Beech Tree News Network

Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances and home furnishing.  It’s owned by Williams-Sonoma Inc.  In 1947, Chuck Williams settled in Sonoma, California and opened his first shop in France, where he quickly fell in love with French kitchenware such as copper cookware and is quoted as saying “I knew this was something that wasn’t found in America, but I thought people would want”.  Shortly after returning home, he formulated a plan to import French cooking and serving equipment into America and eventually converted his store into a cookware shop in 1956.  Thus, Williams Sonoma was founded, selling professional and restaurant-quality kitchenware for home use, leading to founder Chuck Williams being recognized as one of the titans of the American food revolution.

After customer requests, Williams relocated the store to San Francisco in 1958.  The store quickly became a destination with culinary figures such as Julia Child and James Beard becoming customers of the flagship location.  In 1972, along with-and at the suggestion of-regular customer Jackie Mallorca, Williams began publishing a mail order catalog to expand his business beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.  At the suggestion of customer and friend Edward Marcus, of Dallas-based Neiman Marcus, Williams decided to expand the company and formed the corporation, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in 1972.

The second Williams Sonoma store opened on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills in 1973.  The same year, Williams Sonoma introduced the Cuisinart food processor to the American market through its stores and catalog.  Williams decided to sell his share in the company in 1978 to W. Howard Lester, an Oklahoma entrepreneur, and businessman James McMahan.  Williams maintained an ownership interest and guided the selection of merchandise and production of the catalog.  Lester took an active role as President and chief executive, while McMahan was the company director.  At the time, Williams Sonoma had revenues of $4 million.

The company partnered with Time-Life Books in 1992 to release its first series of Williams Sonoma Kitchen Library cookbooks.  In 1999, Williams Sonoma launched an e-commerce site and bridal registry. 

In 2004, Williams Sonoma entered into an agreement with the CBS Early Show to broadcast a weekly segment called “The 5-minute cooking school”, which presented cooking techniques, styles and recipes.  The special weekly series was televised from Williams Sonoma’s east coast flagship store at The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York City’s Time Warner Center.  This was followed by the debut of upscale Williams Sonoma Home in 2005.  WS opened a store at the site of its original location in Sonoma, California in 2014.  Founder Chuck Williams celebrated his 99th birthday on the store’s opening on October 2, 2014.  (www.wikipedia.com)

Nothing to do with Williams Sonoma but I do host a weekly podcast called Blendertainment.  It’s available anywhere you get your podcasts.  As the name suggests, I cover a bit of everything: sports, music, TV, movies, etc.  March Madness kicks into full gear this weekend so I might do more than one episode this weekend.  I’d share the Spotify link, but Spotify has been down the last several hours.  Just type Blendertainment into the search engine of wherever you listen to podcasts.  Odds are you’ll find it. Until next week, thanks for reading!