Williams-Sonoma Same-Store Sales Fall

San Francisco Home-furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma announced Tuesday that its same-store sales fell 0.4% during the November and December holiday period due to weak traffic in an uncertain economy.

For the nine-week period ended Dec. 30, total sales rose 4.4% to $1.02 billion. Chairman and CEO Howard Lester said in a statement the company had predicted a weak macroeconomic environment and slower traffic.

“In fact, the macro environment did weaken and traffic slowed even further than we anticipated, particularly in our home-furnishings businesses,” he said.

That weakness will continue into January, he said, and lowered fourth-quarter earnings and revenue guidance.