Nordstrom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This is the page for the department store. For individuals by the name of Nordstrom see Nordstrom (disambiguation).
| 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 in the United States. They sell clothing, footwear, 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 in 1901 as Wallin & Nordstrom by John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant who moved to the United States in 1887, and Carl Wallin, the owner of a Seattle shoe store, whom Nordstrom had met during the Klondike gold rush. Twenty-two years later, a second shoe store was opened.
By 1929, both Nordstrom and Wallin had retired and control of the company passed to Nordstrom's sons, Everett, Elmer and Lloyd.
Thirty-one years later, Nordstrom had 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.
The company has opened a ".com" fullfillment center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Currently, it has distribution centers in Ontario; 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.
Nordstrom has opened an "ebar" coffeehouse in select stores.
[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 where possible (Bullock's North locations at Broadway Plaza, Stonestown, Stanford and Oakridge, Alexander's at Menlo Park, Lord & Taylor at Cherry Creek, 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 in 2009 and Peabody in 2010. 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. 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.).
[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 was that Nordstrom graciously refunded the purchase price of a set of tire chains brought in by a customer, notwithstanding that Nordstrom did not sell — and has never sold — automotive products. 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]
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:
