Nordstrom Rack = marginal quality...

[FidelCashflow]

I would kill for even a crappy Nordstrom Rack in Edmonton.... sigh

 

[modagg]

I suspected the outlet stores sucking in recent years was due to the drastic sales the regular stores had to offer to sell anything last year and then this year because it seemed the department stores were stocking a lot less stuff just in case they couldn't sell anything like last year.

 

[Chali2Na]

The Rack is a separate division of the company and has its own set of buyers. 75% of their merchandise is bought specifically for the Rack, so right off the bat that's a significant portion of merch that wouldn't even come close to the SF standards. On top of that, the rest are rejects that didn't sell out during half yearly sales, so that's almost the rest of the pie. There are two ways you find things at the Rack:

1. A few weeks after the half yearly sales are over, everything left is sent to the Rack. This includes designer merchandise, if you're lucky to have a designer store near you. The problem is even at that point, most of the good stuff has already been cleared out of the full line store, so the Rack gets hardly any good stuff. You can get lucky and hope something slips through, it's all a matter of timing. Nordstrom doesn't send merch until they do inventory, so if you find out when they do that (twice a year), the merch is going to the Rack in a matter of days.

2. Returns that are past the season automatically go to the Rack. This is how you get "lucky." Every once in awhile people return stuff that goes straight to the Rack. This also happens with refurbished items. You can't plan for it, but you can befriend people who work at the Rack who will set anything you might be interested in aside if it comes in and they'll call you.

3. It helps if you live near one of the biggest stores (Michigan Ave, Flagship, Bellevue, South Coast, etc.) because their local racks get the good stuff. Sorry.

 

[stu00a]

always HIT OR MISS

 

[spidercan]

Most of the stuff at my Rack is pretty poor quality. However a couple of months ago there were quite a few new suits. Not much style forum approved, mainly Armani, Dolce and Gabbana etc, but we also got some Zegna, Canali and Jil Sander. Not great but a lot better than going through the racks of Boss and Kenneth Cole suits that usually populate the place.

 

[Osprey Guy]

It helps if you live near one of the biggest stores (Michigan Ave, Flagship, Bellevue, South Coast, etc.) because their local racks get the good stuff. Sorry.

I have discussed this at length with numerous store employees and managers... and it is simply not true. Rack merchandise that actually originates from Nordstrom stores is first shipped to a central distribution center where it is then allocated to stores in other parts of the country. The allocation is based on the track records that have been established by the various Rack stores. In fact, primarily in order to avoid conflicts, the mainline stores go out of their way to NOT send merchandise to Racks in the same town (There are rare exceptions...If at the end of a sale a Nordstrom department manager is left with just a small number of items, he can at his discretion obtain permission to bypass the system and send those few items to the local Rack). Our Nordstrom's is only a "B" store. The Annapolis store (about 40 minutes away) is perhaps a C+. Except for a few proven sellers (IE: Zanella trousers), our store does not carry the sort of goods one might find in the "A" stores. But our Rack has demonstrated that it can do a very good job of moving the better goods (as long as they're discounted)...and so they get more of the better goods than many of the other Racks. Side note about Nordstrom's: On my last night in South Florida a few weeks ago, I was on my way to have dinner with an old friend. He lives just a couple blocks north of the Aventura Mall in North Miami. Before I got there he called me on my cell and said, "I know you like Nordstrom's...So before you come over you need to stop by the Aventura Nordstrom's. You'll be impressed." Well, I was running late and when I pulled up to the Nordstrom's it was already 9:20 pm (the store closes at 9:30) As luck would have it I happened to park just outside the entrance to the Men's department. When I walked inside I was immediately blown away! It only took a moment for me to realize that this store was every bit as nice as a Neiman's or Bergdorf's...perhaps nicer! This wan't just a Nordstrom "A" store.... This was a "AAA" store!! I only had enough time for a couple of minutes to poke around the sportwear dept... Most of you know how I feel about sport shirts (By anyone's standards I own a lot!). And I can tell you that there were more great -looking sport shirts in that one department than I'd ever seen before in one place! The average price ranged from $150 to $300. Standing in the center of the sportwear dept I was surrounded by racks and racks of spectacular shirts! Unfortunately the store was closing and I was leaving town the next morning. But I can't wait to go back the next time I'm down there.

 

[razl]

Originally Posted by Osprey Guy

IOur Nordstrom's is only a "B" store. The Annapolis store (about 40 minutes away) is perhaps a C+.
...
This wan't just a Nordstrom "A" store.... This was a "AAA" store!!

I didn't realize this. Since generally falling in love with my relatively new (6 yrs?) central Florida Nordstroms, I haven't yet visited ones elsewhere. But then I read things like this:

Originally Posted by scohrdarkshadow

Most of the stuff at my Rack is pretty poor quality. However a couple of months ago there were quite a few new suits. Not much style forum approved, mainly Armani, Dolce and Gabbana etc, but we also got some Zegna, Canali and Jil Sander.

Our Nordstrom's doesn't even carry Zegna, and Canali is a rare find - it's mostly Hugo Boss type crap.

