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[October 2000]
Wedgwood Cements US Partnership
The revival of the centuries old manufacturing process has led to a multi-million pound order for the luxury ceramics group Wedgwood. The company has linked up with North America based lifestyle retailer Williams-Sonoma to launch a huge new range of tableware expected to take the USA market by storm, reports Wedgwood.
A total of four exclusive designs of casual tableware - all inspired by Wedgwood's vast archive art library and updated to meet contemporary trends - were unveiled to the public for the first time during a high profile launch in the fashionable SoHo district of New York.
The order from Williams-Sonoma will be worth 1.25 million in its first year and up to 3 million in the following 12 months.
The patterns, developed in close collaboration with the client's design team led by Peri Wolfman, will be manufactured in North Staffordshire using an historic 'hot print' transfer technique pioneered in the 18th Century. More than 100 new jobs have been created at Wedgwood's Eagle Factory in Stoke-on-Trent, plus a further 40 at the company's nearby Alexandra plant, to make the items.
Wedgwood chief executive Brian Patterson, who was in New York with sales director Tim Harper and Lord Wedgwood for the launch, said: "We are delighted with this new partnership and the huge positive reaction we have already received to the product design. Although the new patterns are based on the heritage, elegance and romance of Wedgwood's long history, they also manage to be vibrant and modern, easily fitting in with the contemporary demands of the American consumer.
"Yet they have the added cachet of being manufactured in traditional style which creates great interest not just among the general public, but also among collectors of the old English transferware in the US.
"This partnership has taken a year to develop following a visit by Peri Wolfman to Wedgwood where she studied pattern books going back 250 years. We are now looking forward to a long-term relationship with Williams-Sonoma and to further develop our business in the United States."
Williams-Sonoma, a natural fit with Wedgwood because of 'authenticity' being a common link with both brands, has already earned a reputation as one of the key lifestyle retailers in the US, with over 200 non-discount outlets and catalogues reaching an estimated 80 million people annually.
The order from the company is incremental to Wedgwood's existing portfolio in the USA, which has already doubled its market share in the last three years.
ENDS