Home furnishings retailer celebrates its first opening in Riyadh Sahara Mall

Riyadh, 30th April 2011 - Pottery Barn, the premier home furnishings retailer from the USA, today made its debut in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the opening of its first Pottery Barn home furnishings retail store in the capital's prestigious Riyadh Sahara Mall. A member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, the new 1,360 square meter store operated by Alshaya International Trading Co., is located in the ground floor of the mall.

"The recent success that our stores in Kuwait and Dubai have experienced, along with our belief that the Middle East holds a significant retail opportunity, particularly in the home furnishings categories that we serve, makes this endeavor tremendously exciting," said Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. "We look forward to providing our Saudi customers with the same retail shopping experience that our customers have in our other markets, and think it's important for customers to know that they can always look to Pottery Barn for casual, comfortable designs, at a great value."

 "There is a strong demand for outstanding home furnishings brands in the Middle East and we are delighted to have the opportunity to introduce Pottery Barn to Saudi Arabia," said Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman of Alshaya.  "Pottery Barn's well-loved home furnishings have achieved iconic status in its home market, the USA.  We believe that our customers in KSA, renowned for their beautiful homes, will love our unique collections, trend-setting designs and customer focused approach.  Later this year, we intend to bring Pottery Barn to even more Saudi home-lovers, with the opening of a store in Jeddah."

Pottery Barn exemplifies casual comfort and style, and from furniture to home décor it has products for every room in the house.  Great style backed by premium quality and excellent service means customers will find everything they need to make their house a home, perfect for sharing with family and friends. The goal of Pottery Barn associates is to provide customers with all of the product information they need to feel confident about their choices.  A Design Studio located in the store provides a destination for customers to sit and discuss their furniture needs and plan their space with specially trained associates. Each Design Studio houses fabric swatches so customers can see all the choices available to them. Furniture collection cards are also available to customers and include product information, such as measurements and all available finishes for the specific collection. Alternatively, customers can book a complimentary home appointment for a design specialist to visit their home to measure their space and create a detailed decorating or entertaining plan.

"We aspire to exceeding our customers' expectations by providing them with a great deal of product knowledge. It has been our experience that if we give the customers all the information they request and they make an informed choice, they will be happy with their purchases and will keep coming back," said Ms. Alber.

IN STORE FEATURES & BENEFITS

  • Pottery Barn Wedding & Gift Registry - Customers can schedule a complimentary appointment with a specially trained associate, who will assist them with building their gift registry.  Complimentary gift wrap is also available.

  • Complimentary Design Classes - The ideal way to find design inspiration. Classes include topics such as 'How to Entertain' and creating 'Your Ideal Family Room.' Class size is limited, so call the store (+966 1452 0280) to confirm class times and reserve your space.

  • Website - Visit www.potterybarn.me for the most current seasonal catalog, information about store locations, hours of operation and in store products and services.

  • Personalization - A number of fabrics including hand and bath towels, bath robes, pillow covers and bedding can be monogrammed with initials or a statement to create something truly unique.

A premier home furnishings retailer in the USA, Pottery Barn was founded on the idea that home furnishings should be exceptional in comfort, quality, style and value. The new Riyadh store will reflect this ethos, and be organized according to lifestyle displays and be designed to inspire customers and make shopping easy and enjoyable. There will be destinations within the store dedicated to Living Rooms, Outdoor Spaces, Dining Rooms, Media, Seasonal items, and Bedrooms and Bathrooms, as well as feature walls that will display Lighting, Rugs and Window Treatments.  Focused displays on dinnerware, frames and candles will also be featured throughout the new store, thus enabling customers to truly 'make their house a home.'  

STORE LOCATION & HOURS

Riyadh Sahara Mall, Ground Floor

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Telephone: +966 1452 0280

Hours of Operation

Saturday-Thursday 9:30am - 11:00pm

Friday 4:00pm - 11.00pm

-Ends-

ABOUT POTTERY BARN
Pottery Barn, a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands, is a leading resource for casual, comfortable, and stylish home furnishings. Key product categories include: furniture, bedding, bath, rugs, window treatments, tabletop, decorative accessories and lighting. Nearly all Pottery Barn products are designed in house and are exclusive to its catalogs, stores and website. Pottery Barn currently operates 193 retail stores in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico and 4 stores in the Middle East. Pottery Barn is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Pottery Barn
Rebecca Rich
Brand Marketing Manager                           
Tel: +965 2224 3666                                                              
Email: rebecca.rich@alshaya.com   
                                     
ASDA'A
Mohammed Jaradat
Senior Account Manager
Tel: + 966 1 2177250
Mobile: + 966 540073079
Email: m.jaradat@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2011