From once being a small shoe store, Nordstrom has developed into a leading retailer providing high end fashion at a reasonable price. For more than 100 years the Nordstrom family has prized themselves for specializing in providing excellent customer service for everyone who walks through their store doors.
Nordstrom was first founded in Seattle by John W. Nordstrom and Collin Warren as a shoe store in 1901, named Wallin & Nordstrom. Today Nordstrom Incorporated is owned and run by an executive team and the Nordstrom brothers, Pete, Erik, and Blake, the fourth generation of Nordstrom’s
Nordstrom is a hierarchic store that promotes from within. Employees can start off at an entry position in any department, as a cashier or sales associate, and move up through the company as their experience grows. Since Nordstrom is a fashion driven franchise employees are encouraged to express their own personal style through their dress, while also keeping their look professional and appropriate for the department they work in.
The main corporate office of Nordstrom Inc. can be found in downtown Seattle. Seattle is a fashion forward city, where it also happens to rain a lot and the temperatures can be very chilly. The cost of living in Seattle can be high due to the cost of housing, and the traffic into the city to reach the corporate office can be very heavy.
Nordstrom Inc. promotes themselves as being highly involved in what they call, “Nordstrom Cares”. In this they are taking their customer service one step further, out the door to the communities in which their stores reside. They believe that it is their duty to support these communities, and also to reduce their carbon footprint by conserving resources. This has been shown through the charities that Nordstrom has partnered with in the past, according to their website from 2012 to 2013 they operated treasure&bond, a separately owned charity store that donates 100% of their profits to New York children charities.
Not only has Nordstrom donated to charities but they promote taking steps to reduce their impact on the environment. In the past few years they report that they have started to put solar panels on some of their stores, they have switched over to email receipts to reduce paper usage, and their shopping bags and packages are 100% recyclable.
Nordstrom Inc. has one main mission statement. Their commitment reads,
“In store or online, wherever new opportunities arise, Nordstrom works relentlessly to give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible. The one constant? John W. Nordstrom’s founding philosophy: offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value.”
-Nordstrom.com
This commitment, as stated on their website, is demonstrated by a departments team of employees, assisting customers in every way that they can, from free returns to free shipping. Anyone interested in working for a Nordstrom store should be aware that not only do they strive to bring leading fashion trends to everyone, but to provide excellent customer service to everyone who steps into their store.
