Nordstrom’s menswear department, on the store’s ground floor, will showcase an edited collection of suits, sportcoats and trousers in sizes 38 short to 50 long. Dress shirts will be available in more than 50 sizes. An in-store tailoring service will be available. Outerwear, business-casual and weekend-casual styles, jeans, and some trendier men’s clothing items will be featured in-store. Men’s furnishings including ties, socks, belts, underwear, bags and tech accessories will be available, as will luggage, fine fragrance and skincare products.
Upscale children’s wear is a category lacking in many Canadian cities. Calgary’s affluent population will make Nordstrom’s children’s wear departments a hit. Boy’s clothing including active, play and casual clothes, will be sold in sizes 2-20. Girl’s clothing, from playwear to dresses, will be carried in sizes 2-16. Baby clothing will also be featured, for kids under the age of two. In addition, kid’s shoes will also be carried, from infant to youth size 6. Designers include Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta, Missoni, and Moncler, as well as lesser-priced labels.
Nordstrom’s cosmetics and beauty department will feature an ‘open-sell‘ concept with a wide variety of vendors. Jewelry at a variety of price points will be available, from inexpensive to ‘Fine Jewelry‘ by designers such as David Yurman and Roberto Coin. Designer jewelry will also be found, by some designer names also carried in its Collectors womenswear department. Both cosmetics and jewelry will be on the store’s ground floor.Â
We’ve got details of Nordstrom‘s first Canadian store, including what departments and services will be included in its Chinook Centre location. Nordstrom’s most expensive designer departments will be featured for womenswear, menswear, footwear and accessories, with prices into the thousands of dollars. Not all merchandise will be as costly, however, as moderately-priced departments will also be present. Children’s clothing will be available at a variety of price points. A restaurant and a coffee bar will be featured, as will a variety of services that reinforce Nordstrom’s reputation for exceptional customer service. We can also expect similar departments and services for other Canadian Nordstrom stores as they open over the next three years.Â
Luxury will be prominent at Calgary’s Nordstrom, including clothing, accessories and shoes. Its upscale women’s department, called Collectors, will locate on the second floor of the Calgary store. Boasting some of the world’s top luxury designers, Collectors departments typically carry designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Oscar de la Renta, Burberry, Versace, Armani Collezioni, Lanvin and others. Designer handbags, located on the store’s ground floor, include a roster of similar designers – Valentino features prominently at many Nordstrom stores, as does Ferragamo, Tod’s, Saint Laurent, Chloé and even high-priced Bottega Veneta. Given Nordstrom’s reputation for an extensive range of footwear, it comes as no surprise that plenty of designer shoes will be carried at Calgary’s Nordstrom. Its top-priced department, Salon Shoes, carries prominent designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu, Valentino, Gucci and many others.Â
A limited selection of luxury men’s collections, located on the ground floor, will also be featured at Calgary’s Nordstrom. In the United States, Nordstrom’s designer menswear section includes Moncler, Armani Collezioni, Dsquared2, Canali and at its better stores, Lanvin, Jil Sander, Thom Brown, and Marni. The men’s designer shoe section will likely feature staple designers such as Gucci, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tod’s, To Boot New York, and others. A source tells us that Nordstrom will carry upscale men’s accessories at its Calgary store, as menswear and accessories have recently seen substantial growth at Nordstrom.Â
Nordstrom isn’t all about luxury designers, however. Its Canadian website reveals that its Calgary store will carry the following lesser-priced women’s clothing departments:
- via C: Nordstrom’s mid-priced department which features trendy and emerging designers, including the likes of Alice + Olivia, Elizabeth and James, rag & bone, Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, KENZO and MSGM,
- Savvy: Nordstrom’s fashion-forward, value-priced designer department,
- t.b.d.: Nordstrom’s trendy women’s denim department, including designers such as Citizens of Humanity, Paige Denim, Hudson Jeans, Splendid, Free People, Ella Moss, James Perse and J Brand,
- Active and swim,
- Juniors, and
- Lingerie and hosiery.
Offering a wide variety of footwear and prices, Nordstrom’s lesser-priced women’s shoe departments include ‘B.P. Shoes‘ and ‘Women’s Shoes‘. Thousands of shoes will be carried, and will be displayed near the store’s mall entrance on the main level. Nordstrom’s shoe selection will rival and possibly surpass any in Canada, though Hudson’s Bay’s massive Toronto footwear salon will give Nordstrom a run for its money.Â
Other in-store services will include on-site alterations, beauty stylists, certified shoe fitters, certified bra fitters, complimentary gift boxes, and a fee-based delivery service.
Nordstrom’s coffee concept, eBar, will serve coffee beverages, smoothies, pastries, as well as a variety of fresh grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and snacks. A restaurant concept will also open on the second floor, and we’ll discuss Nordstrom’s food offerings in a separate article.
Nordstrom’s 140,000 square foot Calgary store opens at 9:30 am on Friday, September 19th.
*Our sources for this article have asked to remain anonymous*
Congratulation on your opening of your store in Canada it is nice if you can open in Vancouver and in Dubai ( UAE )
Roya, Nordstrom will open a 230,000 sq ft Vancouve store in the fall of 2016. If it opens in Dubai, it would likely have to be through a local business partner as is common practice.
What about specialty sizes? Nordstrom is known for carrying a good selection of women’s shoes size 5 1/2 or smaller (and size 10+) as well as women’s petite sizes in clothing (for women 5’4" and below). The only two department stores where I can find BCBG Petites is Nordies and Bloomingdale’s. BCBG does not carry petites in their regular stores.
Cynthia, Nordstrom will likely carry a wide variety of shoe sizes, possibly the best in the country. Their clothing selection, on the other hand, is a topic for a new article. 140,000 sq ft is pretty small for a store carrying such a wide variety of products and services at varying price points – at the high-end, Holt Renfrew will have a wider selection and in general, Hudson’s Bay’s flagship have more space to merchandise.
Is it just me or does anyone think this could be a major failure. They are bringing the worlds finest labels and most expensive fashion to a city where new money is content with wearing jeans and cowboy boots (blah blah I’m sure some women are upgrading to Lulu pants but W/E). I don’t see Calgary as a hub for ultra high end fashion and 140,000 SF is probably way more space than what’s required.
In Toronto it makes slighly more sense given the population (Chinese buyers that come to the store with bricks of cash – don’t believe me, ask any associate at Holts). But still, I just don’t see where all the consumer dollars are coming from to support Holts, Harry Rosen, and Nordstrom. Something has to give.
Vacancy–valid points for sure. Will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. But Nordstrom HO you have to believe have done their homework….this is a massive investment to which failure really isnt an option for them.