CALIFORNIA - News from Oct. 16, 1987

Williams-Sonoma, a San Francisco-based retailer of stylish cookware and housewares, announced Thursday that President and Chief Operating Officer Wayne L. Badovinus had resigned for personal reasons after 11 months in the post.

Chairman W. Howard Lester will temporarily reassume the president’s duties, which he had given up after recruiting Badovinus to Williams-Sonoma last year.

Analysts have projected substantial earnings gains for the company this year, after a one-year decline attributed to an inventory shortfall associated with Williams-Sonoma’s rapid sales growth.

Badovinus, 44, will remain as a director of the company. He previously was chairman and chief executive of Frederick & Nelson, a Seattle department store chain, and had earlier been an executive with Broadway South West, Emporium Capwell and Nordstrom.