Corporate Analysis Of Williams Sonoma Inc.

Costco Wholesale Corporation is the U.S. public corporation that I chose to do my Accounting 2 project on.

In "The Store" by Edward P. Jones, the narrator seems to be an irresponsible, immature, and lazy at first. At the beginning, not even once he bothered thinking about the future. All he cared for was the cigarettes and the beers. He called them "valuables". Since he was living with his mom, he did not have to worry about the shelter and the food. Therefore, he did not bother to look for the new job. His mom did not seem to care about him fooling around jobless as well. Because of that, he did not care when his brother told him to look for a new job. Altogether, he was a waste at the beginning. However, Mr. Jones gave the strong clue about his future success by showing his strong work ethic when he said "Never late, never talked back and always volunteering" (142). With that in mind, there were some incidents as the story progressed, positive and negative that helped him to realize about his future.

I think that Williams-Sonoma will probably close its doors and become obsolete, if they do not change their marketing views, and incorporate a better strategic approach. I just don’t think with the way the economy is today that many people will continue to buy those types of high end products that are offered by Williams-Sonoma at many of their retail stores. Buyers are focusing on more “bang for the buck” type products. Products are now bought for more of a necessary item, rather than, the highly fashionable products. I think management of Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma, should try to discuss lowering prices to go in line with today’s economic outlook. A happy medium to where they get somewhat of a profit and their consumers feel the

Home Depot and Lowe's believe in big warehouse space, an informal atmosphere and low prices. They are able to offer the lower prices to consumers due to their purchasing power. Inventory differs depending on the story type, home centers typically sock more lumber and building supplies, as their biggest customers are contractors. They pay their floor employees minimum wage, and keep overall costs down by keeping them as part time employees.

Earnings performance appears satisfactory and trending upward. Earnings were positive as of the three reporting periods and were sufficient to cover operations, fund loss reserve accounts, and augment capital. Reported Net Income increased from $173,959,000 as of December 31, 2014, to $253,404,000 as of December 31, 2015, and to $361,824,000 as of December 31, 2016. This increase is due mainly to an increase in Net

1. Williams-Sonoma has experienced strong growth in the past year, but this is on the back of a strong economy and in particular a strong new home market. The furniture business is strongly correlated with the strength of the real estate market. In this respect, the company's strategy is largely irrelevant, because within the next five years the real estate bubble will burst and Williams-Sonoma will suffer a major downturn in its own results as a consequence. However, this reality shows that the company perhaps lacks sufficient differentiation, and can only be expected to perform roughly in line with the housing market. It is neither outperforming competitors nor is it underperforming. W-S has sufficient differentiation within the furnishings and home products segment, and has a fairly strong brand name in the segment. The company's status as a mass-market premium company allows it to grow strongly in strong economic times, but also makes it particularly vulnerable to economic downturn, because not only do consumers redecorate at greater intervals, but they will trade down to more affordable stores when they do.

Sears Holdings is a relatively new company, having only been created in November of 2004 (Barbash & Barbaro, 2004). At that time, Kmart Holdings purchased Sears, Roebuck, and Co. The corporation decided it would operate stores under both names, and the merger was officially completed in March of 2005. The shareholders voted to close the deal, or it would not have been able to take place. Now the company is called Sears Holdings, and it operates both Sears and Kmart stores (Barbash & Barbaro, 2004). The company also markets both brands without blending them or favoring one over the other. There were several reasons why the companies chose to combine.

The Williams-Sonoma is a large company that is headquartered in San Francisco. Since its creation, the corporation has boasted of its creativity and business acumen of its management team. One of the important characteristics that have enabled this company to maintain its relevance in the market since its foundation in 1956 is constant innovation and research. The success story began at that time when Chuck Williams, its founder, created the company out of his passion for service (Alber, 2014). Data capturing, processing, and utilization has been the company’s most significant strength. Even before any industry could discover the essence of retail customer

Nordstrom is classified as an Upscale Independent Department Store Chain and is noted as one of the largest department stores of its type. Nordstrom is founded in 1901 by two partners, John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. It’s headquarter is in Seattle, Washington area. Nordstrom carries a wide variety of merchandise and specialty goods, which includes apparel, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, handbags, accessories, and in some locations, home furnishings. Nordstrom is dealing with competition on many different levels. It is competing with higher end stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. In addition, it is also competing with second tier stores such as Macy’s, Dillard’s,

During this time, sales increased from: $7.11 billion in 2010 to $7.99 billion in 2012. Earnings improved from $2.84 to $3.57. While the total amount of dividends rose from $1.00 to $1.72. These figures are showing how the company has been continually increasing sales, earnings and dividends over the last three years. In the future, the management predicts that their current strategy will increase returns. As, executives believe that their focus on building the brand and accounting for costs will lead to net earnings of $5.20 to $7.19 annually by

Williams-Sonoma is one retail organization that was successfully launched in 1956, with catalogs issued in 1970, and finally placed on the internet in year 2000 (Alber, 2014). This retail organization umbrellas seven different brands and operates under Williams-Sonoma Home, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn for Kids, and West Elm, with 601 retail stores, six catalogs, and six e-commerce web-sites (“Williams-Sonoma”, 2014). Williams-Sonoma reaches an annual revenue of five billion, carries four percent of the home furnishings sales in the United States, and is the twenty-first largest online retailer (Alber, 2014). Williams-Sonoma is a multi-channel retailer that provides home products such as cookware, cookbooks, various kitchen products, as well as personalization of some products, and general home furnishings (Alber, 2014).

Williams-Sonoma (WSM) was a specialty retailer of products for the home. The company’s products were sold through two channels: the retail channel and the direct-to-customer channel. The retail segment comprised four retail concepts: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and Hold Everything. The direct-to-customer segment sold though eight retail catalogs: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed + Bath, PB Teen, Hold Everything, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home (which incorporated elements from the previously separate Chambers) as well as through four e-commerce sites. The catalogs reached customers throughout the United States, and

The last quarter’s profits were on a different scale; however, sales in the three months up to the end of December increased 30% to $74.6bn and the profits of $18bn were up 37%. A fast quarterly growth witnessed since 2012. It is not a small feat for a company of that size.

Nevertheless, the 2016 is projected to be another successful year in which the company is expected to realize between $42 to $45 million dollars in revenue and in order to support the business operations, anticipates reaching the 300 employees mark. Certainly, as a data driving organization we must continue to invest in the auxiliary technology that assist us in maintaining the mutually supportive relationships with our customers, our employees, and our suppliers.

Williams Sonoma Inc. is a company that was founded by Chuck Williams in 1956. In order to understand what Williams Sonoma is you have to understand Chuck Williams. Chuck was first able to start his journey towards success in 1953 when he took a trip to Europe where he was able to experience products that were being used in French, German, and Swedish kitchens. These unique products inspired Chuck; this was the beginning of his creation of a world-class company built around his experiences while exploring these countries. This compelled him to introduce products like these into American households. In 1956 he opened a store called Williams Sonoma. The name “Williams” came from his last name, and Sonoma is the city in which the store was