A Fashion Evolution

Among all the specialty department stores, few have been as consistent as Nordstrom.

For more than a century, this shoe store-turned-high-end specialty apparel retailer has based its shopping environment on a few simple precepts: outstanding customer amenities; live piano music near the escalator wells; wide aisleways and clean, open sightlines; merchandise areas uncluttered by vendor props and signage; lifestyle merchandising; and, of course, unwavering customer service. There’s a reason it has come to be called “the Nordstrom way.”

So when the Seattle-based company calls its Topanga Mall store “the latest evolution of that Nordstrom experience,” it deserves some notice. “Our goal is to constantly improve with every evolution on as many things as we can,” says Dave Lindsey, Nordstrom’s vp, store planning and architecture.

So what’s in store at Topanga (a Westfield property in Canoga Park, Calif.)? To start off, the 200,000-square-foot, three-level space is roughly 30 percent larger than Nordstrom’s original Topanga mall location. (That store moved when the mall owners undertook a $330 million expansion and upgrade.)

Nordstrom has taken advantage of that extra square footage to bring together its most comprehensive designer offering to date. For example, consider the expanded Gucci presence in the store. Shoppers can find not only Gucci sunglasses, but also Gucci shoes, handbags, fragrances and apparel throughout the store. And it’s not just Gucci. Other designers include Badgley Mischka, Blumarine, Chloé, Lanvin, Marni, Vera Wang and others.

In the past, Lindsey says, Nordstrom did not have much synergy in its designer merchandise across categories. “But here, all of our lead merchants have come together and said we’re going to bring the best to market that we can.”

The retailer began refining that message at its Dallas’ NorthPark Center store, which opened a year ago. “But this store is where it really came together,” Lindsey says. “It’s the culmination of all our efforts with our merchants.”

The increased designer offering also means shoppers will find more designer hard shops inside the Nordstrom environment, something the retailer has traditionally kept to a minimum. The company began including these hard shops into its retail mix several years ago after renovating its Seattle flagship. But Topanga houses its greatest offering to date, with Gucci and Chanel ready-to-wear and accessories and Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Dior handbag shops.

These shops also have a new level of prominence with their own storefronted space. Susan Morton, Nordstrom’s director of interior design and concepts, says hard-shop storefronts were created around a department’s perimeter in a neutral style that integrates with the overall design of that department. For example, a collection of designer handbags is displayed on Nord-

strom fixtures in the center of the handbags department, while the walls house entrances into the individual Gucci and Chanel shops, where each brand was given license to create its own store design.

“The framework allows each of the individual vendors to have a presence and image but it’s enveloped in a Nordstrom store vernacular of design that ties it together,” says Lindsey.

To further integrate this new concept into the Nordstrom environment, Callison (Seattle), which designs almost all the Nordstrom stores, took finishes popular in designers’ shops, such as dark woods, crisp white walls and light-colored marble flooring, and spread them throughout the entire store to create a harmonious design language. “We’re integrating the whole store as you go from one lifestyle department to the next with the use of these common materials,” says Callison design principal MJ Munsell.

Other departments also received upgrades, using a new white and black template that the retailer began testing a year ago in Dallas. The new kids’ wear and kids’ shoe design concept employs this new dark and light palette with bright color accents to appeal to the young target audience. Munsell says a new fixturing system also helps tie in with similar-sized fixtures found in adjacent departments. “So when you look across the floor, there’s commonality,” she says.

But Nordstrom didn’t forget that most kids would rather play than shop. So in addition to its 200-gallon fish tank that’s been a favorite among younger shoppers for years, designers created “The Crib,” an anteroom to the area’s dressing room, where kids can play with an Xbox and toys or lounge on furniture while mom shops. “We’re trying to make it so customers can go in and buy clothes with their kids and it can be a positive experience for all,” says Lindsey.

Nordstrom has also created tailored fitting room experiences in other departments. For instance, a “BP apartment” in its Brass Plum junior’s area features bold reds and purples and kitschy decor to appeal to that generation’s tastes.

Topanga also showcases a new concept for Nordstrom’s denim t.b.d. department, the sister version of its contemporary Rail department for men, with such fashionable denim brands as AG Jeans, Citizens of Humanity and Paige Premium Denim. Both departments are peppered with decorative lighting fixtures and artisan objects. Men will find a pool table and music cases in Rail, while for women, designers chose ottomans, pillows and hanging pendants.

“The extra touches add a sparkle and focal point to the department,” says Lindsey. “Plus, they’re very easy to retrofit into our existing stores.”

The retailer also sought to capitalize on the trend in fashionable athletic wear, so the Topanga store boasts a new Women’s Active Shoes department, located adjacent to the retailer’s already legendary shoe department on the first floor.

