Williams-Sonoma Will Continue Store Consolidation

March 13, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 14, 2010

Williams-Sonoma Inc. will continue to close stores in large markets where it has multiple stores in search of increased brick-and-mortar profitability, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

"Our strategy for store closings is to optimize our cost per square foot," Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam said in the report. "The goal is not closing stores per se."

Leases will end at more than a quarter of the company's stores during the next three years for brands including Pottery Barn home furnishings stores and Williams-Sonoma kitchen stores, will be coming to an end; Williams-Sonoma will use that as an opportunity to re-negotiate leases, or to relocate or close stores. McCollum said the move should help return stores to historical profit levels.

That should help it return to historical levels of profitability for its retail stores, McCollam said.