The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that Nordstrom plans to open two more Nordstrom Local stores - the 3,000 square foot format that “is designed as a neighborhood hub that allows people to shop and access Nordstrom services, but doesn't actually stock dedicated inventory. Instead, it has vans that drive to the stores to pick up product for visitors.”
The first edition of the format opened on Melrose Place in Los Angeles: “It has a styling suite and eight dressing rooms surrounding a central meeting space where customers can sit while enjoying a glass of wine or beer or a cup of coffee from the espresso bar. Visitors can access personal stylists, pick up or return items, and can also get alterations done.”
Now, Nordstrom plans to open two more in the Los Angeles area, and believes that it could expand the format to other cities around the country.
"We think we have the underpinnings of something very special there," says Blake Nordstrom.
Nordstrom Local, the story says, “is part of the retailer's strategy of switching from the legacy store view of its business to an omni-channel view that combines the physical and digital experiences and meets customers on their terms.” This strategy has taken numerous forms; earlier this year, Nordstrom acquired a startup called BevyUp, described as a technology that “bridges the precision of digital commerce with the experiential nature of physical shopping.”
Full disclosure: BevyUp was a business that came out of Consumer Equity Partners, the venture accelerator run by Tom Furphy, who in his spare time - and he doesn’t have a ton - does The Innovation Conversation here on MNB.
The first edition of the format opened on Melrose Place in Los Angeles: “It has a styling suite and eight dressing rooms surrounding a central meeting space where customers can sit while enjoying a glass of wine or beer or a cup of coffee from the espresso bar. Visitors can access personal stylists, pick up or return items, and can also get alterations done.”
Now, Nordstrom plans to open two more in the Los Angeles area, and believes that it could expand the format to other cities around the country.
"We think we have the underpinnings of something very special there," says Blake Nordstrom.
Nordstrom Local, the story says, “is part of the retailer's strategy of switching from the legacy store view of its business to an omni-channel view that combines the physical and digital experiences and meets customers on their terms.” This strategy has taken numerous forms; earlier this year, Nordstrom acquired a startup called BevyUp, described as a technology that “bridges the precision of digital commerce with the experiential nature of physical shopping.”
Full disclosure: BevyUp was a business that came out of Consumer Equity Partners, the venture accelerator run by Tom Furphy, who in his spare time - and he doesn’t have a ton - does The Innovation Conversation here on MNB.
- KC's View:
-
You can almost cut-and-paste my comments from the Target story above into this space… Nordstrom is very smart to keep developing this format, which acknowledges that there are fundamental changes taking place in the department store model. You can change, or you can die. Pretty simple, I think.
