West Elm, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryConsumer Retail
Founded2002 (2002)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Key people
Chuck Williams, Founder
Dale W. Hilpert, Founder
Laura Alber, CEO
ProductsKitchenwares, Housewares, Office Furniture, Home Furnishings, Linens, Upholstery
ParentWilliams-Sonoma
Websitewestelm.com
West Elm store in Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S.

West Elm (stylized as west elm) is a retail store that features contemporary furniture designs and other housewares. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma, Inc.[1] There are currently stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Customers are able to shop in-store, online, or through a catalog by telephone. The larger products such as sofas and beds are only displayed in stores for customers to see and feel in-person, likening West Elm to a pure catalog/online retail company.

History

West Elm was founded in April 2002 with the launch of a catalog, with the concept of "great design at affordable price points".[2] followed by the first store in the Dumbo district of Brooklyn, New York later that year.

The first West Elm stores outside the United States were opened in Canada. The Toronto King Liberty store opened in October 2008, Vancouver on the South Granville strip in September 2012, and Montreal at 995 Rue Wellington in June 2013, Calgary’s Mount Royal Village shopping centre Summer 2015.[3]

In Mexico, El Puerto de Liverpool retail group operates the West Elm stores there, which number 10 as of January 2024.[4][5]

In 2010 Jim Brett began as president and sought to "humanize" the products which he characterized as machine made and "soulless" to be more creative.[6]

A growing concern was sustainability, such that by 2020 60% the products were supporting one of the company's sustainability initiatives.[7]

During 2019-20 West Elm was Williams-Sonoma's fastest growing brand.[7]

Markets

As of December 2023, there were West Elm stores:[8]

Country No. of stores Presence
United States 109 102 cities in 36 states (all except AK, DE, HI, KS, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NM, SD, VT, WV, WY) and DC. None in territories.
Canada 6 Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver
India Mumbai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune[9]
Mexico 10
Saudi Arabia 6
United Arab Emirates 5
United Kingdom 2 Westfield London and Tottenham Court Road, London[12]

References

  1. ↑ Williams-Sonoma, Inc. – west elm
  2. ↑ "Williams-Sonoma, Inc. - Corporate Timeline". Williams-Sonoma. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Patterson, Craig (15 February 2018). "West Elm Expands Canadian Footprint with Unique Concept Store [Photos]". Retail Insider. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Tiendas". West Elm Mexico. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  5. ↑ Monteros, Maria (12 October 2022). "Why Mexican department store Liverpool is eyeing Nordstrom". Modern Retail. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  6. ↑ Sacks, Danielle (27 March 2014). "Fixing This One Big Problem Helped Turn Around Struggling Furniture Retailer West Elmaccess-date=8 January 2024". Fast Company.
  7. 1 2 Genovese, Daniella (29 July 2020). "What is West Elm?". FOXBusiness. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "How many West Elm stores are there in the United States?". ScrapeHero. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Find stores", West Elm India
  10. ↑ "Find Stores". West Elm KSA. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Store finder", West Elm UAE
  12. ↑ West Elm UK


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