British papers are reporting that home furnishing and cookware chain Williams-Sonoma, which owns Pottery Barn, will open its first store in the UK next year. The retailer has named property firm Harper Dennis Hobbs to find ts first store, which it hope to open in the first half of 2012. Williams-Sonoma is on the hunt for a store in London of between 5,000 sq ft and 8,000 sq ft. The retail group, which has 560 stores in the US and Canada, operates 255 eponymous stores, 180 Pottery Barn and 90 Pottery Barn Kids stores. On entry to the UK it is likely to go head to head with John Lewis, Lakeland and The White Company. Another US home furnishings chain CB2, the sister brand of Crate & Barrel, is also understood to be targeting the UK.
