Pottery Barn 2014 Annual Report Download - page 8

Our catalogs and retail stores remain critical components of our strategy. They bring our brands to life.
We are developing new store designs that will provide a more immersive experience and complement
the high-touch, personalized service that has been our hallmark. Our catalogs are evolving, with new
formats that target customers’ specialized interests, inspiring our customers with cooking and
entertaining ideas, as well as ways to help them create the home of their dreams.
We know that we will only be successful in the future if we can continue to offer our customers
outstanding products. We see ourselves as both brand creators and brand builders – offering products
that address our customers’ needs with merchandise that enhances their lifestyles at each life-stage.
Today, we create, design, and have contract manufactured almost ninety percent of what we sell. This
capability will allow us to continue to grow our existing brands and build new ones. We are always
looking for “white space”– customer needs that are not being adequately addressed.
We will extend our leadership position with technology investments to support our supply chain, our
websites, and our analytics capability. Over the next several years, we plan to complete the transition to
a more flexible fulfillment infrastructure, implement an advanced inventory planning system, and add
enhancements to our marketing systems to leverage our data science expertise. These investments will
reduce costs, increase our flexibility, and help us deliver more value to our customers.
Each year, we strive to be ever better corporate citizens and to engage in meaningful ways – from the
communities where we have a presence to the countries around the world where we source our
merchandise. We support a range of philanthropic efforts – from matching gift programs that amplify
our associates’ giving, to brand and corporate-wide initiatives. In 2014, we celebrated our 10th year of
participation in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Thanks & Giving Campaign. Our generous
customers and associates have raised over $30 million in support of the children of St. Jude. We also
pledged to raise an additional $30 million. We will be the presenting sponsor of the St. Jude Cure4Kids
website, a free website dedicated to improving health care for children with cancer and other life-
threatening diseases, by offering first-rate content for continuing education as well as web
communication tools to be shared among health professionals around the globe.
Each of our brands supports a meaningful initiative centered on our corporate philanthropy vision of
supporting children and families in need. The Williams-Sonoma brand supports Share our Strength,
whose goal is to provide healthy school lunches for underprivileged children. Pottery Barn’s “Give a
Little” program is founded on the belief that everyone deserves a dignified and safe place to call home.
As part of this campaign, Pottery Barn has given grants to 22 shelters across the United States. In 2014,
West Elm became the first home retailer to offer Fair Trade Certified products, delivering a premium
directly back to the workers to fund additional healthcare.
To achieve our goals we must continue to invest in building the best team in retail. To do that, we have
to be a great place to work. And increasingly, we are being recognized as such. In 2014, UC Davis
Graduate School of Management ranked Williams-Sonoma, Inc. #1 in gender equity among the 400
largest California companies. In addition, earlier this year, the National Association of Female
Executives named Williams-Sonoma, Inc. as one of the 50 best companies to work for executive
women. We continue to invest significantly in our inclusion and diversity programs across the company
in order to advance our company culture priorities and develop a deeper understanding of our ever
expanding global customer-base.