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From Home Furnishing Business
Williams-Sonoma on Trying to Stay Ahead of the Red Sea Disruption
January 24,
2024 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Williams-Sonoma is rerouting shipments and has been working on contingency plans to circumvent the shipping crisis brought on by the Red Sea attacks, CEO Laura Alber told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.
Companies in the U.S. and Europe are facing higher freight costs and shipping delays of two weeks or more after attacks by Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the Red Sea disrupted global shipping.
The disruption has even led companies such as Tesla and Geely-owned Volvo Car to suspend some production in Europe due to a shortage of components. Meanwhile, some fashion companies are shipping products to Dubai before flying them out to their final destinations.
Williams-Sonoma was also seeing transport delays, Alber said, but struck a note of optimism on the overall health of the homeware retailer's business.
"I'm not relying on the macro improving to drive our business. And I'm also not expecting a disaster. So if it stays where it is, we have plenty of great growth opportunities to drive it," Alber said.