Nordstrom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nordstrom, Inc. | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: JWN) |
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| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Website | www.nordstrom.com |
Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) is an upscale department store chain in the United States. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrance, and home furnishings. The company competes at an average price level above Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Macy's, and Sears, on par with Bloomingdale's, and Lord & Taylor, but below that of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The corporate headquarters and the flagship store are located in Downtown Seattle, Washington.
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[edit] History
Nordstrom was founded as a single shoe store in 1901 as Wallin & Nordstrom by John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant, and Carl Wallin, the owner of a Seattle shoe repair shop. Twenty-two years later, a second shoe store was opened.
In 1928, John W. Nordstrom retired and sold his shares to two of his sons, Everett and Elmer (according to the book The Nordstrom Way). In 1929, Wallin retired and sold his remaining shares to the two Nordstrom sons. Lloyd Nordstrom joined the company in 1933.
Thirty-one years later, Nordstrom expanded to eight stores in two states but still only sold shoes. Apparel came with its purchase of Best Apparel of Seattle in 1963. The company's name was changed to Nordstrom Best in 1969.
Two years later the company was taken public. (It currently trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol JWN.) In 1973, "Best" was dropped from the company's name.
In 1976 Nordstrom opened a series of stores called Place Two to sell a more limited selection of apparel in smaller markets. In 1983 there were ten Place Two stores, but by the end of 1994 there were only four stores and the division was discontinued.[1]
The company has opened a ".com" fulfillment center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Currently, it has distribution centers in Ontario, California; Portland, Oregon; Dubuque, Iowa; Annapolis, Maryland; and Gainesville, Florida.
In 1998, Nordstrom replaced its downtown Seattle store with a new flagship location in the former Frederick & Nelson building across the street. At 383,000 square feet, the downtown Seattle location is the chain's largest store as of February 2007. By contrast, the smallest Nordstrom store (as of February 2007) opened in 1975 in Anchorage, Alaska, and has a total area of 97,000 square feet.
The "Espresso Bar" from older stores have been discontinued and now introduced as the "eBar" with a new look and which offers a variety of quick-fix snacks, sandwiches, salads, fruit smoothies and a expanded 'hotbar' drink list. For smaller stores (mostly consisting of two-stories) have a concept called "in-House Cafe", this offers the same menu as the eBar but with a sit & dine area. This concept has also been discontinued after only 2 years, the new and future lay-out is to have an eBar & a new restaurant called "Bistro Cafe".
[edit] Expansion
Nordstrom has chosen to grow both methodically and organically over the years, eschewing the growth-for-growth's sake acquisitions of other companies, expanding to Alaska in 1975, Southern California only in 1978 (at South Coast Plaza), Northern California in 1982 (at Hillsdale Shopping Center), the East Coast in 1988 (at Tysons Corner Center), the Midwest in 1991 (at Oakbrook Center), Texas in 1996 (at Dallas Galleria) and the Southeast in 1998 (first at Perimeter Mall, in Atlanta, Georgia). The company has generally preferred to build stores from the ground-up when possible (Bullock's North locations at Broadway Plaza, Stonestown, Stanford and Oakridge, Alexander's at Menlo Park, NJ, Lord & Taylor at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Phipps Plaza and Dadeland, and Hahne's at Garden State Plaza being the few exceptions). Proposed plans to expand in to more tertiary markets (Nashville, Pittsburgh, Louisville) were cancelled after the economy slowed in 2000-2001. Nordstrom is planning its entrance into Massachusetts in fall 2007, opening a store in Natick and then continuing to open stores in Burlington and the Miami suburb of Aventura in 2008, Braintree and Peabody in 2009. Nordstrom is also entering the Cincinnati market with a 140,000-square-foot store located in Kenwood Towne Centre. The store is replacing Parisian, and is set to open in fall 2009. Nordstrom is also opening a second location in 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri, where a closed Lord & Taylor once existed at the Saint Louis Galleria. Unsubstantiated rumors of planned Nordstrom openings are frequently mentioned due to its desirability by city-officials, wishful consumers and real estate developers (Battery Park City-Manhattan, Eastview Mall-Rochester, N.Y., St. John's Town Center-Jacksonville, Fla., etc.). A second location has also been announced for Austin, Texas & a second location has been announced for Las Vegas, Nevada in late 2009. The first ever FULL-LINE Nordstrom will open in Hawaii in early spring 2008, as of now, Hawaii only has a Nordstrom Rack & a Nordstrom Shoes store.
