Williams-Sonoma Removes Pressure Cookers From Massachusetts Stores

Williams-Sonoma has taken pressure cookers off the shelves in its Massachusetts stores:

Following the Boston Marathon bombing last Monday in which pressure cookers were used for the explosion, the cookware giant has decided to temporarily stop selling the items in their Massachusetts stores.

Williams-Sonoma, the specialty retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware with over 250 stores in the United States, has pulled pressure cookers from their shelves following the Boston Marathon bombing.

“It’s a temporary thing out of respect,” said Kent, who is the Store Manager of the Williams-Sonoma at the Natick Mall. He referred Patch to corporate for further questions. Williams-Sonomaalso has a local branch at Legacy Place in Dedham.

Pressure cookers will still be available on the Williams-Sonoma website.

Mike Riggs at Reason calls it a posthumous victory for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and I’ve seen other people on the right criticize it as the company giving in to terrorists, which I think is something of an overreaction. Instead, it seems to me like something that a company that has always been very concerned about its image is doing on a temporary basis to avoid offending customers, or reminding them needlessly of the events of last Monday. Would I have done it were I a store manager? Probably not, but it’s not the end of the world.

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Tyrell says:

    I guess there will now be a black market for these things now. Some politician will probably try to get a law passed banning them. New York City will probably outlaw them . I do not have one, but I will hide my turkey fryer!!

  2. PD Shaw says:

    This leaves the impression that it was a Williams-Sonoma pressure cooker that was used. I don’t know if that’s true, but certainly not a good idea to help make that connection.

  3. PJ says:

    The brothers are also alleged to have thrown pipe bombs at the police, should stores stop selling water pipes too?

  4. John Peabody says:

    Oh, sheesh. A temporary measure, for the sole reason that people in a store won’t look at one and say, “wasn’t that—?”. Issues last not a whit in the 21st century; voluntarily suspending their sales for a month or two doesn’t matter a damn.

    But it gives yahoos like me something to comment about. Nuts.

  5. Caj says:

    Those guys may have bought pressure cookers from a store but the worst of it is they got the bomb making information from online! Any fool can do that and we have plenty of them out there! Bomb making information and buying guns online is where a ban is absolutley needed! To hell with personal freedoms! Bombs and guns are meant to kill. We have far too many guns out there already with no backgrounds checks especially at some gun shows. Florida is a haven for gun lovers. Gun shows so often it’s ridiculous! Plus the stupid concealed carry law that the gun obsessed just adore! Guns,especially assault rifles and bombs are WMD’s and have no place in society at all!

  6. Franklin says:

    “It’s a temporary thing out of respect.”

    To most people, this is perfectly reasonable.

  7. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Franklin:

    “It’s a temporary thing out of respect.”

    To most people, this is perfectly reasonable.

    Showing respect is reasonable, but I am having trouble connecting the 2. Either way, much ado about nothing.

  8. john personna says:

    I doubt you could find a Williams Sonoma pressure cooker for less than $150, while Walmart has them starting at $30.

    … perhaps WS sees themselves as the choice of discriminating mad bombers.

  9. @Caj:

    buying guns online is where a ban is absolutley needed!

    Good thing it was already banned by the Gun Control Act of 1968, then.

  10. al-Ameda says:

    Hahaha ….. Williams-Sonoma could sell everything in stock at 90% off and still be 50% more expensive than Walmart. I’m guessing that. The brothers did not buy their pressure cookers at Williams-Sonoma.

  11. Franklin says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: Symbolic gesture. But agreed, I’ve already wasted more time on this post than its worth.

  12. ernieyeball says:

    Why do I need a WordPress account to read the link in the story?

  13. matt says:

    Absolutely stupid. There is nothing respectful about this. If anything this furthers the achievements of the bombers.

    1. This reminds people of the bombing and that people died.
    2. This inconveniences more people and feeds the panic reaction to the bombing.

    Absolutely insane. Clean up the mess and inspect the clues with the mindset of preventing future copycats. Give the people responsible a quiet trial and then throw them into jail and forget about them. No big media frenzies no glory nothing for the criminals that do this. The complete and utter lack of glory will definitely dissuade some people.

  14. matt says:

    @Caj: I can only hope this is a parody because I cannot stand the thought of such a delusional/ignorant person existing in this country…

  15. grumpy realist says:

    ??? what???

    This action makes about as much sense as deciding to stop selling goldfish bowls because of the floods we’re having in the Midwest.

    Unless WS want to associate their cookware in people’s minds with the Boston bombers. I bet that the first reaction everyone will have is “oh, so WS were the ones who sold the pressure cookers to the Boston bombers. They must have, otherwise why would they stop?”