The original Pottery Barn opened in 1949, among the docks and warehouses of
West Chelsea in lower Manhattan. Our founder, Paul Secon, took a sacred
approach to well-designed merchandise. He specialized in tabletop seconds and
closeouts, offering customers great value on fashionable, exclusive home wares.
Over the years, our brand started to offer a variety of kitchen and decorative
household items. It expanded to the West Coast and was purchased by The Gap
Stores, Inc. in 1983 — and then Williams-Sonoma, Inc. three years later. The world-
famous Pottery Barn catalog, now mailed to millions of customers each year,
launched in 1987.
Our brand has continued to evolve, including the addition of our Design Studio and
an increased emphasis on craftsmanship and high-quality materials. Today, we
focus heavily on four areas: innovating our designs, giving back to our planet and
global communities, offering top-notch service to our customers and creating
enduring products.
From our design floor in San Francisco to our stores around the world, our
end-goal remains the same: To help our customers live a more functional, beautiful
and comfortable life at home.
