Document:

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                                                                EXHIBIT 10.39

                     [LETTERHEAD OF WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC.]

January 9, 2003

Dale W. Hilpert
3 Nina Court
Mill Valley, CA 94941

By Fax and Federal Express

        Re:     Separation Agreement

Dear Dale:

        This letter (the "Agreement") summarizes the terms of your separation
from employment at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ("WSI").

1.  This Agreement will be effective upon its execution by both you and WSI
    (the "Effective Date").  By executing this Agreement, you agree to, and
    hereby do, voluntarily resign as an officer and a director of WSI, and any
    subsidiary or affiliate of WSI.  This Agreement supersedes any employment
    contract that has existed between WSI and you, specifically including the
    agreement made as of February 5, 2001 (the "2001 Employment Agreement"), and
    that contract, or any other such contract, is hereby canceled.

2.  Your employment with WSI terminated on January  8, 2003.  In exchange
    for the promises given by you to WSI as described in this Agreement:

        a)  WSI will accelerate to the Effective Date the vesting of the 800,000
            unvested stock options (reflecting the stock split with the record
            date of April 29, 2002) that were granted in connection with the
            2001 Employment Agreement; and

        b)  WSI will cause to be vested at the Effective Date the 500,000 shares
            of Restricted Stock granted to you in connection with the 2001
            Employment Agreement; and

        c)  WSI will pay you a lump sum, consistent with the terms of the 2001
            Employment Agreement and the WSI Incentive Bonus Plan, reflecting
            a percentage of your base salary (and as though you were employed
            for the entire 2002 fiscal year), as approved by the Compensation
            Committee of the WSI Board of Directors, and in accordance with the
            Bonus Plan approved by the Compensation Committee in April 2002.
            This amount will be paid as soon as practicable after the close of
            the WSI fiscal year and the meeting of the Compensation Committee.

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     Upon your separation, you will be eligible to continue medical coverage
     pursuant to COBRA.

     From and after January 8, 2003, you will not be entitled to any further
     payments or benefits of any kind, other than as stated in this Agreement.
     Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, in the event
     of a breach by you of any of the terms or conditions in this Agreement, or
     of a breach or violation of any of the terms or conditions of the agreement
     referred to in paragraph 5 below, all payments due under this Agreement
     will immediately cease, and WSI will have no further obligation to you
     under this Agreement.

3.   You acknowledge that at termination you will be paid $14,615.39, less
     applicable withholdings which represents your final pay.  You also
     acknowledge that at termination you will be paid an amount $59,375.01,
     less applicable withholdings, which represents accrued but unused vacation
     time and floating holidays.  You will also be reimbursed for business
     expenses already incurred and approved.  You agree that prior to the
     execution of this Agreement, you were not entitled to receive any further
     monetary payments from WSI, and that the only payments or benefits that
     you are entitled to receive from WSI in the future are those specified in
     paragraph 2 of this Agreement.

4.   You understand that you must exercise all stock options pursuant to the
     provisions in the applicable plans and notices. The vested portion of
     such stock options may only be exercised during the period of 90 days
     following January 8, 2003.  Failure to exercise any vested options during
     that period will result in the forfeiture of those options.

5.   At all times from and after the Effective Date, you agree to continue to
     be bound by WSI's Corporate Ethics Policy and Agreement, a copy of which is
     attached.

6.   At no time after the Effective Date will you disclose any Confidential
     Information gained during or as a result of your employment by WSI or
     service on the Board of Directors of WSI. Confidential Information means
     any information that is, or should reasonably be understood to be,
     confidential or proprietary to WSI.  Confidential Information includes but
     is not limited to all information, whether in written, oral, electronic,
     magnetic, photographic or any other form, that relates to WSI's: past,
     present and future businesses, products, product specifications, designs,
     drawings, concepts, samples, intellectual property, inventions, know-how,
     sources, costs, pricing, technologies, customers, vendors, other business
     relationships, business ideas and methods, distribution methods,
     inventories, manufacturing processes, computer programs and systems,
     employees, hiring practices, operations, marketing strategies and other
     technical, business and financial information. Confidential Information
     also includes the identity, capabilities and capacity of vendors and of
     former vendors or others that were considered but rejected.

