LAURA ALBER loves Williams Sonoma. Like, really loves it. Sure, many Fortune 500 CEOs would say the same of their companies. But Alber's devotion to the $8.7-billion-inrevenue home furnishings retailer from growing its global business to studying French porcelain borders on fanaticism. "It's my heart," she says. In fact, she likens it to a spouse. When asked if she would ever consider another CEO job, she quickly answers no. "I'm not looking for a different husband either," she said to laughs at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in October.
In fact, Alber's 13-year tenure as Williams Sonoma CEO has outlasted many marriages. She's now the longest-serving female chief executive in the Fortune 500.
The Gap Inc. alum joined San Francisco-based Williams Sonoma in 1995 as a senior buyer for its Pottery Barn brand. She got the top job in 2010. At 42 years old, she became only the fourth CEO of the now 67-year-old retailer named after founder Chuck Williams and the location of its first store, Sonoma, Calif.
Since then, Alber has grown topline revenue at the retailer by $5 billion. She's capitalized on its advanced e-commerce operations and leaned into its well-defined aspirational aesthetic. The release of Williams Sonoma's over-the-top holiday catalog has become a tradition akin to Starbucks' red cups-as has the internet's subsequent hater's guide, a satire of the catalog that's made it all the more famous. (This year's potential wish list items include a $1,499 faux Christmas tree.)
This story is from the December 2023 - January 2024 edition of Fortune US.
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This story is from the December 2023 - January 2024 edition of Fortune US.
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