Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999 | 11:06 a.m.
Chuck Williams says he loves to cook, and the rest -- including his $1.2 billion retail namesake -- is gravy.
Williams, 84, is founder of San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma Inc., and speaks with passion about all things culinary. From the 1956 opening of his original hardware store in Sonoma, Calif., Williams has seen his love of cooking manifest into a large public company offering more than 325 retail stores and five successful catalogs.
In Las Vegas, Williams-Sonoma operates a retail outlet at the Fashion Show Mall and a Summerlin-based call center. That center handles requests for three of the company's five brands: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and Chambers. Orders for the company's other brands, Williams-Sonoma and Hold Everything, are processed through an Oklahoma City call center.
Williams recently visited Las Vegas to help launch his company's 1999 holiday recruitment drive. To meet seasonal demand, the company hopes to hire an additional 600 call center employees. All told, Williams-Sonoma plans to employ almost 1,000 people at its 10000 Covington Cross call center. Company officials say they'll need to construct temporary buildings to house all the new hires.
Although not active in the daily operations of the company -- "my job is to be founder" -- Williams is far from retired. His official title is that of vice-chairman, but a more accurate job description would be editor and motivational speaker.
"I edit all the cookbooks that we sell," said Williams. "I read every book three times. And I'm happy to say that the cookbook business has been very successful for us. We've sold more than 10 million books so far." When not proofreading cooking recipes, Williams makes frequent appearances at company functions. At those gatherings, he tries to infect others with his deeply held convictions about the importance of quality service.
"I honestly think that good service is key if a business is to succeed," he said. "Service has never been more important for retailers than it is today."
Williams has mixed emotions about taking his company public in 1983. His business acumen told him an infusion of capital was the key ingredient in the recipe for future growth. In 1980, Williams-Sonoma had annual sales of about $13 million; less than two decades later, sales exceed $1.2 billion.
"The funny thing is that my first year in business, we had about $19,000 in total sales," Williams said. "Today, each of our stores averages about that in daily sales." He attributes most of the company's early success to another famous friend of fine cooking, Julia Child.
"After Julia Child began her TV show in 1961, French cooking really took off," said Williams. "The type of products we sold, French and European cookware, were not being sold anywhere else in the United States at the time." Williams' love of French cooking evolved following a 1953 sojourn in Europe.
Both the retail and the culinary world have changed considerably over the last five decades, said Williams.
"In the 1950s, people would cook at least two meals a day," he said. "Today, so many people don't have time to cook, at least not the same way they did years ago. That's one of the reasons that items such as pasta are so popular. It's quick and easy to fix."
Mirroring the changes in American eating habits has been the evolution of the retail sector. Williams believes his company has benefited from those changes, particularly the growing popularity of e-commerce.
"The growth of overnight delivery, and the whole idea of shopping on the Internet is a natural for us," said Williams. "I see the Internet as a complement rather than a replacement for our business. And catalog shopping is also very popular, and has added another dimension to our business." Williams-Sonoma entered the catalog business in 1971.
Today, the company is a major player in the sale of home products. Retail sales during the second quarter of this year reached $172.5 million; catalog sales -- including the recently-introduced Internet wedding and gift registry -- were $91.5 million.
Williams speaks confidently of continued company growth into the next millennium.
"I would like to see us continue to expand our company," he said. "I think adding (product) diversity is important. That's why we purchased Pottery Barn in 1986, and recently started Pottery Barn Kids. I also expect our catalog and Internet sales to grow."
For those thinking of starting their own business, Williams' sage but simple advice reflects his view of food and finance.
"You must have a passion for what you do," he said. "You can't see your business as just a way to make money. I never did. I think that to succeed you need to be motivated and truly care about what you're doing."
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