Chain Store Ban May Keep Williams-Sonoma out of Sonoma

Upscale cookery retailer Williams-Sonoma has been quietly in escrow on a building at 601 Broadway in Sonoma to become a boutique home-base location. 

But the culinary chain that opened in Sonoma in 1956 and currently has 268 stores around the country, may run into proposed legislation limiting 'big-box' chain stores within city limits, the Press Democrat is reporting. 

Read the full story here. 

The ban, limiting big-box chain stores within city limits, was prompted after that on West Napa Street. 

Local merchants and residents stormed city council meetings to protest the office supply retailer's march into downtown, claiming the business would hurt local office suppliers and ruin the quaint, historic feel of downtown Sonoma. 

Plans to institute a flat ban on chains in Sonoma's downtown, however, have met with mixed opinion, as many worry such a regulation would deter business in downtown. 

The Sonoma City Council will look into passing a temporary moratorium Wednesday on chain stores until a permanent agreement can be reached. Such a regulation would have to receive 4-5 vote in order to pass, something Mayor Joanne Sanders told the Press Democrat, the legislation doesn't have. 

But what do you think? Are you in favor of the moratorium? And, is Williams-Sonoma welcome back in town?