Pottery Barn eyes Eugene outlet.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Here's a fact about Pottery Barn: Pottery doesn't actually rank high on its inventory list.

Here's another: The high-end home furnishings and accessories store is on its way to Eugene.

The San Francisco-based chain has reached a lease agreement on a 13,000-square-foot space at Oakway Center, and has filed permit applications with Eugene's Planning & Development Department.

The storefront - adjacent to White House/Black Market at the center's southwest corner - is expected to open by this fall.

"They are on a timeline to open by late October," said Oakway spokesman Steve Korth, director of real estate development for family owned McKay Investment Co.

"We're doing the shell (of the building) and exterior framing, and they'll be doing the finishes," Korth said. "We'll actually be done with our work by end of May."

City planning records indicate that building permits are likely to be issued to Pottery Barn by the end of this month, and Korth said the tenant's interior work and outside detailing are scheduled to begin in early June.

Leigh Oshirak, director of public relations for Pottery Barn, said Friday that she had no specific information about the construction project or what attracted the company to Eugene's Oakway Center. But the retail chain typically bases its expansion plans on the existing demand for its products in various areas.

"We learn a lot about customers and buying trends through our (catalog and Web site sales)," Oshirak said. "If we notice an area that seems to be underserved ... that tends to be the tipping point, at which we start looking for real estate in that market."

She declined to discuss construction costs at the Oakway Center location or the number of employees who will be hired, citing company policy.

The Eugene project will be Pottery Barn's third Oregon outlet. Existing stores are located on Northwest 23rd Avenue in Portland and in Tigard's Washington Square shopping center.

Pottery Barn was founded in 1949, in Manhattan, then was acquired in 1986 by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Common stock in the parent company (NYSE: WSM) closed down 13 cents on Friday at $34.54.

The company had 193 outlets under the Pottery Barn brand as of last fall, and another 91 stores operating as Pottery Barn Kids. Locations are scattered across the United States and Canada.

Its Web site (www.pottery barn.com) boasts that Pottery Barn is "the leading home furnishings retailer in the country," and offers a product list that includes furniture, bedding, bath accessories, rugs, window treatments, lighting, tableware and gifts.

"In our opinion, what sets us apart is that we design all our own products," Oshirak said Friday.

"We source them and bring them to market. And we feel we have a reputation for excellent service.

"Probably the biggest differentiator (between Pottery Barn and other home furnishing stores) is the quality-to-value equation."

The Pottery Barn will be the third national retailer to locate in a building at Oakway that was stripped to its girders and reconfigured last year, after T.J. Maxx moved to a new, stand-alone store across Coburg Road.

White House/Black Market and Coldwater Creek - both high-end women's apparel outlets - opened in November. The portion of the building that will become Pottery Barn's storefront was closed in for the winter with temporary walls, which were being removed this week.

POTTERY BARN

Coming soon to Eugene's Oakway Center

Eugene store: 13,000 square feet, opening by fall

The chain: 193 stores in the U.S. and Canada

Products: Home furnishings, including furniture, bedding, bath accessories, rugs, window treatments, lighting and more

Parent company: Williams- Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM)