Williams Sonoma

This is a lovely store with beautiful high-​end cookware. We didn’t buy anything, we just came here to browse. I would have liked to give this place 4 stars but one of the sales reps was a wee bit too aggressive. After her, four other sales ladies came and asked if they could help us again and again, which put me off a bit. They were really hungry for sales, I guess, but otherwise, I enjoyed browsing everything they had there. Everything is very expensive though so this store caters to the wealthier clientele.

This company resorts to deceitful marketing tactics. They would send out an email informing of sale, and then in the finest of the fine print would exclude brands that make up ¾ of the entire store.
Or they would post sale on the billboard outside of the store with no details, and when you go in, you found out that most things are excluded.
The products are obviously high end, but my problem is not the high prices, it is the deceitful marketing that the company resorts to.
I received an email about 20% off cookware. When I called the store to purchase the rice cooker, they told me rice cooker is not cookware, but qualifies under electronics. I tried to reason with them and explain that it is a cookware, because you cook using the rice cooker. No success. Such a slap in the face!

Impressive displays and the all-​under-​one-​roof convenience. But with today’s economy, the prices they have, I don’t think it appeals to most who are kind of already tight on expenses and probably have shopped around on the Internet for the best deal for the things they want to buy. If that sounds like you, then like me, this store is really for the novelty or specialty items you cannot readily get elsewhere… like Chemex filters…
I am disappointed that I manage to get better deals (and discounts) at its American counterpart online. One tip for those who have attempted to pay with a Canadian credit card on its American online store: You can use your credit card still, just use the call function they have (where you give them your number and they call you). Probably should get all your items into the shopping cart so you’ll have all the item numbers ready.
…but I digress…
Summary of the Canadian store: Usually have a decent spread of discounted items… but I wouldn’t bother with anything else. Most likely you’ll find the exact same product for lesser elsewhere.

Lots of nice items to look at, but quite expensive!
They do have some quality products but if you have been to the outlet mall in the states, the prices are better there. 40 — 70% off
I usually scout the new products and then wait and purchase at the outlet.

Williams Sonoma is a kitchen store that doesn’t hide the fact that it is aimed at clientele who want high end cooking and baking items at high end prices. The store is clean and slick looking, with stylish displays and demonstrations being provided around the store. However, you will be able to find most of the items (or similar items) in the store at other kitchenware stores for noticeably cheaper prices.
William Sonoma stocks a variety of items from dinner sets, to peelers, to cookie mixes to small kitchen appliances. It is a one stop shop of cooking supplies. If you ever wondered if there was a kitchen tool to do a specific task, Williams Sonoma will certainly have it. As mentioned, the items at Williams Sonoma are meant to be used, and used often. As a result, this typically makes them a heavy duty construction or made from high quality materials (i.e. Oak, German Steel, etc). However, with this said, you will also pay a premium for such items. When I lived in the United States on a work term, Williams Sonoma seemed a little pricey to me, but it was a price I was still willing to pay. However, in Canada the exact same items are sometime upwards of 30% higher than in the US. his becomes a problem for Williams Sonoma, since just down the street is Ming Wo and Cookworks which will have some of the same items or similar items for significantly less. In some cases, the items at other places are of lesser quality, but the savings at the other stores is so great, you could buy 2 and still be less than at Williams Sonoma.
One thing Williams Sonoma on Granville does right is their customer service. The staff know their products and know them well. In a few occasions, I’ve asked for some suggestions or help to find an item that would help me with a task. Every time the staff were pleasant, patient, and helpful. The customer care was so good in one case when I was looking for a thermometer, I didn’t care that a similar product may be cheaper elsewhere, the sales person took so much time with me as well as gave me so many info, tips, websites and notes I felt compelled to show my gratitude in a sale.
Overall, Williams Sonoma has great customer service and good quality products. Even with this said, you can find similar items elsewhere (and close by) for less. However, it is still a kitchen store to check out and see what is available.

What a nice store, but WOW are they ever expensive! You’d think with being a huge US company their prices would be better…
Always friendly staff and nice smells when I wander in. They also have some neat things that I can’t find anywhere else (like Star Wars cookie cutters)
I tend to shop at Cookworks instead though — they have the nice store and good staff but their prices are better.

Despite being atrociously overpriced, I visited WS this weekend to purchase a milk frother. I bought a Nespresso Aeroccino for $ 99.99 plus tax. This milk frother has changed my life for the better and I cannot stop frothing milk! It even froths almond and hemp milks.
The folks at WS were very helpful since I had several options to choose from. I told them I wanted it to be fast and easy to froth milk and they produced 2 options. I went for the Nespresso. I recommend you do too.

