion beyond the kitchen into nearly every area of the home. Additionally, by embracing new technologies and customer-engagement strategies as they emerge, we are able to continually refine our best-in-class approach to multi-channel retailing.

E-COMMERCE OPERATIONS
The e-commerce channel had the following merchandising strategies: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, PBteen, Williams-Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham, which sell our products through our e-commerce websites and direct-mail catalogs. We offer shipping from many of our brands to countries worldwide, while our catalogs reach customers across the U.S. and Australia. The e-commerce channel complements the retail channel by building brand awareness and acting as an effective advertising vehicle. In addition, we believe that our e-commerce websites and our direct-mail catalogs act as a cost-efficient means of testing market acceptance of new products and new brands. Leveraging these insights and our multi-channel positioning, our marketing efforts, including the use of online advertising and the circulation of catalogs, are targeted toward driving sales to all of our channels, including retail. Consistent with our published privacy policies, we send our catalogs to addresses from our proprietary customer list, as well as to addresses from lists of other mail order direct marketers, magazines and companies with which we establish a business relationship. In accordance with prevailing industry practice and our privacy policies, we may also rent our list to select mailers. Our customer mailings are continually updated to include new prospects and to eliminate non-responders.

RETAIL STORES
The retail channel had the following merchandising strategies: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm and Rejuvenation, operating 618 stores comprising 571 stores in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, 27 stores in Canada, 19 stores in Australia and 1 store in the United Kingdom. We also have multi-year franchise agreements with third parties that currently operate 48 franchised stores and/or e-commerce websites in a number of countries in the Middle East, the Philippines and Mexico. The retail business complements the e-commerce business by building brand awareness and attracting new customers to our brands. Our retail stores serve as billboards for our brands, which we believe inspires our customers to shop online and through our catalogs.