Pottery Barn 2008 Annual Report Download - page 99

3250 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, California 94109
www.williams-sonomainc.com
PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE 2009 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Our Board of Directors is soliciting this Proxy Statement and the enclosed proxy card for use at our 2009 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and for any adjournment
or postponement of the meeting. Our Annual Meeting will be held at our corporate headquarters located at 3250
Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California 94109. Our Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ended
February 1, 2009, or fiscal 2008, including our financial statements for fiscal 2008, is also included with hard
copies of this proxy statement and posted on our website at www.williams-sonomainc.com/investors/annual-
reports.html. These proxy materials are first being mailed to shareholders and posted on our website on or about
April 9, 2009.
What is the purpose of the Annual Meeting?
Shareholders will be asked to vote on the following matters:
1) The election of our Board of Directors;
2) The ratification of the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent registered public
accounting firm for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2010;
3) A shareholder proposal recommending that the Board adopt a policy to appoint, whenever possible, an
independent director who has not previously served as one of our executive officers to serve as
Chairman; and
4) Such other business as may properly come before the meeting, or any adjournment or postponement of
the meeting, including shareholder proposals. At this time, we do not know of any other matters to be
brought before the Annual Meeting.
What is the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials?
In accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC,
instead of mailing a printed copy of our proxy materials to all shareholders entitled to vote at the Annual
Meeting, we are furnishing the proxy materials to certain of our shareholders over the Internet. If you received a
Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or the Notice, by mail, you will not receive a printed copy of
the proxy materials. Instead, the Notice will instruct you as to how you may access and review the proxy
materials and submit your vote via the Internet. If you received a Notice by mail and would like to receive a
printed copy of the proxy materials, please follow the instructions for requesting such materials included in the
Notice.
Choosing to receive your future proxy materials by e-mail will save us the cost of printing and mailing
documents to you and will reduce the impact of our Annual Meeting on the environment. If you choose to
receive future proxy materials by e-mail, you will receive an e-mail next year with instructions containing a link
to those materials and a link to the proxy voting site. Your election to receive proxy materials by e-mail will
remain in effect until you terminate it.
On the date of mailing of the Notice, all shareholders and beneficial owners will have the ability to access all of
our proxy materials on a website referred to in the Notice. These proxy materials will be available free of charge.
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