Ina Garten, Williams Sonoma Team Up For Thanksgiving

Williams Sonoma is teaming up with celebrity chef Ina Garten for a Thanksgiving campaign that includes events, contests and Contessa-endorsed cookware.

The promotions are geared to celebrate Garten’s new book, "Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook."

Those who buy the book via the website can attend virtual book-launch events hosted by celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Garner. Those events also include behind-the-scenes footage of the chef in action.

The effort also includes exclusive Garten’s turkey-day advice on its website.

The company also recently intensified its business-to-business offers, announcing that 2,000 products are now certified for commercial-grade kitchens. The products have all passed protocols incorporating best practices from industry-leading accreditation bodies and have been tested for use in commercial and hospitality environments. It’s also recently begun a B2B expansion into corporate gifting.

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While that’s all good news, some predict tough times for Williams Sonoma in the months ahead, with Wedbush Securities downgrading the company to a “neutral” rating. “The darkening macro (particularly housing) outlook and heavily over-inventoried industry lead us to sharply reduce forward estimates,” Seth Basham writes. Calling the retailer the “best house on a bad block,” he believes it may continue to benefit from positive brand momentum.

But those strengths may not be enough to protect it during the coming downturn, which Basham believes will include “an intensifying promotional environment and a potential 10% decline in home furnishings industry sales in 2023.”

In its most recent results, released in August, Williams Sonoma reported record numbers, with sales of $2.18 billion. That included substantial gains at its Pottery Barn furniture division and increases in West Elm.

But furniture sales are slowing, with fewer people moving house.  Basham cites MasterCard Spending Data indicating an increase of just 1% in furniture and furnishings sales in September, a marked deceleration from the 7% gain seen in August.

As a result, he predicts Williams Sonoma just “cannot avoid a home furnishings pile-up.”

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