|
|
Article: WEST ELM PURSUES YOUNGER FOLKS WITHOUT THE BARGAIN STORE TACK.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- HFN The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network
- Article date:
- May 6, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 MacFadden Communications Group LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
NEW YORK-How do you introduce a lower-priced brand without it eroding and cannibalizing your existing brands? That was the challenge facing Williams-Sonoma as the company developed West Elm, its moderately priced concept that targets twenty- and thirty-somethings.
Two years ago, when the company first made public that it was developing West Elm, Howard Lester, chairman, was widely quoted as saying that West Elm would be the Old Navy to Pottery Barn's Gap. At the time, both Old Navy and The Gap were models of marketing success, but within months, as the Gap's popularity evaporated, the analogy seemed more like a prophecy of doom.
Judging from its debut ...