HistoryIn 1887, at the age of 16, like many other Swedes in the late 19th century, John W. Nordstromimmigratedto 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 (81,000m2) potato farm inArlington, Washington, close to Seattle. In 1897, he joined theKlondike Gold Rushin 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 theUniversity of Washingtonhad already had enough hands-on experience to be put in charge of its opening.

The exterior of a typical Nordstrom department store atThe Florida Malllocated inOrlando, 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 onNASDAQunder 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 theNew York Stock Exchangein 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 CentreCalifornia 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 inHillsboro, OregonNordstrom sold its stand-alone boutique chainFaonnablein 2007 though it still offers that label in its lineup.In February 2011, Nordstrom announced the acquisition ofHauteLook, 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 onHauteLook's financial performance.[20]On May 26, 2011, Nordstrom announced that they will be closing the downtownIndianapolis, IndianaCircle CenterMall 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 nightIn 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 Centeropened up inDowntown Salt Lake City, with a new Nordstrom anchor store. The store features a light feature on the west faade adjacent toTemple Square(as seen in the picture on the right). City Creek Center's only other anchor isMacy's.During this same time Nordstrom also announced plans to open a Nordstrom Rack inMilwaukeein 2014.[23]In late November 2012, Nordstrom announced that they will also be opening a full line Nordstrom Department Store in 2015 in Milwaukee atMayfair Malltwo 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 theMinneapolis-Saint Paulmetropolitan region. To be located at theRidgedale Centerit will be the second in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. Following the success of itsMall of Americaopening 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 inCanada;Pacific CentreinVancouver,Chinook CentreinCalgary,OttawasRideau Centre, andToronto'sSherway Gardens, all owned byCadillac Fairview. The first three will be in formerSearslocations, 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'sYorkdale Shopping Centre.[27]On January 15, 2014, a sixth location was announced for theToronto 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.