Inventory Turnover › By Retailer › Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma Inventory Turnover: Home Furnishings Case Study
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM), owner of Pottery Barn, West Elm and Williams Sonoma, turned its inventory 3.0x in fiscal 2025 (52 weeks ended February 1, 2026), about 121 days on hand. About two-thirds of its revenue is online, yet it turns slower than most store-based retailers, because furniture is slow to sell wherever it is sold. All figures are from the company's 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR.
Quick answer: Williams-Sonoma's fiscal 2025 and 2024 10-K inventory turnover ratio
Fiscal 2025 (10-K)
3.0x for the 52 weeks ended February 1, 2026. $4,203.8M cost of goods sold over $1,397.6M average inventory ($1,332.4M opening, $1,462.8M closing). About 121 days on hand.
Fiscal 2024 (10-K)
3.2x for the 53 weeks ended February 2, 2025. $4,129.2M cost of goods sold over $1,289.4M average inventory. About 114 days on hand.
Turnover = cost of goods sold / average inventory (mean of opening and closing balance-sheet merchandise inventory). Williams-Sonoma's cost of goods sold includes occupancy and shipping costs. Figures from Williams-Sonoma's 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000719955), verified 10 November 2026.
Fiscal 2023 - fiscal 2025 turnover history
| Fiscal Year | Cost of Sales | Inv (start) | Inv (end) | Turnover | Days on Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 (ended Jan 28, 2024) | $4,447.1M | $1,456.1M | $1,246.4M | 3.3x | 111 |
| FY2024 (ended Feb 2, 2025) | $4,129.2M | $1,246.4M | $1,332.4M | 3.2x | 114 |
| FY2025 (ended Feb 1, 2026) | $4,203.8M | $1,332.4M | $1,462.8M | 3.0x | 121 |
Inventory (start) equals the prior year's inventory (end). Fiscal 2024 was a 53-week year. Williams-Sonoma's tagged annual cost of goods sold in the SEC data covers fiscal 2023 onward, so the history starts there.
3.3x · Year-end inventory came down 14% from $1.46B to $1.25B, the fastest year in the window.
3.2x · A 53-week year. Cost of goods sold fell 7%, including a $49.0M out-of-period adjustment that reduced it, while inventory edged up.
3.0x · Net revenues rose 1.2%, but year-end inventory rose 10%, with tariffs adding to what it paid for merchandise, easing turnover to 3.0x.
What the cost of goods sold line contains
Williams-Sonoma puts more into cost of goods sold than most retailers. Its 10-K lists merchandise cost, tariffs, inbound freight and freight to stores, damages, replacements, obsolescence and shrinkage, then adds occupancy (rent, property taxes, maintenance, utilities and depreciation) and the cost of shipping orders to customers. For a business that makes about 65% of its revenue online, much of it in furniture that has to be delivered, that last item is large.
Every extra cost in the numerator lifts the ratio. On a merchandise-only basis Williams-Sonoma's stock would turn noticeably slower than 3.0x. That matters when comparing it with retailers that report occupancy elsewhere, such as Tractor Supply, and it is why the furniture benchmarks read each retailer against its own reporting basis.
The trend is cleaner than the level. Turnover slipped from 3.3x to 3.0x over three years, and the last step came in a year when net revenues rose just 1.2% while year-end inventory rose 10%. Tariffs are part of that: Williams-Sonoma bought about 81% of its merchandise from foreign suppliers, and its 10-K reports higher inventory spending of $125.9M inclusive of tariffs.
What keeps Williams-Sonoma near 3x
1. Furniture is bulky and slow
Sofas, beds, tables and lighting sell in small numbers at high prices, and each style comes in many fabrics, finishes and sizes. Holding enough of that range to deliver promptly means holding months of stock.
2. Online does not mean less stock
About 65% of net revenues came from e-commerce in fiscal 2025, but the inventory still has to sit somewhere. For a home furnishings retailer it sits in distribution centres rather than on shop floors, and the time it waits for a buyer is much the same.
3. A focused store fleet
Williams-Sonoma ended fiscal 2025 with 506 stores (Pottery Barn 181, Williams Sonoma 152, West Elm 116, Pottery Barn Kids 44, Rejuvenation 13), down from 512 a year earlier. The stores generate about 35% of revenue and serve as design centres and fulfilment hubs as well as shops.
4. Weighted-average cost and tariffs
Inventory is valued at the lower of weighted-average cost or net realizable value. When tariffs raise the cost of new purchases, the average cost of everything in stock rises with them, lifting the inventory balance even if unit stock is flat.
Where 3.0x sits among retailers
Latest 10-K inventory turnover, times per year
Each figure is cost of sales over average inventory from the company's latest 10-K. Every retailer here has its own case study; the full ranked list is on the inventory turnover by retailer page.
Williams-Sonoma sits with Macy's (3.0x), Lululemon (3.1x) and Lowe's (3.3x) in the slow middle of general retail. On the furniture benchmarks it runs faster than RH (2.1x) and close to Havertys (3.3x), while drop-ship models such as Wayfair report turnover far higher because the inventory mostly belongs to suppliers.
The contrast with Chewy (10.4x) shows that the sales channel matters less than the product. Both are mainly online, but one sells pet food that customers rebuy every few weeks, and the other sells furniture that customers buy every few years.
Frequently asked questions
What is Williams-Sonoma's inventory turnover ratio?
Williams-Sonoma turned its inventory 3.0x in fiscal 2025, the 52 weeks ended February 1, 2026. That is $4,203.8M of cost of goods sold divided by $1,397.6M average merchandise inventory (the mean of the $1,332.4M opening and $1,462.8M closing balances) from its 10-K. It works out to about 121 days of inventory on hand.
Why does Williams-Sonoma turn inventory slowly when most of its sales are online?
Selling online does not shorten the time a sofa or dining table spends in a warehouse. About 65% of Williams-Sonoma's net revenues came from e-commerce in fiscal 2025, but its brands sell furniture, lighting and home furnishings, which are bulky, high-value and slow to sell. Chewy, another online retailer, turns about 10x because it sells consumables that customers rebuy every few weeks.
How is Williams-Sonoma's inventory turnover calculated from the 10-K?
Divide cost of goods sold by average inventory, the mean of the opening and closing balance-sheet merchandise inventories. Williams-Sonoma's cost of goods sold includes occupancy and the cost of shipping to customers as well as merchandise, tariffs and freight, so its ratio runs noticeably higher than a merchandise-only measure would. For fiscal 2025: $4,203.8M / (($1,332.4M + $1,462.8M) / 2) = 3.0x.
How did tariffs affect Williams-Sonoma's inventory?
Tariffs raise what each unit of inventory costs, so the same number of units carries a higher balance-sheet value. Williams-Sonoma's 10-K says tariffs flowed through into cost of goods sold in fiscal 2025, and its operating cash flow shows $125.9M of higher spending on merchandise inventories, inclusive of tariffs. About 81% of its merchandise purchases came from foreign suppliers that year.
Related
Furniture Sector
Williams-Sonoma, RH, Wayfair, Havertys.
Macy's Case Study
Another 3.0x retailer, in apparel.
Chewy Case Study
Online, but with consumables at 10.4x.
Turnover by Retailer
All 25 retailers ranked.
Days Sales of Inventory
Turn 3.0x into 121 days on hand.
Carrying Cost
What slow-moving furniture costs to hold.