Williams-Sonoma In Chocolate Tie-Up With Ripert & Bourdain

Multi-channel specialty retailer Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) recently collaborated with celebrity chefs Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain to launch the ‘Good & Evil’ chocolate bar.

The chocolate bar is made up of 72% premium cacao which goes well with red wine, coffee or espresso. It is available at stores and on the company website as well.

Prepared by master chocolatier Christopher Curtin in the traditional European style, using Fair Trade organic cacao beans, the chocolate delicacy has been inspired by the friendship and personalities of Ripert and Bourdain.

Management is hopeful that the product will be well received by chocolate lovers and the admirers of the chefs. The product will be launched at the Williams-Sonoma Columbus Circle store in New York on Dec 2.

Notably, product innovation plays a huge role in Williams-Sonoma’s success. Also, to meet the changing preferences of consumers, Williams-Sonoma regularly collaborates with celebrated brands and designers and also works on widening its social media reach.

Apart from innovation, Williams-Sonoma has adopted a transformation drive to address the slowdown in traffic. The company has been reworking on its marketing strategy, placing more emphasis on digital targeted marketing, investing in remodeling of stores, and liquidating less-productive stock keeping units from its inventory through retail outlets.

Investors should keep in mind that Williams-Sonoma’s comparable brand revenues were up 0.1% in the third quarter of 2016. The core business remains healthy including cookware, bakeware and cutlery in spite of softness in electrics.

WILLIAMS-SONOMA Price

William-Sonoma currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector include Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) , McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) and Papa John's International Inc. (NASDAQ:PZZA) .

Domino's Pizza sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to witness a 23.1% increase in full-year 2016 earnings. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

McDonald's carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is likely to see a 14.2% rise in full-year 2016 earnings.

Papa John's – a Zacks Rank #2 stock – is expected to witness a 19.9% increase in full-year 2016 earnings.

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