Item 1. BUSINESS

OVERVIEW

Williams-Sonoma, Inc., (the "Company”, "we", or "us") incorporated in 1973, is an omni-channel specialty retailer of high-quality products for the home.

In 1956, our founder, Chuck Williams, turned a passion for cooking and eating with friends into a small business with a big idea. He opened a store in Sonoma, California to sell the French cookware that intrigued him while visiting Europe but that could not be found in America. Chuck’s business, which set a standard for customer service, took off and helped fuel a revolution in American cooking and entertaining that continues today.

In the decades that followed, the quality of our products, our ability to identify new opportunities in the market and our people-first approach to business have facilitated our expansion beyond the kitchen into nearly every area of the home. Growth across our portfolio has been fueled by three areas of strategic investment: brand experimentation and innovation, for a best-in-class approach to omni-channel retail experiences; operational excellence across the enterprise, from quality product and sourcing, to efficient manufacturing and supply chain; and culture and corporate social responsibility, from commitments to foster women in leadership and embrace diversity, to a healthy impact on our community and environment.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer. Our products represent distinct merchandise strategies — Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Williams Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, and Mark and Graham — are marketed through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs and retail stores. These brands are also part of The Key Rewards, our free-to-join loyalty program that offers members exclusive benefits across the Williams-Sonoma family of brands. We operate in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, offer international shipping to customers worldwide, and have unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea and India, as well as e-commerce websites in certain locations. We are also proud to be a leader in our industry with our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) efforts.

Williams Sonoma

From the beginning, our namesake brand, Williams Sonoma, has been bringing people together around food. A leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, the brand seeks to provide world-class service and an engaging customer experience. Williams Sonoma products include everything for cooking, dining and entertaining, including: cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture and a vast library of cookbooks. The brand also includes Williams Sonoma Home, a premium concept that offers classic home furnishings and decorative accessories, extending the Williams Sonoma lifestyle beyond the kitchen into every room of the home.

Pottery Barn

Established in 1949 and acquired by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in 1986, Pottery Barn is a premier omni-channel home furnishings retailer. America’s most meaningful, beautiful design source, Pottery Barn brings together good products, people and values — seeking inspiration, quality, sustainability and service in everything we do. Thoughtfully designed and crafted to last, Pottery Barn’s furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, decorative accessories and more can be loved for a lifetime.

Pottery Barn Kids

Kids are, and have always been, the inspiration behind what we do at Pottery Barn Kids. Since 1999, it’s been our mission to bring the utmost in quality, sustainability, safety and style into every family’s home. Most importantly, all our designs are rigorously tested to meet the highest child safety standards and expertly crafted from the best materials to last beyond their childhood years.

West Elm

Born in Brooklyn in 2002, West Elm is dedicated to transforming people’s lives and spaces through creativity, style and purpose. West Elm creates unique, modern and affordable home decor and curates a global selection of local, ethically-sourced and Fair Trade Certified products, available online and in our stores worldwide.

Pottery Barn Teen

Launched in 2003, Pottery Barn Teen is the first home concept to focus exclusively on the teen market. Our purpose is to make safe and sustainable designs that inspire teens to create the world they want to live in. We’re designing everything from organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture that adapts and lasts. Our mission is to create for the future.

Rejuvenation

Rejuvenation, founded in 1977 with a passion for timeless design and quality craftsmanship, was acquired by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in 2011. With design, manufacturing and distribution facilities in Portland, Oregon, Rejuvenation offers a wide assortment of made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture and home décor inspired by history, designed for today and made to last for years to come.

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Mark and Graham

Launched in 2012, Mark and Graham is designed to be a premier online destination for personalized gift buying. With hundreds of monograms and font types to choose from, a Mark and Graham purchase is uniquely personal. The brand’s product lines include women’s and men’s accessories, travel, entertaining, bar, home décor and seasonal items.

Outward

In 2017, we acquired Outward, Inc., a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and décor industry. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Outward’s technology enables scalable applications in product visualization, digital room design and augmented and virtual reality.

