The Story of Nordstrom

In 1886 John W. Nordstrom emigrated to the United States at the age of 16. He began to work in the state of Michigan and saved money to purchase a 20 acre potato farm in Arlington, Washington. In 1897 he helped with the Klondike Gold Rush and after two years he struck gold. So, he returned to seattle and married Hilda Carlson and opened a shoe store in 1901. It was named Wallin & Nordstrom. Carl F. Wallin was the cofounder of the departmnet store. Soon, John and Hilda had five children and Wallin & NOrdstrom opened up there second store in Seattle in 1923.

John Nordstrom retired in 1928 and sold his shares to his two sons, Everett and Elmer. By 1958, Norstrom had expanded to eight stores in two states and only sold shoes. They did not start acquiring apparel until 1963 and in 1968 the company's name was changed to Nordstrom Best. In 1973, the Best dropped from the company's name to assume the name of the company now, Nordstrom.

Nordstrom has 109 department stores, 56 Nordstrom Rack clearance shoes, two Jeffery Boutiques, and two final clearance stores all located in 28 different states. Nordstrom plans to open 50 stores within the next 10 years. They have already announced that they will open 26 stores by 2011.