Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Celebrates 50 Years; The Company That Changed the Way America Cooks and...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Founder Chuck Williams and Chairman and CEO Howard Lester today rang The Opening Bell(SM) of the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary. The executives were joined by EVP and CMO Patrick Connolly and COO and

Williams opened the doors of his first Williams-Sonoma store in Sonoma, Calif., in September 1956. Fifty years later, the company is a nationwide specialty retailer of high-quality products for the home with six distinct merchandise strategies including Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, West Elm and Williams-Sonoma Home.

"It all started in 1952, when I traveled to Paris and was introduced to classic French cooking equipment like omelet pans and souffle molds whose quality I'd never seen in the U.S.," recalls Williams. "I figured that Americans should have access to specialty cookware too, so I opened my little French cookware shop in Sonoma, before moving it to Sutter Street in San Francisco a year later."

Williams-Sonoma's popularity grew in the 1960s, part of a culinary renaissance that was changing the way Americans thought about and cooked food. Primarily due to a group of people with a passion for preparing food, Williams' small San Francisco kitchen store and a new type of television program -- the cooking show -- people were rediscovering the kitchen as the center of the home.

"The timing was perfect," says Williams. "Julia Child's cooking show was finding an audience. She would show how to make a souffle one night, and the next day people would come in asking about souffle dishes. James Beard had also started coming by the store and we became good friends. There were others, too, like Helen Evans Brown and the food writer Elizabeth David."

Today, Williams-Sonoma is a unique multichannel retailer marketing its brands through 573 stores, seven mail-order catalogs and six e-commerce websites. Despite its growth, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has continued to focus on the core values that have distinguished the company since its start: quality, design and customer service.

"We have always had incredible merchants who source the best products throughout the world, talented design teams who create quality merchandise exclusive to our brands, and retail stores and catalogs that focus on outstanding customer service," says Lester. "We are also proud of our award-winning websites which make it easier for customers to experience our brands. Staying focused on quality, design and customer service has allowed us to grow and develop new brands that address all areas of the home, and we will continue this commitment to excellence into the next 50 years."

ABOUT WILLIAMS-SONOMA

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is a nationwide specialty retailer of high-quality products for the home. These products, representing six distinct merchandise strategies -- Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, West Elm and Williams-Sonoma Home -- are marketed through 573 stores, seven mail-order catalogs and six e-commerce websites.