Report: Williams-Sonoma Continues Growth Strategy

San Francisco Williams-Sonoma is committed to a “cautious” store-opening schedule, according to GlobeSt.com.

Executives said during its first-quarter conference call that the company will open a total of 51 new units this year across nearly all its brands, while closing 24 stores. No new Williams-Sonoma Home stores will be opened this year, the report said.

The openings come even as comp-store sales declined 9%. Net revenues decreased 4.2% to $781.8 million. However, e-commerce sales have risen 8.7%, attributed to the natural growth of e-commerce and shoppers migrating from phone sales, not from stores.

“We’re continuing to monitor very closely what happens with customers who come from the Web and migrate to retail stores, and retail customers who might migrate to the Web,” said Howard Lester, chairman and CEO. “We’ve seen very little shift to the extent that it would affect our ability to open retail stores. At this time, I don’t see any material change in our long-term strategy.”