OPERATIONS

As of January 30, 2022, we had the following merchandise strategies: Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Williams Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham, which sell our products through our e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs and retail stores. We offer shipping from many of our brands to countries worldwide, while our catalogs reach customers throughout the U.S. The e-commerce business complements the retail business by building brand awareness and acting as an effective advertising vehicle. We believe that our e-commerce websites and our direct-mail catalogs act as a cost-efficient means of testing market acceptance of new products and new brands. Leveraging these insights and our omni-channel positioning, our marketing efforts, including digital advertising and the circulation of catalogs, are targeted toward driving sales to each of our channels. Consistent with our published privacy policies, we send our catalogs to addresses from our proprietary customer list, as well as to addresses from lists of other mail order direct marketers, magazines and companies with which we establish a business relationship. In accordance with prevailing industry practice and our privacy policies, we may also rent our list to select mailers. Our customer mailings are continually updated to include new prospects and to eliminate non-responders. In addition, the retail business complements the e-commerce business by building brand awareness and attracting new customers to our brands. Our retail stores serve as billboards for our brands, which we believe inspires our customers to also shop online and through our catalogs. We operate 544 stores, which include 502 stores in 41 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, 20 stores in Canada, 19 stores in Australia and 3 stores in the United Kingdom. We also have multi-year franchise agreements with third parties in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea and India that currently operate 139 franchised locations as well as e-commerce websites in certain locations.

SUPPLIERS

We purchase most of our merchandise from numerous foreign and domestic manufacturers and importers, the largest of which accounted for approximately 3% of our purchases during fiscal 2021. Approximately 65% of our merchandise purchases in fiscal 2021 were sourced from foreign vendors, predominantly in Asia and Europe. Substantially all of these purchases were negotiated and paid for in U.S. dollars. In addition, we manufacture merchandise, primarily upholstered furniture and lighting, at our facilities located in North Carolina, California, Oregon and Mississippi. The global supply chain experienced numerous challenges and disruptions during fiscal 2021, including material and labor shortages, port congestion and capacity constraints, which has had, and is continuing to have, wide-ranging effects across multiple industries, including ours. Refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors and to Part II, Item 7. MD&A for further discussion on the effect the global supply chain disruption has had on our results of operations.

COMPETITION AND SEASONALITY

The specialty e-commerce and retail businesses are highly competitive. Our e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs and retail stores compete with other retailers, including e-commerce retailers, large department stores, discount retailers, other specialty retailers offering home-centered assortments and other direct-mail catalogs. The continued shift to e-commerce has encouraged the entry of many new competitors, including discount retailers selling undifferentiated products at reduced prices, new business models and has resulted in increased competition from established companies. We compete on the basis of our brand authority, the quality of our merchandise, our customer service, our proprietary customer list, our e-commerce websites and marketing capabilities, the location and appearance of our stores, as well as our in-house design, our digital-first channel strategy, and our values, which we believe have become increasingly relevant and set us apart from our competitors. Our in-house teams design our own products and work with our talented vendors to bring quality, sustainable products to market through our high-touch multi-channel platform.

Our business is subject to substantial seasonal variations in demand. Historically, a significant portion of our net revenues and net earnings have been realized during the period from October through January, and levels of net revenues and net earnings have typically been lower during the period from February through September. We believe this is the general pattern associated with the retail industry. In preparation for and during our holiday selling season, we hire a substantial number of additional temporary employees, primarily in our retail stores, distribution facilities and customer care centers.

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HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

As of January 30, 2022, we had approximately 21,000 employees, of whom approximately 12,200 were full-time. In preparation for and during our fiscal 2021 holiday selling season, we hired a substantial number of part-time and seasonal employees, primarily in our retail stores, distribution facilities and customer care centers. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

We have three key ESG pillars as key areas of focus for our Company. One of those three pillars is “People” in keeping with our long-held “People First” culture. This includes the following areas of focus:

Associate Engagement

We conduct an annual Associate Opinion Survey to directly engage with and collect feedback from our associates, which we use to improve the experience of our teams. Our human resources department maintains an open-door policy for associates to report concerns, and we provide an anonymous reporting hotline, which is available in multiple languages and managed by an independent company not affiliated with us. We strive to deliver a workplace experience where the quality of our engagement with fellow associates, business partners and customers matches the quality of the products and services we bring to the marketplace.

Talent Development and Engagement

We invest in our employees through accessible resources and structured training programs that help our associates to create the career they envision for themselves. We offer a large selection of development opportunities for our employees including in-person and online learning, as well as professional development courses, such as goal setting, unconscious bias and inclusive leadership training. We have a company-wide Advisor Program, which matches associates in a Manager and above role with non-managers to form advisor/advisee relationships to provide career guidance and receive support in working through career and development challenges. Additionally, our LEAD program — Leadership Education and Development — provides a leadership training program for nominated Directors and Vice Presidents. We also foster other team-based programs to develop talent at all levels of the Company, supplying associates with new skills and training. Through these programs, we give our associates the tools to succeed, learn new skills and develop their careers.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Associate engagement and retention require an understanding of the needs of a diverse, creative and purpose-driven workforce. We firmly believe that working in a culture focused on diversity, equity and inclusion spurs innovation, creates healthy and high-performing teams, and delivers superior customer experiences. We aim to provide equal opportunity for all employees. As of the end of fiscal 2021, approximately 67% of our total workforce identified as female and approximately 43% identified as in an ethnic minority group. Additionally, approximately 54% of our Vice Presidents and above identified as female. We were also included in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which tracks public companies’ commitment to gender equality, for the first time.