[edit] Customer service
Nordstrom is well-known for its customer service, so much so that several urban legends have appeared regarding the store. One of the best known legends is purported to have taken place at the Anchorage store soon after its 1975 purchase from Alaska Commercial Company. A customer, unaware that the store had changed hands, returned a set of tires. Although Nordstrom had never sold tires since opening, it was determined not to be the fault of the customer the store had changed hands, and the return was accepted. The urban legend watch website Snopes has not been able to confirm or deny the authenticity of the story. While the authenticity of that story is not confirmed, many Nordstrom customers will attest that Nordstrom will refund the purchase price of an item bought at another department store provided they carry the brand.[1]
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- In many occasions, this is solely up to the store manager to approve, so don't expect to return just ANYTHING. Certain items, like EXCLUSIVE Designer Boutiques merchandise purchased from certain stores CANNOT be returned to ANY Nordstrom. As certain designers specially 'select' which stores are "ALLOWED" to sell their merchandise (in Built-in Boutiques) those select stores are only allowed 'receive' the purchase volume and the return 'loss'. Such designers are exclusive to (Downtown Seattle Flagship, Topanga Plaza, Bellevue & Perimeter Mall) are Chanel, Dior & Gucci. The merchandise (except sunglasses) can range from shoes, to handbags, to even cosmetics, so if you are purchasing any of these designers, make sure to ask about their "SPECIFIC" return policy to avoid the inconvenience of being refused a return at a different store.
Here is the statement about Nordstrom's policy about finding a lower purchase price elsewhere, copied from the Nordstrom website:
• We assure you'll never pay more. If you find the same item elsewhere for a lower price, we will gladly match it. Our Customer Service Specialists are ready to assist you, simply call 1-888-282-6060, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In other words, if a customer finds the identical item (including brand) elsewhere for a lower price, Nordstrom will refund the difference to its customer, or will sell the item to the customer for that lower price.
[edit] Employee handbook
New employees are given a copy of the famous Nordstrom's Employee Handbook -- a single 5 x 8 inch gray card containing 75 words:[2]
New hire orientations no longer provide this card, as the way Nordstrom operates has evolved.
[edit] Notable achievements
- Nordstrom was listed at No. 24 in Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007.[3] (Nordstrom is a Hall of Fame member of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list.[4])
- Nordstrom was at No. 46 on the same list in 2006 and at No. 88 in 2005.[5]
[edit] Current locations, confirmed future locations, and former locations
[edit] References
- ^ Dow Jones News Services. "Nordstrom-Place Two -2-: To Close 3 Stores, Convert 1." 26 April 1994.
- ^ Lessons of the Nordstrom Way, eCustomerServiceWorld.com
- ^ 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007, CNNMoney.com, Last accessed February 15, 2007.
- ^ Nordstrom Careers, Nordstrom. Last accessed March 2, 2007.
- ^ 100 Best Companies to Work For 2006, CNNMoney.com, Last accessed February 15, 2007.
[edit] External links
Seattle-based Fortune 500 Corporations (by size):
Washington Mutual • Amazon.com • Nordstrom • Starbucks • Safeco
Seattle-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by size):
Companies listed above, plus: Alaska Airlines • Expeditors International • Plum Creek Timber
Puget Sound-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by size):
Companies listed above, plus: Costco Wholesale • Microsoft • Weyerhaeuser • Paccar • Puget Energy
Major Seattle- and Puget Sound-based non-public or externally owned corporations:
Nintendo of America • R.E.I. • T-Mobile USA • WestFarm Foods