7.   You agree that you will not disparage WSI or any officer, director,
     shareholder or employee of WSI or otherwise make any statement that could
     injure the personal or

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     business reputation of any of them, nor will you take any action that is
     inconsistent with the best interests of WSI. You also agree not to make
     any statement regarding your departure from WSI that is inconsistent with
     the press release issued by WSI on January 9, 2003.  In addition to the
     foregoing, you agree, upon one or more requests from WSI, to deliver to
     it all documents and materials, of whatever nature, relating to WSI, its
     products and/or its services, including reports, files, memoranda,
     records, software, credit cards, door and file keys, computers, computer
     access codes, disks and instructional manuals and other physical or
     personal property which you received, prepared or helped prepare in
     connection with your employment with WSI or service on the Board of
     Directors of WSI.  You further agree that you will not keep any copies or
     excerpts of any of the above items.

8.   Except for claims arising out of the promises contained here, any and
     all Claims (as defined below), which you may have against WSI (as defined
     below) arising out of your employment with WSI or the termination of that
     employment, are fully and completely settled, and all liability or
     potential liability arising out of any such Claim is hereby released.
     "Claims," as used in this paragraph 8 and in paragraph 9 shall include but
     not be limited to those based upon or arising out of any alleged violation
     of your civil rights, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, tort, common
     law, statutory and constitutional claims, or any state, local or federal
     statute including those prohibiting race, sex, sexual orientation, national
     origin, disability, or perceived disability discrimination.  "WSI," as used
     in this paragraph 8 and in Paragraph 9, shall include, in addition to
     Williams-Sonoma, Inc., any predecessor, successor, parent, subsidiary or
     affiliate of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. or any officer, director, employee,
     shareholder or affiliate of it.

9.   You acknowledge that it is your intention to fully and finally resolve
     and release any and all Claims, known or unknown, which may exist against
     WSI and recognize that you may later discover facts in addition to or
     different from those which you now know or believe to be true.  In
     furtherance of this intention, and to finally resolve all matters between
     yourself and WSI, you agree to waive and relinquish any and all rights and
     benefits afforded by Section 1542 of the Civil Code of the State of
     California which provides as follows:

        A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT
        KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE
        RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS
        SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.

10.  In addition to the release set forth in paragraphs 8 and 9 above, you
     voluntarily and knowingly waive all rights or claims arising under the
     Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  This waiver is given only
     in exchange for consideration in addition to anything of value to which
     you are entitled. This waiver does not waive rights or claims that may
     arise after the date of execution of this Agreement.  You acknowledge that
     (a) this paragraph is written in a manner calculated to be understood by
     you, (b) by reviewing this paragraph you have been advised in writing

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     to consult with an attorney before executing this Agreement, (c) you are
     being given a period of twenty-one days within which to consider this
     paragraph, and (d) to the extent you execute this Agreement, including this
     paragraph, before the expiration of the twenty-one day period, you do so
     knowingly and voluntarily.  You will have the right to cancel and revoke
     this Agreement during a period of seven days following your execution of
     it. In order to cancel and revoke this Agreement, you must deliver to WSI,
     prior to the expiration of the seven-day period, a written notice of
     cancellation and revocation.

11.  You understand and agree that to the fullest extent permitted by law,
     you are precluded from filing or pursuing any legal claim of any kind
     against WSI at any time in the future, in any federal, state or municipal
     court, administrative agency or other tribunal, arising out of any of the
     claims that you have waived by virtue of executing this Agreement.  You
     agree not to file or pursue any such legal claims.

12.  You agree that you will not, for a period of twelve months from the
     Effective Date, directly or indirectly recruit, solicit or induce, or
     attempt to induce, any employee, consultant or vendor of WSI to terminate
     employment or any other relationship with WSI.  You agree that you will
     not at any time use Confidential Information to recruit, solicit, retain
     or hire any of WSI's employees, consultants or vendors.

13.  You agree that except as may be required by law, neither you nor any
     member of your family will disclose to any individual or entity (other
     than your legal, tax or financial advisors) the terms of this Agreement.
     In the event that such disclosure is made, any outstanding obligations of
     WSI under this Agreement will immediately terminate.