White fixtures in curved, flowing shapes and illuminated display wall coves drive home the active nature of the walking, running and cross-training footwear. And to help shoppers test out their shoes in real-life settings, several types of flooring materials were installed in the department, including concrete, carpet and a rubber running track.

The store’s customer-centric focus is also complemented by a few other amenities. Topanga offers a Cafe Bistro and full-service express Nordstrom Spa Escape on the third floor and an EBar coffee, espresso and carryout stand on the first floor near the mall entrance.

Whether it’s expanded customer services, new lifestyle departments or a larger designer fashion mix, Lindsey says the Topanga store illustrates Nordstrom’s latest evolution to create a shopping experience that customers will want to repeat again and again. “That’s the beauty of experiences – people are interested in repeating a favorable one,” he says. “So our goal in all of this is to create a positive shopping encounter. It’s the whole idea of making it fun and a place you want to go to, versus something that you have to do.”

Client: Nordstrom, Seattle – Dave Lindsey, vp, store planning and architecture; Preston Plaxco, project manager; Nancy Webber, manager interior design lead; Sonia Parra, manager interior design; Karen Percelle, design team; Wesley van Doren, design team; Ken Eyre, design team; Mimi Martin, design team; Rosalie Borda, casework coordinator; Randall Hummer, block planning; Susan Morton, director interior design and concepts; Nanci Vanschoelandt, visual merchandising manager; Kelsie Nance-Dickie, visual merchandising regional manager

Design/Architecture: Callison, Seattle – John Bierly, principal-in-charge; MJ Munsell, design principal; Carolyn Jones, project manager; Grant Wilds, project architect; Christy Bates, project designer; Michelle McCormick, interiors manager; Janelle Scheider, concepts design; Stefanie Means, concept design; Ching Chung, concepts design; Sheila May, purchasing manager

General Contractor: Bayley Construction, Mercer Island, WA

Audio/Visual: DMX Inc., Seattle; Leibold Communications, Seattle

Ceilings: Elljay Acoustics, Orange, Calif.

Casework: Imperial Woodworking Enterprises Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo.; Goebel Fixture Co., Hutchinson, Minn.; Columbia Showcase, Sun Valley, Calif.; Northwest Building Technologies, Seattle; Allied Steel, Redmond, Wash.; High Country Mill Work, Longmont, Colo.; GDM Concepts, Paramount, Calif.; Kaas Tailored, Mukilteo, Wash.; Noell Design Group, Boca Raton, Fla.; ITF International, Inc, New York; Master Millwork, Puyallup, Wash.; Store Kraft, Beatrice, Neb.

Fixtures: Northwest Building Technologies, Seattle; High Country Mill Work, Longmont, Colo.; MAS Metals Industries Inc., Brampton, Ont.; Universal Showcase Inc., Vaughan, Ont.; Columbia Showcase, Sun Valley, Calif.; J.F. Chen, Los Angeles; The Mercier Group, Los Angeles; GDM Concepts, Paramount, Calif.; Allied Steel, Redmond, Wash.; Mass Merchandising, Toronto; Kel Tech Plastics, Tacoma, Wash.; Custom Edge, Tacoma, Wash.; Heartwood, Seattle; Blue Sky, Bainbridge Island, Wash.; 555 Design Fabrication Mgmt. (div. of 555 Intl. Inc.), Chicago; CMI, Toronto; idX Corp., Toronto; JP Metal America Inc., Montreal

Flooring: Masland Carpets, Bellevue, Wash.; InterfaceFLOR, La Grange, Ga.; Innovative Marble & Tile Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y.; Wienker Carpet, Edmonds, Wash.; Universal Flooring, Huntington Beach, Calif.; Kerr Floors, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Furniture: Kaas Tailored, Mukilteo, Wash.; GDM Concepts, Paramount, Calif.; The Mercier Group, Los Angeles; Heartwood, Seattle; Vaswani Inc., Springfield, N.Y.

Lighting: Loomis, Kirkland, Wash.; JF Chen, Los Angeles

Mannequins/Forms: Goldsmith LLC, New York

Props and decoratives: The Mercier Group, Los Angeles; Selling Point, Seattle; Offhand Glass, Lynnwood, Wash.

Signage/Graphics: M3-Messenger Sign Corp., Seattle

Wallcoverings and Materials: MDC Wallcovering, Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Maharam, Seattle; Cortina Leathers Inc., New York; Pollack & Associates, New York; Loop Textiles, Auckland, New Zealand; Townsend Leather, Johnstown, N.Y.

Photography: Chris Eden, Seattle