History

In 1887, at the age of 16, like many other Swedes in the late 19th century, John W. Nordstromimmigrated to the
United States in search of opportunity. He was born in the village of Ale, close to Lule in Northern Sweden. His
name at birth was "Johan Nordstrm" which he later anglicized to John Nordstrom. After landing in New York, he first
worked in Michigan. After working a series of menial jobs as he moved across the country, he saved enough money
to purchase a 20-acre (81,000 m
2
) potato farm in Arlington, Washington, close to Seattle. In 1897, he joined
the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada'sYukon Territory, leaving Seattle with countless others. After two years of
prospecting and doing whatever it took to continue, he finally struck gold, but sold his disputed claim for
$13,000.
[10]
Returning to Seattle with his newfound wealth, he married Hilda Carlson and looked for a business
venture, finally settling on a shoe store that opened in 1901, called Wallin & Nordstrom. Carl F. Wallin, the co-founder
of the store, was the owner of the adjacent shoe repair shop. John and Hilda had five children, three of whom
followed him into the family business, Everett W.(1903), Elmer J.(1904) and Lloyd N. Nordstrom. By the time Wallin &
Nordstrom opened their second store in Seattle in 1923, Elmer who recently graduated from the University of
Washington had already had enough hands-on experience to be put in charge of its opening.


The exterior of a typical Nordstrom department store at The Florida Mall located in Orlando, Florida.
In 1928, John W. Nordstrom retired and sold his shares to two of his sons, Everett and Elmer. In 1929, Wallin also
retired and sold his shares to them. The 1930 grand opening of the remodeled Second Avenue store marked the
change of name to Nordstrom. Lloyd Nordstrom subsequently joined the company in 1933, and the three brothers ran
the business together for almost forty years.
By 1958, Nordstrom had expanded to eight stores in two states but still only sold shoes. Their expansion was based
on customer service, deep product offerings and full size ranges. Apparel came with its purchase of Best Apparel of
Seattle in 1963. The company's name was changed to Nordstrom Best in 1969.
By 1968, the second generation debated selling the company as Everett neared retirement. Instead, they were
convinced by the third generation NordstromsBruce A. (Everett's son), James F. and John N. (Elmer's two sons),
together with John A. (Jack) MacMillan (married to Lloyd's daughter) -- to take the company public instead, and allow
the cousins to take over the business. In 1971, the company was taken public on NASDAQ under the ticker NOBE
(Nordstrom Best). In 1973, "Best" was dropped from the company's name, and the store assumed its current name of
Nordstrom.
[11]
It was moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 under the ticker symbol JWN after John W.
Nordstrom, its founder.
As the stores expanded in size, restaurants were added beginning in 1979, reaching their peak with the then-largest
(and most expensive) Westfield San Francisco Centre California flagship store that opened in 1989, that included no
fewer than four restaurants as well as an English pub.
[19]
Recently, the "Espresso Bar" from older stores has been
discontinued and re-introduced as the "eBar" with offering a variety of quick-fix snacks, and an expanded "hotbar"
drink list. Smaller stores (mostly consisting of two-stories) now have an "in-House Cafe," which offers the same menu
but with seating. Nordstrom has also revised its four restaurants (found in select stores), the casual "Classic Cafe"
and "Marketplace Cafe," the "Cafe Bistro" specializing in brick oven entrees and the "Nordstrom Grill" offering food
and alcoholic beverages. The Nordstrom restaurants have similar menus and offer different specials daily. The
restaurants offer beer and wine.


A Nordstrom Rack store in Hillsboro, Oregon
Nordstrom sold its stand-alone boutique chain Faonnable in 2007 though it still offers that label in its lineup.
In February 2011, Nordstrom announced the acquisition of HauteLook, an LA-based online retailer that offers flash
sales on designer goods. The deal includes Nordstrom paying $180 million in stock and a three-year "earn-out"
payment based on HauteLook's financial performance.
[20]

On May 26, 2011, Nordstrom announced that they will be closing the downtown Indianapolis, Indiana Circle
Center Mall location due to declining business at Downtown site. The remaining location on the north side of the city
at the Fashion Mall at Keystone as well as the future Nordstrom Rack store in the Rivers Edge Shopping Center, also
on the north side, will remain as the only two locations in the state. Erik Nordstrom, president of stores at Nordstrom
stated, "We've enjoyed serving our customers in downtown Indianapolis, but unfortunately our business has declined
over the long term for some time and despite our efforts to turn things around we don't see the outlook significantly
changing."
[21]



Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Nordstrom, West Temple Entrance faade at night
In August 2011, Nordstrom opened the store Treasure & Bond in SoHo, New York. Intended to test the waters of the
tumultuos high-end department store scene in New York, all profits of Treasure & Bond will be donated to charity.
The customer base of the smaller store is thought to be the younger, more free-willed sister of the typical Nordstrom
customer.
[22]

March 22, 2012, City Creek Center opened up in Downtown Salt Lake City, with a new Nordstrom anchor store. The
store features a light feature on the west faade adjacent to Temple Square (as seen in the picture on the right). City
Creek Center's only other anchor is Macy's.
During this same time Nordstrom also announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in Milwaukee in 2014.
[23]
In late
November 2012, Nordstrom announced that they will also be opening a full line Nordstrom Department Store in 2015
in Milwaukee at Mayfair Mall two blocks north of the proposed Nordstrom Rack location. This is one of the few full
line, new store openings Nordstrom has scheduled. Milwaukee is the largest metropolitan area in the country that
does not have a Nordstrom. Such unmet demand was highlighted in Nordstrom's decision to open in the Milwaukee
area
[24]

On January 4, 2013 Nordstrom confirmed a new location in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan region. To be
located at the Ridgedale Center it will be the second in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. Following the success of
its Mall of America opening in 1991, Nordstrom has sought to expand in the Twin Cities market.
[25]
Plans were
originally made in 2007 to open at Ridgedale Center in 2011, only to be canceled in 2009.
[26]
The current
announcement is for an opening in Fall, 2015.
Expansion into Canada[edit]
Nordstrom officially announced its expansion to Canada on September 13, 2012, announcing the opening of 4
locations in some of the most successful shopping malls in Canada; Pacific Centrein Vancouver, Chinook
Centre in Calgary, Ottawas Rideau Centre, and Toronto's Sherway Gardens, all owned by Cadillac Fairview. The first
three will be in former Sears locations, the result of a 170 million dollar buyout to vacate the sites, and the fourth store
is to be a new build in.
On April 8, 2013, Nordstrom announced a fifth Canadian location at Toronto's Yorkdale Shopping Centre.
[27]

On January 15, 2014, a sixth location was announced for the Toronto Eaton Centre, replacing a flagship Sears
location that is closing in February.
[28]

The Canadian stores are set to open in fall 2014 (Calgary), spring 2015 (Ottawa), fall 2015 (Vancouver), and fall 2016
(Toronto).
[29]

Sales[edit]
Nordstrom traditionally only holds five designated sale events each year. Four of these are Half-Yearly sales, which
take place semi-annually and are split up by department. For women and kids, the Half-Yearly sales take place in
May and November. The Men's Half-Yearly sales occur in mid-June and late December.
Nordstrom's largest sale event is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, which is held each July.
[30]
Limited amounts of
merchandise set to be released for the following fall is sent to Nordstrom stores early, where it is sold at a large
discount. For ten days prior to Anniversary Sale, Nordstrom rewards members are able to make appointments with
sales associates to shop the sale early through the store's Early Access event. Shoppers also get double points on
their Nordstrom card purchases throughout early access and the first weekend of the Anniversary Sale.