Nordstrom to open stores in Canada
A shopper carries a Nordstrom bag as he walks along Market Street in San Francisco, Calif.
Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom announced today that it will open its first stores outside the United States starting in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported. The high-end chain will open four stores in Canada, generating about 1,000 jobs up north, Reuters reported.
A store in Calgary's Chinook Centre will open in fall 2014, followed by stores in Ottawa's Rideau Centre and Vancouver's Pacific Centre in spring 2015 and a store in Toronto's Sherway Gardens in fall 2016, according to Reuters.
Nordstrom will take over three spaces formerly occupied by Sears Canada stores in Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver and build a new location in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Company president Blake Nordstrom, great-grandson of the Nordstrom’s founder, said the retailer is considering opening up to nine Nordstrom stores and 12 to 15 Nordstrom Racks – its discount chain – in Canada, Reuters reported. In the US, the company runs 117 Nordstrom stores and 113 Rack stores.
It’s not the first time business opportunities have brought the Nordstrom family to Canada, the Wall Street Journal noted. The retailer’s founder, John W. Nordstrom, panned for gold in the Yukon Territory in the late 1800s. He returned to Seattle with $13,000, which he used to open the shoe store that grew into today’s Nordstrom empire.
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