No wonder our Rack sucks, it doesn't even have regional trickle down. Heck, our Nordstrom's sounds more like what y'all in the big cities are getting at your Racks!

 

[politico]

Regular Nordstrom's in Houston(big damn city) is crappy. All Hugo Boss and Joseph Abboud

The new Nordstrom Rack is even worse. I don't think I've seen more than 2 attractive ties between the stores(why do I own three!!!)

 

[TheDroog]

Originally Posted by rjmaiorano

Rack stores used to be far better for mens clothing because the ratio of full-line stores to Rack stores was different. It used to be that Nordstrom full-line stores far out-numbered Rack locations. As a result the clearance items from a lot of full-line stores made there way to the few Rack stores that existed at the time. Keeping merchandise on the floor wasn't hard and not much merchandise had to be special purchased.

In the last 3-4 years or so Nordstrom realized that high volume, low margin = greater profit. Couple that with a terrible economy and a name people trust and you get a booming Rack division of Nordstrom. A lot of regular Nordstrom customers simply dropped down to become Rack customers. Up until about 9 months ago, Nordstrom almost completely pulled the rug from under full-line inventories (like most other high end retailers) and focused on their Rack business. As the impressive buoyancy of the stock price shows, Nordstrom's business model for this recession was pretty solid.

Unfortunately that makes finding steals that much harder in Rack stores now. Especially when 'the best' merchandise is shipped to Rack locations in wealthier areas... Should be noted that Rack stores can contract out to other retailers for their clearance merch, as an example, the Rack by gets the end of season Tumi luggage from the local Tumi store.

Originally Posted by Chali2Na

The Rack is a separate division of the company and has its own set of buyers. 75% of their merchandise is bought specifically for the Rack, so right off the bat that's a significant portion of merch that wouldn't even come close to the SF standards. On top of that, the rest are rejects that didn't sell out during half yearly sales, so that's almost the rest of the pie. There are two ways you find things at the Rack:

1. A few weeks after the half yearly sales are over, everything left is sent to the Rack. This includes designer merchandise, if you're lucky to have a designer store near you. The problem is even at that point, most of the good stuff has already been cleared out of the full line store, so the Rack gets hardly any good stuff. You can get lucky and hope something slips through, it's all a matter of timing. Nordstrom doesn't send merch until they do inventory, so if you find out when they do that (twice a year), the merch is going to the Rack in a matter of days.

2. Returns that are past the season automatically go to the Rack. This is how you get "lucky." Every once in awhile people return stuff that goes straight to the Rack. This also happens with refurbished items. You can't plan for it, but you can befriend people who work at the Rack who will set anything you might be interested in aside if it comes in and they'll call you.

3. It helps if you live near one of the biggest stores (Michigan Ave, Flagship, Bellevue, South Coast, etc.) because their local racks get the good stuff. Sorry.

This is exactly right. There was an article in NY Times the other day about the new Nordstrom Rack at Union Square. Nordstrom executives have been scoping for a location in NYC for a while, and given the current economy, they decided it was smarter to open a discount store rather than their regular shop.

The Nordstrom's Rack near me is quite bad, no better than an Off 5th. Neiman Marcus Last Call typically has the best upscale selection of the three.

 

[A Canuker]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

I would kill for even a crappy Nordstrom Rack in Edmonton.... sigh

+1 but just a little closer to my neck of the woods.

 

[Trompe le Monde]

went to the houston rack across from galleria... it is ALL: 7 jeans, absolutely silly short-sleeved hawaiian shirts, paul smith stuff (prob made directly for rack), ck and michael kors ties

i though it would be a hodge podge of random stuff as a clearing house but looks like its just high volume of pure junk

 

[politico]

Judging by the Nordstrom full line store at the Galleria, it's because they don't have good selection of anything at the Houston Nordstrom's. It was all Boss, Abboud, Cole Haan over there.

 

[Bounder]

The underlying problem with Nordstroms Rack is that a main-line Nordstroms is pretty much a Macy's with a piano.

 

[Nataku]

Nicest thing I've ever seen at my Nordies Rack was a table of Duncan Quinn ties for $35 each.

Originally Posted by Bounder

The underlying problem with Nordstroms Rack is that a main-line Nordstroms is pretty much a Macy's with a piano.
Not entirely true. While they do sell a lot of garbage, Nordstroms has a decent amount of nice stuff too. Our local one (Mall of America) sells mainline Zegna, Talbott Seven-fold ties and AE shoes. I know they have other nicer lines too that I'm unaware of, I just don't head in there too often.

 

[needler]

Originally Posted by Osprey Guy

Our Nordstrom's is only a "B" store. The Annapolis store (about 40 minutes away) is perhaps a C+. Except for a few proven sellers (IE: Zanella trousers), our store does not carry the sort of goods one might find in the "A" stores. But our Rack has demonstrated that it can do a very good job of moving the better goods (as long as they're discounted)...and so they get more of the better goods than many of the other Racks.
Are you referring to the rack in Towson? How's the one over in Gaithersberg? I'm going to mosey over next time I have a free afternoon. Also, I'm sure there's got to be an "A" store in the general region. Tyson's Corner seems like a likely suspect.