Williams-Sonoma Inc. (San Francisco) has opened its first Threads store, selling infants’ apparel, in Bellevue, Wash., earlier this month. A second store will open in November on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in a former Chambers outlet, a bedding catalog that was folded into the Williams-Sonoma Home brand in 2004.
“These are laboratory stores,” said chief operating officer and cfo Sharon McCollam, and the company is not ready to talk about a rollout strategy for Threads or for its other emerging brand, Pottery Barn Bed & Bath, which has opened three stand-alone stores in the past year. The company said these two new concepts may or may not become full-fledged chains, depending on how the company rates the opportunity.
Threads was born of Pottery Barn Kids, where customers asked for baby clothes. When they did feature a limited apparel selection, the garments flew off the shelves. But the company was cautious about reconfiguring its typical store layout to add clothing. “Before we go and remodel stores,” McCollam said, “the strategy is for us to test it in a couple locations.”