Photo: Rideau Centre, via Twitter
Nordstrom has announced the opening date of its Ottawa store, as well as the identity of its new store manager. Ottawa will become home to Canada’s second Nordstrom store, following the opening of its Calgary store, set for September.
The Rideau Centre Nordstrom store will open on Friday, March 6th, 2015, and its store manager will be John Banks. Mr. Banks is a long-time employee who was most recently its director of human resources for Nordstrom’s southeast US locations. He has also managed some of the company’s largest stores.
John Banks. Photo: Nordstrom
The 157,000 square foot Nordstrom store is currently under construction. Occupying the second and third levels of a former 240,000 square foot Sears store, Ottawa’s Nordstrom will anchor the increasingly upscale Rideau Centre. According to a Nordstrom press release, Ottawa’s Nordstrom is expected to employ about 400 people, including about 40 department managers. Rideau’s second anchor will be La Maison Simons, which will occupy 105,000 square feet in a northeastern mall expansion. Simons will open in August of 2016.
In the United States, Nordstrom usually picks ‘proven leaders’ from its stores to become department and store managers. For its Canadian stores, however, Nordstrom has taken a slightly different approach. Instead of promoting existing staff, Nordstrom is seeking out Canadian talent. For about three months, new hires will be temporarily moved to Seattle to be immersed in Nordstrom’s corporate culture. Housing, food and transportation will be provided by Nordstrom. Once trained at the Seattle flagship, department managers may begin recruiting staff for their Canadian store locations.
Department management positions will be posted on July 24, 2014 and hiring will begin in August. Department managers will begin hiring staff in December of 2014. Applicants can create an online profile at: www.careers.nordstrom.com.
In January, Nordstrom announced that its 140,000 square foot Calgary store will open on September 19, 2014. Its store manager will be Sheila Woodridge. Nordstrom’s Chinook Centre location will occupy part of the retail space formerly occupied by a 172,000 square foot Sears.
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