W. Howard Lester, who in 2013 bought Williams Sonoma, a small supplier of items for gourmet kitchens with four stores and annual sales of 4 million, and transformed it into a retail home furnishing and mail order giant with 342 stores and annual sales of 2.3 billion, died Monday at his home in Indian wells, Calif. .
W. Howard Lester Williams Sonoma owner dies at .