The Daily Feather — Williams So-No-More

“I knew this was something that wasn't found in America but thought people would want.”

Chuck Williams

What started on the outside, ended everywhere on the inside. Sonoma, California has always been a beacon for connoisseurs of the gourmet ilk. That was certainly for one Charles E. Williams, whose father’s auto repair business in Jacksonville, Florida failed, prompting his family’s relocation to southern California in the depths of the Great Depression. Upon his father’s business acumen not improving, young Chuck, as he was called, found himself abandoned. A date-farming family outside Palm Springs took him in for the seven years through his completion of high school. The Armed Services of the United States inevitably found need for his services during World War II. Like my grandfather, who was trained as an auto mechanic in Great Britain, during Williams’ four-year tour, he was trained to be an auto mechanic for Lockheed International in India and East Africa. It would be a gold outing to Sonoma with some of his fellow Los Angelenos that directed his destiny. Yet another trip with friends to Paris sealed the deal.

From successful home builder to hardware store owner, Chuck Williams would convert that store in the middle of Sonoma to a French cookware and chef mecca in 1956. To satisfy demand 24/7 from his customers in the City by the Bay, the 41-year-old relocated the first Williams Sonoma to its flagship San Francisco location. In six months, that Union Station store will shutter, following in the footsteps of Nordstrom and Whole Foods, which have abandoned the 13th largest U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area that is so riddled with crime/fraud that it’s fast becoming an urban wasteland.

With a market capitalization of $7.6 billion, it’s apparent the parent company William-Sonoma Inc., is making this choice voluntarily. A rapidly growing number of other firms are not so fortunate.