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Williams-Sonoma, a retailer specializing in kitchen and home furnishings, confirmed Friday that it will leave its downtown San Francisco location next year, becoming the latest big retailer to leave the Union Square area. The San Francisco Standard reported (original links): The Williams-Sonoma Union Square store will close in 2024, the retailer confirmed Friday afternoon. … Williams-Sonoma is one of many stores that have left or plan to leave Union Square, with several of them blaming street conditions and reduced foot traffic. News of the retailer’s closure comes after Nordstrom announced it would close both of its Downtown San Francisco locations....

Williams-Sonoma CEO Laura Alber said Monday that the company shuffled its operations over the past year in anticipation of high tariffs on imports from China. The home goods retailer made adjustments over the past year believing that tariffs on Chinese imports could reach 25%. “I think that you’re better off preparing for the worst,” she said in a one-on-one interview with “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer Monday in San Francisco. “Unfortunately that pessimism has come true, and we are more prepared.” Williams-Sonoma shifted some furniture production to Vietnam, Indonesia and the United States after President Donald Trump slapped 10% duties...

A local news outlet is reporting that the home-goods retailer, Williams-Sonoma has pulled pressure cookers from their shelves in the aftermath of the Boston attack. According to the Dedham Patch, Williams-Sonoma has pulled pressure cookers off the shelves out of respect for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Following the Boston Marathon bombing last Monday in which pressure cookers were used for the explosion, the cookware giant has decided to temporarily stop selling the items in their Massachusetts stores. Williams-Sonoma, the specialty retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware with over 250 stores in the United States, has pulled pressure cookers from their shelves following the Boston Marathon bombing. "It's a temporary thing out of respect," said Kent, who is the Store Manager of the Williams-Sonoma at the Natick Mall. He referred Patch to corporate for further questions. Williams-Sonoma also has a local branch at Legacy Place in...