Williams-Sonoma Seeking To Invigorate Pottery Barn

May 29, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2007 San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma said Wednesday it is focused on “revitalizing” Pottery Barn after same-store sales at the chain declined 1.2 percent during the company’s first quarter.

Net revenues for the entire company during the quarter increased 2.7 percent to $816.1 million. Net income decreased to $18.2 million—or 16 cents per share--from $23.1 million.

Williams-Sonoma Chairman and CEO Howard Lester said, “Although the macro-environment in the home furnishings sector in the first quarter of 2007 continued to be very challenging, we aggressively managed the rapid changes in our business and delivered better than expected earnings for the quarter.” He added, “In our core brands, the home-centered retail environment continued to be difficult, but we remained focused on our most important initiative – the revitalization of the Pottery Barn brand.”

He said competitors coping with high inventory levels will create pressure for industry-wide markdowns at a time when raw materials costs are rising. As a result, the company reduced its guidance for diluted earnings per share in its current quarter by 2 cents to 14 cents to 18 cents per share.

Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, which saw same-store sales fall 3.8 percent, together have 289 stores and represent a large share of the 588-store Williams-Sonoma operation, which also includes Williams-Sonoma (254 stores), West Elm (22), Williams-Sonoma Home (7) and outlets (16).