Nordstrom foresees speedy expansion
HIGH-END RETAILER says its first four Canadian stores will create 1,000 jobs
TORONTO — High-end U.S. retailer Nordstrom is moving north of the border starting in fall 2014 with the opening of its first four Canadian stores in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver.
The expansion — Nordstrom’s first beyond U.S. borders — will create 1,000 new jobs and could see five more Canadian locations added in the years to come, the company said Thursday.
“We’re just really excited for the opportunity to get our doors open here and prove ourselves,” said Blake Nordstrom, company president and CEO during an announcement in Toronto.
“This is a significant milestone for us as a company.”
The upscale department store joins a growing list of foreign chains that have recently announced they will be vying for coveted Canadian consumer dollars.
The Seattle-based retailer will move into renovated space vacated by Sears Canada at the Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Chinook Centre in Calgary and the Rideau Centre in Ottawa. A new store will be built at Toronto’s Sherway Gardens.
In a telephone interview, a Nordstrom spokeswoman, Brooke White, said Montreal is not on the current list only because of the lack of appropriate real estate opportunities.
“We’d love to be in Montreal today. … We know Montreal is a an important city and we know it’s a very fashionable city where people are very interested in fashion, so we will continue to look” for sites.
“Initially we have these four opportunities. Our goal is to have six to eight stores throughout Canada.”
Asked if language restrictions and regulations are a factor in bypassing Montreal for the first wave, White said “no, not really.”
Nor did the recent election play into Nordstrom’s decision, she said.
“These things are longerterm than one recent election. We’re really looking more at the long-term. Even in the U.S., political cycles don’t seem to affect us too much. So it has little or nothing to do with that.”
Other retailers have delayed — or neglected — coming to Quebec, often citing hard-to-find locations that address all of their firms’ requirements.
Michaels, for instance, a Texas-based arts and craft retailer, recently announced it is opening seven stores in Quebec, 17 years after coming to English Canada.
But Gaston Lafleur, president of the Quebec Retail Council, said strategy depends on the retailer. WalMart Stores and Target, for instance, took over existing stores or their leases, so came to Quebec at the same time as the rest of Canada.
For new stores, it’s harder to find the proper sites and context, about which retailers are finicky.
And Lafleur conceded that doing business in another language adds a layer of costs, including for printed materials, employee training and management.
The tentative timeline for the Nordstrom stores opening is; fall of 2014 in Calgary; spring 2015 in Ottawa and Vancouver; and fall 2016 in Toronto.
The openings will result in 1,000 new jobs, says Karen McKibbin, the newly installed president of Nordstrom Canada.
Blake Nordstrom says the idea to move into Canada’s market has been in the works for years, calling it the “worst kept secret” in the retail world.
Part of the delay, he says, was that the company wanted to ensure it understood Canadian customers before taking the leap.
“We recognize there’s differences and so that’s partly why we’ve been slow in coming to Canada,” Nordstrom said.
“We wanted to ensure that we would be executing well and be at a stage with our company that we were ready to give it our best effort in Canada.”
One of the reasons why Canada has been so attractive to U.S. retailers is that the economy weathered the recession better than its southern neighbour, he said.
“It’s pretty evident that your economy has been stronger and more robust,” said Nordstrom, adding that the companies know that success in Canada is not a given.
He said the new stores will offer a variety of upscale clothing brands, but what will set them apart from its competitors is the high level of customer service that will be offered.
John Sullivan, Cadillac Fairview president and CEO, called Nordstrom an “excellent fit” for all four malls.
“Our feeling is that they will attract additional shoppers and drive more traffic to the malls,” he said.
“Ultimately, that will be a win for Nordstrom but it will also be a win for retailers in the mall and all our customers who shop at the mall. It’s really a win, win, win — that’s how we look at it.”