WSM vs VRSN Comparison

With a retail and direct-to-consumer presence, Williams-Sonoma is a player in the nearly $300 billion domestic home category and $450 billion international home market, focused on expanding its exposure in the B2B ($80 billion total addressable market), marketplace, and franchise areas. Namesake Williams-Sonoma (152 stores) offers high-end cooking essentials, while Pottery Barn (183) provides casual home accessories. West Elm (120) is an emerging concept for young professionals, and Rejuvenation (13) offers lighting and house parts. Brand extensions include Pottery Barn Kids and Pottery Barn Teen (45) as well as Mark & Graham and GreenRow. Williams-Sonoma also has a business-to-business team that supports projects that range from residential to large-scale commercial.

Verisign is an operator of critical infrastructure within the domain name system, or DNS. As the registry for some of the world's most popular TLDs, .com and .net, Verisign directs DNS resolvers to the appropriate registry where IP addresses are stored. Verisign's control over its TLDs is regulated by ICANN and the NTIA and are subject to contract renewal every six years. The company generates revenue through annual subscriptions allowing customers to use .com and .net as their TLD of choice for their respective websites.