14.  You agree to cooperate with WSI in connection with any currently pending
     or future litigation, including, without limitation, by making yourself
     reasonably available to testify in any action as reasonably requested
     by WSI.

15.  You acknowledge that money damages are an inadequate remedy for any
     breach by you of any of the provisions of paragraphs 5, 6, 7 or 12 of this
     Agreement, and therefore WSI shall be entitled to injunctive relief for any
     such breach.

16.  The provisions of this Agreement are severable.  If any provision is held
     to be invalid or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity or the
     enforceability of any other provision.

17.  Each of the parties has received, or had the opportunity to receive,
     independent legal advice from legal counsel of such party's choice with
     respect to the advisability of making the settlement provided for in this
     Agreement and with respect to the advisability of executing this Agreement.

18.  This Agreement is governed by California law without regard to conflict
     of law principles.

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19.  Any controversy, dispute, or claim between the parties to this Agreement,
     including any claim arising out of, in connection with, or in relation to
     the formation, interpretation, performance or breach of this Agreement
     shall be settled exclusively by arbitration, before a single arbitrator,
     in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association.

20.  This Agreement fully sets forth the terms of your separation of
     employment from WSI and supersedes any prior discussions or agreements
     whether verbal or written with regard to that subject.  Please indicate
     your agreement to such terms by signing the extra copy of it and returning
     it to me.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                /s/ Howard Lester

                                                Howard Lester
                                                Chairman, Board of Directors
                                                Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

ACCEPTED AND AGREED TO:

 /s/ Dale W. Hilpert
_______________________
Dale W. Hilpert

   01/13/03
_______________________
Date

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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.28

                            STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT

      STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT, dated as of November 20, 2002, between BancWest
Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("SELLER"), and BNP Paribas, a French
societe anonyme ("BUYER").

      WHEREAS, Seller owns all 3,276,535 issued and outstanding shares of Common
Stock, par value $5.00 per share (the "SHARES"), of Bank of the West, a
Californian banking corporation, (the "BANK"); and

      WHEREAS, on March 15, 2002, the Seller acquired all of the 10,864,198
outstanding common shares of United California Bank; and

      WHEREAS, on April 1, United California Bank merged with and into the Bank,
and as a result of such merger, Seller received in exchange for its shares of
United California Bank, 1,456,238 shares of common shares of the Bank, including
the shares represented by the share certificate number 31 issued by the Bank on
November 20, 2002, representing 485,413 common shares of the Bank with an
aggregate fair market value and U.S. Federal income tax basis of $800 million
(the "MINORITY SHARES");

      WHEREAS, Buyer desires to purchase the Minority Shares from Seller upon
the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth; and

      WHEREAS, Buyer and Seller have entered into a Stockholders' Agreement of
even date herewith (the "STOCKHOLDERS' AGREEMENT") concerning the Minority
Shares;

      NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants
and agreements set forth herein, the parties hereto agree as follows:

      1.    Sale of Minority Shares. Upon the terms and subject to the
conditions set forth in this Agreement, Seller shall sell, transfer and assign
the Minority Shares to Buyer, and Buyer shall purchase the Minority Shares from
Seller for an aggregate purchase price of $800,000,000 (the "PURCHASE PRICE").
Closing of the transactions contemplated hereby shall occur on November 22, 2002
or such other date as the parties may mutually agree (the "PURCHASE DATE"). On
the Purchase Date, (i) Seller shall deliver to Buyer Bank share certificate
number 31 for the Minority Shares duly endorsed to Buyer, or accompanied by a
stock power duly endorsed to Buyer, and (ii) Buyer shall deliver $800,000,000 to
Seller by interbank transfer in immediately available funds to an account
designated by Seller.

      2.    Representations and Warranties of Seller. Seller hereby represents
and warrants to Buyer as follows:

            (a)   Due Authorization; Enforceable Obligation. Seller has full
                  power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and
                  to perform its obligations hereunder. This Agreement has been
                  duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part
                  of Seller, has been duly executed and

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                  delivered by Seller and constitutes the valid and binding
                  obligation of Seller enforceable against Seller in accordance
                  with its terms.

