U.S. retailer of high-end cookware and home accessories Williams-Sonoma is set to open its first store in Australia, in Sydney's Bondi Junction.
For Aussie consumers who want to emulate what is known in America as "catalogue living" — glossy visions of domestic splendor transferred wholesale from high-end decor stores to home (Google the hilarious blog) — this will be welcome news.
Online sales indicate Down Under as prime market
Williams-Sonoma's move into Australia echoes a number of global retailers lately opening stores in Sydney and Melbourne, including fast-fashion hubs Zara and H&M, as well as Japan's Uniqlo.
The new store, set to open May 2, will be multi-story and contain a number of Williams-Sonoma's retail concepts, including furniture store Pottery Barn and decor shop West Elm.
Apparently Australia had proven itself to be the company's most successful overseas e-commerce market, making it more attractive for opening physical stores, spokesman Craig Nomura told The Australian.
"Outside of the US, Australia is our largest e-commerce market, and for a country that only has 23 million people, that's quite impressive," said Mr. Nomura.
A direct competitive threat
But for homegrown Australian chains, the entry of players such as Williams-Sonoma represents a growing threat just as many are recovering from the GFC lows and wavering consumer confidence.
For instance, department store chain Myer (ASX: MYR) and Harvey Norman (ASX: HVN) have only lately returned to growth in terms of sales, with their share prices also posting strong recoveries. Consider the returns of Myer, Harvey Norman and David Jones (ASX: DJS) in the last year against a 16% in the S&P/ASX 200 index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), as seen in the chart below. Harvey Norman alone is up some 41%.
Whether these retailers can compete with the perennially sleek Williams-Sonoma remains to be seen. After all, who hasn't wished to go and live in those gorgeous sets featured in the Pottery Barn catalogue?
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