Such a beautiful store that makes me wish I enjoyed cooking more.
The free classes held weekly are great, too. But why does even healthy food have to be made with so much oil and flour? Like all of us Unilocalers, I love eating out, so I’m willing to take all of the fat there, but that’s not the case when I cook for myself. I am yet to see this healthier + tasty market tapped into anywhere except in «diets», but maybe I’m just not realistic? I guess that I’d just rather eat healthier and skip the gym. :) (I know it’s not a fair trade-​off, but I can pretend, can’t I?)
The prices are exorbitant, however, and I know you can’t really compare to the US, but even for the jellies, etc. It’s about as high as Dean and Deluca in NYC. Vancouver just isn’t quite there yet – are we?
I might even buy my Nespresso there if/​when I «take the plunge» and in spite of the price.
Still, it’s a beautiful place to shop even for the non-​chefs in your life (like me).

I love going into this store. They have their own exclusive items that they get from a company.
They have in store sample items at times and they carry their own brand of food items as well.
We purchased a kitchen aid mixer that was made exclusively for Williams and Sonoma. The sales associate who helped out was very helpful and pretty knowledgeable. Anything he wasn’t sure of, he checked for us.
They carry variety of brands such as All Clad and Cephalon. And yes, they are quite pricey but you could say these are sort of the Mercedes of cookware.
Canadian location prices are higher than the ones in U.S. still which is frustrating however, this is the case in most retailers.

William-​Sonoma is one of my favourite stores to shop — both online and retail. Unfortunately there is only one located in Vancouver on Granville Street. But one is better than none.
All-​Clad, Le Creuset, KitchenAid (click) all sing to me like Alice+Olivia, Roland, and Nikon.
Like Gourmet Warehouse on East Hastings (click), William-​Sonoma is a source for gourmet foods, professional quality cookware, kitchen appliances, cooking utensils and décor.
They even have tasty treats, spices and sauce at the Food Hall
Momofuku cookie mix
Momofuku clay pot cooking sauce
Fiona’s champagne bubbles
Don’t forget the selection of cookbooks.
China, Glassware and Table Tops
Cutlery — Shun, Global, Michel Bras Knives etc.
This past Boxing Day while everyone was scavenging the malls and streets to find deals packing sardines on last season clothes, we went to William-​Sonoma to take advantage of their delicious mark-​downs!
Le Creusets were 50% off — unfortunately this was limited to the grey color ones not the pretty Orange or Yellow I so dearly want.
KitchenAid were 20% off — doesn’t the industrial bronze look sexy?
I love this place, it is brightly light, clean and even has tasty treats available for sampling.
Staff are friendly and always helpful! There are just too many gadgets that it’s hard to know what they are all for!
I do wish William-​Sonoma starts shipping within Canada sometime soon!

So being an engineer I’ve got a weakness for shiny objects.
Which makes going by a kitchen or hardware store a huge test of my will power.
Thankfully this time I had a couple gift certificates I could put to use.
The selection of «stuff» this place is unreal. Aside from the usual (cookware, table settings, knives ect.) their array of gadgets are mind boggling. You discover kitchen gadgets you didn’t even know you needed.
The staff here is friendly and very helpful. They’re more than content to let you wander around, and play with all the items on display.
Their cooking demos aren’t half bad either.

I am not the marrying type, but this place makes me want to get married so i can get a gift registry here. Everything is so pretty, and useful, and nice. I wandered in the other day looking for some cast iron pan. I really could of used the $ 400 option, but i went for the $ 35 dollar one for now. At least they have that option! The sales people were really accommodating, and nice.
This is a great gift place for your favorite foodie (or me).

I’ve had a gift card for here since last Spring and figured I should finally make a point to use it. I tried to in the US and found that they can’t process them.
I came late on a Monday night and there weren’t any other customers in the store. There were three lovely sales people around to help as needed but were not pushy in any way. I puttered through the store and was offered an espresso and a taste of a brownie they were selling. Both were delicious and made my epic decision making a bit easier.
Prices for kitchen tools can be a bit high but are usually worth it. Watch for their sales on knives and pots/​pans as that usually helps. Their sauces and food items are priced very high, which typically deters me from purchasing them. $ 22 for a bottle of artichoke pasta sauce = yikes but yum! I do love their cookbooks as they have a picture for each recipe, and they have a wide variety of other popular chef books as well.
I found the sales people super helpful in suggesting other items that would go well with my choices and ended up using my gift card and walking away with a bag full of treats. Win!

OMG this place is awesome!!! They give samples of baked goods. They have amazing products to bake with! For example, they had a cake mold to make an oreo sandwich cake! And cake tins to make gingerbread men cakes, and little presents cake molds! I would totally spend hours in here. The products seemed like good quality.
They didn’t have what I was looking for though, which considering their products, I thought they should have. I wanted chocolate molds.