We are focused on increasing the representation of minority talent through hiring and career development. In June 2020, we established an Equity Action Plan and formed an Equity Action Committee, including a diverse group of executives and associates, to drive positive change in the fight for racial justice, and in 2021 we continued our commitment to equity through our partnership and donation support with our racial equity and justice non-profit partners such as the NAACP, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and the National Urban League. We also have several systems under which associates can report incidents or discrimination confidentially or anonymously and without fear of reprisal.

We are currently building relationships with approximately 180 organizations, universities, colleges and networks to expand our reach to potential candidates. As of the end of fiscal 2021, nearly all of our posted roles have a diverse slate of candidates, and we have seen improvement in the diversity of our new hires since we launched our Equity Action Plan. We are also a member of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, in which we pledged a goal to “identify and establish associate networks for underrepresented communities to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the Company.” In furtherance of our stated goal, we have developed associate equity networks including an LGBTQ+ Network, Black Associate Network, Veterans Appreciation Network, Hispanic/LatinX Associate Network, Asian WSI Network, and a Disability, Education & Advocacy Network.

Safety/Health and Wellness

Our vision is to provide a safe and healthy work environment for our associates and customers. Aligned with our values, we strive to continuously improve our work environments to keep our associates and customers as safe as possible. Our efforts include:

• Incident and hazard reporting;

• Standard operating procedures aimed at reducing risk of injury;

• Associate and management training;

• Promotion of best practices; and

• Measurement of key safety metrics.

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To address the safety, health and well-being of our workforce due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented a number of safety-related protocols and enhanced benefits, including:

• Continuing strict safety protocols and procedures company-wide, including social distancing measures, enhanced sanitization, daily wellness checks and supplying personal protective gear such as masks and gloves;

• Creating and refining protocols to address actual and suspected COVID-19 cases and potential exposure of our team members, customers, and trade partners;

• Creating a dedicated associate hotline to provide real time support for any COVID-19-related issues;

• Providing a vaccine incentive to encourage front-line hourly workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine;

• Hosting several onsite COVID-19 vaccination clinics at our supply chain facilities and corporate offices;

• Continuing telehealth support and employee assistance programs; and

• Providing special wellness resources and tools.

Compensation and Benefits

We offer a benefits package designed to put our associates’ health and well-being, and that of their families, at the forefront. Depending on position and location, associates may be eligible for: 401(k) plan and other investment opportunities; paid vacations, holidays and other time-off programs; health, dental and vision insurance; health and dependent care tax-free spending accounts; medical, family and bereavement leave; paid maternity/primary caregiver benefits; tax-free commuter benefits; wellness programs including telehealth visits; time off to volunteer, and matching donations to qualifying nonprofit organizations. In addition, consistent with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we have expanded our benefit offerings to include coverage for transgender-inclusive services, including gender confirmation surgery and hormone therapy. During fiscal 2021, we also raised our Company minimum wage to $15 per hour for US-based hourly associates across all workforces.

Community Involvement

Since 2017, we have donated over $85 million in corporate, customer and associate donations. Our partners include organizations that promote and strengthen the well-being of children, women, families and LGBTQ+ communities, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, No Kid Hungry, The Trevor Project, AIDS Walk and Canada Children’s Hospitals. We raised over $5 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during the 2021 St. Jude Thanks and Giving Campaign, which included donations from our customers at time of purchase, special St. Jude-designated product sales where a portion of the sale was donated, employee donations, and donations from the Company. We also support organizations and partners, such as Good360 and Habitat for Humanity, who assist those with damaged or lost homes, or those seeking decent, affordable housing. We give charitable grants, donate our merchandise, donate proceeds from the sale of certain products, and provide matching grants for charitable donations made by our associates. Our Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Foundation also provides need-based grants to our associates directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and other federally-declared disasters.

