Sur La Table is a well known seller of kitchen gadgets in Seattle. This includes carving knives and casserole dishes. Sur La Table gives enthusiasm to America's food so they will add another store opening. Sur La Table plans to add seven more stores until the end of 2010, with a total of 82. A new location was opened in King of Prussia, Pa., the remaining six will be opened in Boston areas like Troy, Mich., New York City, South Florida, and Houston. They will also relocate two stores. Chief Executive Jack Schwefel said that the kitchen gadgets company continues to expand in 9 or 10 new locations annually for a couple of years when the financial-sector meltdown of late 2008 caused a major drop-off in shoppers visiting its stores.

The company had two new openings last year which includes the one in Bravern, Bellevue. The Puget Sound Business Journal estimated that the company had $203 million sales last year compared to $170 million of the previous year. The idea of trading in a $150 meal for a quality piece of cutlery or cookware makes a lot more sense. According to Schwefel, Sur La Table's sales turned down for about five months, but it picked back up in spring of 2009. At present, Sur La Table plans to have 10 to 15 new locations annually for the next few years. Their landlords see how well they're doing because of their many great retail stories in 2010. In its history, Sur La Table opened its first store at Pike Place Market in 1972. One of their competitors, Amazon.com recently joined with Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas on a new cookware line. Also, San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma posted a 10.6 percent increase in sales at stores opened at least a year for the first quarter, compared with a 15.4 percent decline for the same period in 2009. The chain plans to end 2010 with 257 stores, down from 259 at the end of 2009. To compete with the, Sur La Table is updating its website, including the expansion of their products that can be bought online and upgrading its gift-registry program. The company has outsourced its call-center operations for the past five years. There will also be customer services at an in-house call center in Brownsburg. [via seattletimes.nwsource.com]