Home furnishings brand continues global expansion

West Elm brand is expanding in the U.K.



The retailer, a division of Williams-Sonoma, will open its second U.K. location, in the London suburb of Kingston-Upon-Thames in winter 2017. The two-story, 8,000-sq.-ft. store is on the ground floor of Bentalls Shopping Centre. The new location will open with the brand's holiday assortment, along with a signature mix of furniture and accessories, and Fair Trade Certified and handcrafted products.



It will also offer Williams-Sonoma's design consultation program, Design Crew, which pairs customers with experts who provide design services.



“We’ve had four successful years introducing ourselves to the U.K. through our Tottenham Court Road store, a strong e-commerce business and a thriving wholesale partnership with John Lewis, said West Elm president Alex Bellos. “Creating the best store experience and connecting with our surrounding community is rooted in West Elm’s values. We are excited to connect with local artists, makers and designers through our West Elm LOCAL program by offering them space to sell their wares and bringing our regular cadence of workshops, classes, and engaging events.”



West operates 102 retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada and the U.K., ships internationally to customers around the world and has unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in Mexico, the Middle East, Philippines and South Korea. In addition to home furnishings retail, West Elm operates West Elm Workspace in the commercial furnishings industry and announced its expansion into the travel and hospitality industry with the launch of West Elm Hotels. West Elm publishes the blog Front+Main and is part of an active community on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.