We also support our communities through our associates’ time and leadership, and we provide 8 hours of paid Community Involvement Time each year to our eligible associates. We believe volunteering deepens our presence in the community, enhances our relationships with customers and strengthens employee engagement.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS

We believe that strategies that support the health of our planet, the well-being of our people and a shared sense of purpose drive long-term, sustainable growth for the Company. Given the alignment of our ESG work with our strategic direction, our Board is highly engaged on the topic of sustainability. Since 2019, our Nominations, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee and our Board have overseen ESG matters. The Nominations, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee oversees corporate policies and programs that speak to long-standing commitments to our employees, supply chain, environment, health and safety, human rights, cybersecurity and ethics. These policies and programs are relevant to our business, critical to our employees, and important to our customers. Management of ESG is led by our Executive Vice President of Sourcing, Quality Assurance, and Sustainable Development, who coordinates a cross-functional team of subject matter experts, as well as a dedicated, global team of sustainability professionals. Management provides reports and updates on our ESG initiatives to the Nominations, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee on a quarterly basis and to the full Board at least annually.

As a multinational retailer with a global supply chain, we are committed to environmentally sustainable practices across our business—from designing and sourcing responsible products and reducing waste to working with suppliers to lower emissions and adopt sustainable business practices. We amplified our climate work in the past year, moving from a year-over-year reduction strategy to a 10-year, industry leading public goal aligned with climate science, and in 2021, we set a Science-Based Target for emissions reduction across our value chain. We have also set goals for responsibly sourced materials and practices across all our brands, and we are aligning our responsible materials work with our climate strategy, using materials as part of our efforts to reach our Science-Based Target. In 2021, we drove progress in our retail operations towards our landfill diversion goal with stores implementing waste reduction initiatives, such as backhauling of expanded polystyrene foam, and batteries and lightbulb recycling at all store locations.

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We continued to divert products from landfill into donation streams, implementing a new system to maximize recovery of product returns.

We hold our suppliers to high ethical standards, and we are committed to integrity and honesty throughout all aspects of our business. We require our vendors to adhere to the standards outlined in our Vendor Code of Conduct and accompanying Implementation Standards, which are informed by the conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We audit hundreds of factories annually to ensure compliance with our standards relating to labor practices, health and safety, environmental protection, ethical conduct, sub-contracting, management systems, and transparency. Using a continuous improvement model, we work alongside factories to improve working conditions. In 2021, we expanded our audit program scope, auditing a higher volume of our product purchases and covering more risks.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

As of January 30, 2022, we own and/or have applied to register approximately 200 unique trademarks or service marks. We own and/or have applied to register our key brand names in the U.S. as well as in approximately 95 additional jurisdictions. Generally, exclusive rights to the trademarks and service marks are held by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and are used by our subsidiaries and franchisees under license. These marks include our core brand names as well as brand names for selected products and services. Our core brand names, including “Williams Sonoma,” “Pottery Barn,” “pottery barn kids,” “Pottery Barn Teen,” “west elm,” “Williams Sonoma Home,” “Rejuvenation” and “Mark and Graham” are of material importance to us. Trademarks are generally valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained, and they have not been found to have become generic. Trademark registrations can generally be renewed indefinitely so long as the marks are in use. We also own numerous copyrights and trade dress rights for our products, product packaging, catalogs, books, publications, website designs and store designs, among other things, which are used by our subsidiaries and franchisees under license. As of January 30, 2022, we own or have applied to register approximately 300 patents in connection with certain product designs, inventions and proprietary technology. Patents in the U.S. are generally valid for 14 to 20 years as long as their registrations are properly maintained. In addition, we have registered and maintain numerous Internet domain names, including “williams-sonoma.com,” “potterybarn.com,” “potterybarnkids.com,” “potterybarnteen.com,” “westelm.com,” “wshome.com,” “williams-sonomainc.com,” “rejuvenation.com” and “markandgraham.com.” Collectively, the trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade dress rights, domain names, trade secrets and other proprietary technology that we hold are of material importance to us.

REGULATION

As a company with global operations, we are subject to the laws of the United States and multiple foreign jurisdictions in which we operate and the rules and regulations of various governing bodies, which may differ among jurisdictions. Compliance with these laws, rules and regulations has not had, and is not expected to have, a material effect on our capital expenditures, results of operations, or competitive position as compared to prior periods. Also see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy and information statements and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and other companies that file materials electronically with the SEC. Our annual reports, Forms 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and proxy and information statements are also available, free of charge, on our website at www.williams-sonomainc.com.

Investors and others should note that we announce material financial and operational information to our investors on our Investor Relations website (http://ir.williams-sonomainc.com), press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Information on our website is not, and will not, be deemed a part of this report or incorporated into any other filings we make with the SEC.

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