Pottery Barn 2012 Annual Report Download - page 17

PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. 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.
Today, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is one of the United States’ largest e-commerce retailers with some of the best
known and most beloved brands in home furnishings. We currently operate retail stores in the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico, and franchise our brands to a third party in a number of countries in the Middle East,
including Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Our products are also
available to customers through our catalogs and online worldwide.
Williams-Sonoma
From the beginning, our namesake brand, Williams-Sonoma, has been bringing people together around food. A
leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, the brand seeks to provide world-
class service and an engaging customer experience. Williams-Sonoma products include everything for cooking,
dining and entertaining, including: cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor and a vast library
of cookbooks.
Pottery Barn
Established in 1949 and acquired by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in 1986, Pottery Barn is a premier multi-channel
home furnishings retailer. The brand was founded on the idea that home furnishings should be exceptional in
comfort, quality, style and value. Pottery Barn stores and catalogs are specially designed to make shopping an
enjoyable experience, with inspirational lifestyle displays dedicated to every space in the home.
Pottery Barn Kids
Launched in 1999, Pottery Barn Kids serves as an inspirational destination for creating childhood memories by
decorating nurseries, bedrooms and play spaces. Pottery Barn Kids offers exclusive, innovative and high-quality
products designed specifically for creating magical spaces where children can play, laugh, learn and grow.
West Elm
Since its launch in 2002, West Elm has been helping customers express their personal style at home with
authentic, affordable and approachable products. West Elm offers a broad range of home furnishing categories
including furniture, textiles, decorative accessories, lighting and tabletop items. Each season, West Elm’s
talented in-house team of designers create a collection that cannot be found anywhere else, and work with artists
and independent designers both globally and locally to develop collaborations that are exclusive to the brand. The
brand also works closely with organizations that support the development of craft and artisan skills to offer
handcrafted and one-of-a-kind discoveries from around the world.
In late 2012, we extended our West Elm brand to include West Elm Market, which offers customers a total home
toolkit in four key product categories — kitchen, garden, care and repair and personal care — while focusing on
functional design, local production, entrepreneurship and community connections. These products are available
in West Elm Market stand-alone stores and select West Elm stores in North America, as well as online through
the West Elm website.
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Form 10-K