Nordstrom Inc. (Seattle) has indicated its intentions to open a store in Manhattan – perhaps purchasing the flagship Lord & Taylor store on Fifth Avenue, which new parent Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) has said it will sell.
“We're certainly interested in being here,” said Peter Nordstrom, the retailer's president of stores, speaking at a luncheon for British designers earlier this month. “If someone had a great location with 100,000 square feet in New York, we'd listen. We would also consider doing small stores elsewhere.”
Nordstrom said the retailer would be flexible in terms of Manhattan locations. “SoHo is great,” he said. “Bloomingdale's showed us what's possible there.” And Nordstrom noted that Jeffrey Kalinsky, now the retailer's director of designer merchandising, showed the possibilities of an out-of-the-way neighborhood nobody had considered when he opened his first store in the Meatpacking District.
Nordstrom was recently announced as this year's winner of the VM+SD/Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award and will accept the award at the International Retail Design Conference in San Francisco. Dave Lindsey, Nordstrom's vp, store planning and architecture, will discuss possible new locations in the company's expansion program as he tells the Nordstrom story and its plans for the future. To register to attend, or find out more about the conference, click here IRDC or go to www.irdconline.com.