Word: nordstrom
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...this beloved chain of upscale, family-run emporiums, which has 83 stores in 17 states from Washington to Virginia, has been struggling to reverse recent slides in its profits and stock price. Shoppers still rush to new Nordstrom stores, which have been opening at the rate of four a year, but sales at some older ones have been slumping. Despite its reputation for catering to customers' desires, Nordstrom (1996 sales: $4.5 billion) has been slow to jump on hot retailing trends and appreciate fully the passion of Americans for brand names and logos. "You might still have [Nordstrom] as your...
Such defections have hacked away at Nordstrom's bottom line. The company's profits, which rose in double digits through most of the 1980s, have fallen for two straight years--tumbling 18.6% in 1995 and an additional 10.7% last year. The recent fourth quarter, which included the all-important holiday season, was particularly gloomy for Nordstrom, as sales dipped 1.3% at company stores that had been open 14 months or longer...
...slide in profits has pulled Nordstrom stock down too, from nearly $53 a share last May to the mid-$30 range (it closed last Friday at $37.875 a share). That has knocked almost half a billion dollars off the value of the Nordstrom family's 36% stake in the company. "Take your eye off the ball, and it's perilous," says Pete Nordstrom, 35, one of six thirtysomething brothers and cousins who became co-presidents in June 1995, when the fourth generation of family members moved to the head of the 96-year-old company. (The co-presidents report...
...downturn has been a brutal introduction to management for the young Nordstroms, who have learned the business from the ground floor up--first by sweeping out stockrooms and then by advancing through the ranks of buyers and managers. "We're very competitive," says Pete, who stands 6 ft. 7 in. tall and played junior varsity basketball while a student at the University of Washington. (His younger brother Erik joined him on the squad.) "There's a high sense of urgency to turn things around." Nordstrom points to some recent encouraging signs. Results in February were up "in all important categories...
...Surveying the elegant sales floors, which (in contrast to most upscale department stores) group fashions by life-styles rather than brands, the new management decided it was time to freshen up women's merchandise and move some established lines around. "We were starting to get a little bit behind," Nordstrom says. "We needed to be more contemporary and relevant...