Nordstrom to Expand Store Count in California – Analyst Blog

Nordstrom to Expand Store Count in California – Analyst Blog

The store expansion strategy of Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) continues as it announced the opening of a new Nordstrom Rack store in California. The new Rack store will be open at the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center in Emeryville.

Emeryville, situated along the Bay between Oakland and Berkeley, is an ideal location for the new Rack store as the company has been enjoying excellent customer loyalty across the Bay area. Other Nordstrom stores along the East Bay and close to the latest Rack store include two full-line stores, one at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton and another in Walnut Creek.

Apart from this, the company operates three Rack stores in the East Bay area located at San Leandro, Fremont and Pleasant Hill. In the Northern California region, the company has a total of 10 full-line stores and 11 Rack stores.

Occupying about 38,000 square feet floor area in the shopping center, the company’s new Rack store shares business space with popular retailers and restaurant chains, including Target Corp. (TGT), The Home Depot Inc. (HD), Michael’s (MIK), Sports Authority and Pak ‘n Save Foods. The store is scheduled to open by fall 2015.

Located centrally at the merging point of Interstates 80, 880 and 580 at the Bay Bridge, East Bay Bridge Shopping Center is a property of Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) and brings in traffic of over 200,000 ADTs. The shopping center, catering to the inhabitants of Emeryville and Oakland, in the East Bay area of Northern California, enjoys a high foot-fall. Moreover, the location also features a population of 450,000 within the 5 miles range with an average household income of approximately $86,000.

Nordstrom Rack, being the off-price retail segment of the company, offers fashion-savvy customers with a wide range of on-trend apparel, footwear and other accessories at discounted prices. These Racks usually keep items from the main Nordstrom stores and its online store Nordstrom.com. Alongside these, the stores stack products bought from other big brands sold by the company.

Nordstrom’s focus on store expansion is evident from the series of Rack store openings since the beginning of fiscal 2014. Its latest store openings signify the company’s commitment to strengthen its network with the aim of driving top-line growth.

In its recently reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, the company revealed that it opened 10 new Rack stores during the quarter, increasing the total store count to 270 as against 260 and 245 at the end of fourth quarter and first quarter, respectively, of fiscal 2013. The 270 stores include 117 full-line stores, 150 Nordstrom Rack stores, 2 Jeffrey boutiques and 1 clearance outlet.

Looking ahead, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company targets to further expand its store base by opening 20 new stores in the remaining period of fiscal 2014, which include 3 full-line stores and 17 Rack stores.

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