So, I popped into Williams Sonoma yesterday on South Granville. An extremely eager sales guys was at the front of the store, pitching a gadget that I didn’t have time for. He greeted me as if I was his long lost friend, and we hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. ‘HI! HOW AAARRRRE YOOOUUUU!!!” «Fine» I mumbled, and headed over to the shelf near the back where they display the cleaning products.
I had received a bottle of Meyer Lemon Parsley Dish Soap as a gift recently, and I actually quite like it. $ 12 for a 532ml bottle is a bit much for my budget these days, but indeed a great gift idea. I knew that WS sold refill jugs, so I though, why not spoil myslef, and indulge. Mmmm, discontinued. They’ve changed all their packaging, and have new ‘flavours’.
Seeing as I was in a bit of a rush yesterday, and didn’t have time, or the cash to browse, I decided to duck out, narrowing missing my new, eager long lost friend.
Will go back one day… probably to buy gifts.

«Lost in translation…»
The only W-​S store in BC. Which reminds me in the same way of the only Apple retail store in our town.
I guess I should just be thankful. Like Apple’s retail store, the store design and layout is the same as the other W-​S stores in the US. And very much like the Apple retail store, it’s small when brought over here.
The real excitement in going to a W-​S store is finding EVERYTHING under one roof — cookware, bakeware, glassware, cutlery, tools, electrics, gadgets and gizmos, and whatever else you can think of that relates to the kitchen for that Chef, foodie or homemaker in you.
This store is so small you get a glimpse here and there. The good part is they brought in the key items and best sellers — All-​Clad pots and electrics, Emile Henry and Le Creuset bakeware, Mauviel copper products, Apilco dinnerware, and Shun and Wusthoff knives.
The oversight is that W-​S over at Vancouver looks like a puny underdog eclipsed (for the better part) by authentic Canadian stores like Cookworks, Gourmet Warehouse and Ming Wo.
Their only hold in the competitive market are W-​S exclusive products «made specially» for W-​S as well as W-​S branded items.
Be careful when buying condiments, sauces and syrups over here as the pricing can double from other retailers selling the same item. (i.e. Maille Dijon Mustard). Stick to exclusives and items worth paying for because you… well…can’t really get them anywhere else.
Three stars for making an effort to build one at all. It would be interesting to see where they go from here.

I was not surprised at all to have incredible service today at Williams Sonoma…
My sister gave to a gift card for Christmas so I headed over to check out what culinary tools I may just HAVE to have… of course I NEED everything in the store but unfortunately my gift card isn’t that big… I have had my eye on the Les Creuset pots forever. and when drooling over them yet again a lovely associate came to assist me… she told me all about the best benefits to cast iron pots. some I knew… but what I didn’t know was how well the lid seals to trap in the moisture… she apparently cooks lamb shanks and ribs that just fall off the bone… Also. the pots last forever so while they are spendy they are also an investment for life!
I didn’t quite have enough moula this week. even after the gift card… but I will be back to get one soon… it’s time to take the plunge… dreamy stews and tender lamb shanks are only a pay cheque away!
On the way out the manager asked we had found what we needed and made sure that our experience in the store was ok… you gotta love that kind of great service!

Everyone who walked in and out of this place was commenting on how good it smelled inside. Like fresh cinnamon buns … I used to work in a shop at Christmas too … we’d light cinnamon candles because studies prove the smell makes people want to spend money — and you have to spend MAJOR money to buy ANYTHING in this place (but it’s always worth it).
That makes it a great place to go for Christmas, weddings, housewarmings, host/​hostess gifts or any special occasion. Or you could just go in and enjoy the free samples. Ginger snap while I wait in line to pay? Yes, please!

So I am sure by now everyone knows that Williams Sonoma is a foodies paradise, and that nothing but pure goodness can come from there. I would like to take a moment to talk about my favorite thing I have ever purchased from here. I only buy it once a year and sometimes if I am good Santa brings it to me in my stocking. hint hint. The thing that I speak of is their Red Velvet cupcake mix… oh my god! I whipped those bad boys up and I ate them as fast as they cooled, the down side is it’s $ 18 for the mix but certainly well worth it. Now here is the really good part and if I tell you… you have to promise to never share it with anyone else… after the cup cakes cool and they are iced… throw them in the freezer for a day or two and eat them frozen! Would I stere you wrong?, I think not.

I was pretty excited when I heard Williams Sonoma would be opening up a store in Vancouver — finally! I was a little disappointed to go there and find how small it was. But no matter, they do have amazing merchandise, from ridiculously specialized utensils to their gorgeous cookbooks to «I’m afraid to touch it» dishware to their expensive yet very good condiments and sauces.
A bottle of barbecue sauce set me back something like $ 26 dollars, but it turned out to be really, really good barbecue sauce. I hope someone in my family hears about this place someday … and buys me gifts here. It’s a good place to buy gifts for the cookery-​inclined, so I imagine it would be fun to be on the receiving end!
This place is a lot of fun to shop at… when it’s not being invaded by the foodie hordes.