Investor Updates
Williams-Sonoma chooses Australia for first leg of global expansion
3 May 2013
Upmarket furniture and gourmet cookware retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc has launched four new stores in Sydney, its first company-owned stores outside North America.
The iconic company has opened stores under its Williams-Sonoma cookware, Pottery Barn furniture, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm affordable furniture banners on a site spanning 2,040 square metres (22,000 square feet) in Sydney’s popular Bondi Junction shopping precinct.
Craig Nomura, Williams-Sonoma's senior vice-president of global development, said Australia’s strong economic performance was a drawing card in the company’s decision to extend its brands beyond the United States and Canada.
"I've looked at the numbers in terms of performance of retailers over the past two or three years and, relatively speaking, Australia's performance is better than most other countries around the world," Mr Nomura told The Australian newspaper.
"Secondly, the familiarity with our products and being an English-speaking country certainly made it palatable to open a store in Australia."
Mr Nomura said Australia is Williams-Sonoma’s largest online market outside the United States.
“For a country that only has 23 million people, that's quite impressive," he said.
The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) worked closely with Williams-Sonoma to help make the iconic retailer's expansion to Australia smooth and successful.
Williams-Sonoma's product range is also expanding, and Austrade has helped the company find domestic suppliers for its stores in Australia and, in some cases, products for export to North America.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell officially opened Williams-Sonoma’s first stores in Australia.
“The United States continues to be the largest source of foreign direct investment in Australia and is a priority market for NSW,” he said in a statement.
The company plans to open a West Elm store on Melbourne’s fashionable Chapel Street later this year and is looking for more locations in Australia.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc is headquartered in San Francisco. It was founded in 1956 as a small store selling cookware imported from France. Today, its stratified merchandising strategy covers seven store brands operating from a total of 579 stores in the US and Canada, as well as associated direct mail catalogues and e-commerce websites. Its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and are valued at more than US$5 billion.
More information