October 6, 2003 -- Quad/Graphics and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. have entered into a 3-year, multi-million-dollar agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Quad/Graphics will continue to print Pottery Barn Kids as well as assume the printing of four more of the upscale retailer's catalogs: Williams-Sonoma, Chambers, Hold Everything and West Elm. The five-title contract strengthens Williams-Sonoma's relationship with the printer, which began a little more than a year ago when Quad/Graphics began producing Pottery Barn Kids. "We were looking for a proactive partner that shares in our vision for the future," said Patrick Connolly, Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer. "Quad/Graphics impressed us not only with its current capabilities and quality standards, but with its investments in new technologies that will allow us to be more cost-efficient, while providing us with new opportunities to specifically target our customers with relevant messaging and personalized catalogs." "Quad/Graphics is thrilled to be expanding our relationship with one of the nation's premier retailers," said Tom Quadracci, Quad/Graphics President & CEO. "Our cost-efficient manufacturing platform blends high-tech capabilities with attentive customer service and meets Williams-Sonoma's strict standards for quality. Certainly, our commitment to maintaining the most modern base of installed equipment, and our practice of proactively providing ideas to improve production and distribution, will serve Williams-Sonoma well into the future." Already Williams-Sonoma benefits from Quad/Graphics' ability to print Pottery Barn Kids using stochastic screening, a process that provides high-definition print, even in shadow areas. In addition, the retailer will be able to capitalize on the printer's other industry-leading capabilities including, but not limited to, custom press; demographic binding; ink-jet personalization; in-line and off-line co-mailing, which combines multiple titles into a single mailstream to yield lower per-piece postage rates; drop shipping, which reaps time and postage savings by delivering mail deep into the postal system; and 24/7 access to production information, including paper inventory and mail delivery tracking, via Quad/Graphics’ Client Smartools Web site. "As Williams-Sonoma has learned, we offer so much more than ink on paper," Mr. Quadracci said. "We offer solutions at every stage of the manufacturing process, up to and including timely, cost-effective distribution."