            (b)   Conflicting Instruments. Neither the execution and delivery of
                  this Agreement nor the consummation of the transactions
                  contemplated hereby will violate or result in any violation of
                  or be in conflict with or constitute a default under any term
                  of the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of Seller or
                  any judgment, decree or order of any court or administrative
                  body applicable to it or any agreement or other instrument or
                  law applicable to it.

            (c)   Title. Except as provided in this Agreement, (i) Seller is the
                  record and beneficial owner of the Minority Shares with sole
                  power to vote and to dispose of the Minority Shares and (ii)
                  the Minority Shares are owned by Seller free and clear of all
                  security interests, liens, claims, encumbrances, charges,
                  restrictions on transfer, proxies and voting and other
                  agreements.

            (d)   Delivery. Seller has, and upon consummation of the
                  transactions contemplated hereby Buyer will acquire, good and
                  marketable title to the Minority Shares, free and clear of all
                  security interests, liens, claims, encumbrances, charges,
                  restrictions on transfer, proxies and voting and other
                  agreements.

      3.    Representations and Warranties of Buyer. Buyer hereby represents and
warrants to Seller that (i) this Agreement has been duly authorized by all
necessary corporate action on the part of Buyer, (ii) this Agreement has been
duly executed and delivered by Buyer and (iii) this Agreement constitutes the
valid and binding obligation of Buyer enforceable against Buyer in accordance
with its terms.

      4.    Miscellaneous

            (a)   Severability. If any term, provision, covenant or restriction
                  of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction
                  to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the
                  terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions of this
                  Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and shall in
                  no way be affected, impaired or invalidated.

            (b)   Assignment. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to
                  the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective
                  successors and permitted assigns, but neither this Agreement
                  nor any rights hereunder shall be assigned by Buyer without
                  the prior written consent of the Seller.

            (c)   Entire Agreement; Amendments. This Agreement constitutes the
                  entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject
                  matter hereof, notwithstanding any provision of any such
                  documents to the contrary. This Agreement may not be modified,
                  amended, altered or supplemented except upon execution and
                  delivery of a written agreement executed by the Buyer and
                  Seller.

            (d)   Notices. All notices, requests, claims, demands and other
                  communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be
                  given (and shall be deemed to have

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                  been duly received if so given) by delivery in person or by
                  cable, telegram or telex to the respective parties as follows:

                  If to Seller:

                  BancWest Corporation
                  999 Bishop Street
                  Honolulu, HI 96813
                  Telecopy: (808) 529-6088
                  Attention: General Counsel & Secretary

                  If to Buyer:

                  BNP Paribas
                  3 rue d'Antin
                  75009 Paris, FRANCE
                  Telecopy: + 33 1 40 14 93 96
                  Attention: M. Philippe Bordenave

                  or to such other address as any party may have furnished to
                  the other in writing in accordance herewith.

            (e)   Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and
                  construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New
                  York.

            (f)   Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in several
                  counterparts, each of which shall be an original, but all of
                  which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

            (g)   Effect of Headings. The section headings herein are for
                  convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.

            (h)   Further Assurances. Seller shall, upon the reasonable request
                  by Buyer, execute and deliver any additional documents
                  necessary or desirable to complete the sale, conveyance,
                  transfer and assignment of the Minority Shares.

            (i)   Survival. The warranties, representations, covenants and
                  agreements made pursuant to this Agreement shall survive and
                  continue irrespective of any investigation made by or on
                  behalf of any party.

            (j)   Specific Performance. Seller acknowledges that performance of
                  its obligations hereunder will confer a unique benefit on
                  Buyer and, accordingly, that a failure of performance by
                  Seller is not compassable by money damages. Buyer shall
                  therefore be entitled, without prejudice to the rights and
                  remedies otherwise available to it, to specific performance of
                  all obligations of Seller hereunder.

                  *                    *                    *

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      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
duly executed as of the day and year first above written.

                                              BNP Paribas SA

                                              By     /s/ PIERRE MARIANI
                                                  ------------------------------
                                              Name   Pierre Mariani
                                              Title: Executive Vice President

                                              BancWest Corporation

                                              By     /s/ WALTER A DODS, JR.
                                                  ------------------------------
                                              Name   Walter A. Dods, Jr.
                                              Title: Chairman & CEO

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