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WTF Nordstrom

binge

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I received a Nordstrom catalog/look-book in the mail the other day. Not surprisingly, it was 80% women's clothes, 10% kids' and 10% men's. The few men's clothing pages were particularly atrocious. I've definitely had the sense that their styling is going down-market, trying pull up-shoppers from Macys, but this is ridiculous. Also, one of the pages in the kids' section cemented my opinion that the small-brimmed hat (trilby, etc.) fad has peaked. I mean, when it's something mass-marketed to 10 year-olds, it's no longer "hip" in any way. The horror...
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hossoso

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Yeah, looks like ****. I usually think their mail-outs look bad. They often have good stuff at the flagship downtown though. Cheap enough, at least.
 

stickonatree

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^i think store #4 has way better stuff than the flagship...and bigger too.
 

hossoso

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Originally Posted by stickonatree
^i think store #4 has way better stuff than the flagship...and bigger too.

Oh, you'd know way better than I do. Didn't you say you worked there at some point? I don't make it down to many of the Nordstrom stores outside of downtown but I would believe Bellevue beats it. I normally only shop there if I am buying stuff for my parents, I think they carry Spode.
 

unicornwarrior

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Kurtz would have said it best "The horror...the horror"

honestly though, I recieved a neiman marcus catalog the other day (it was all men's stuff for some reason), it wasn't any better.

Most catalogs for any department store tend to be extremely subpar, but yes I would say they are trying to appeal to the Macy's crowd.

Honestly despite having prices that are just as high on some items as other department stores (i.e neiman marcus) I would place it a tier under Neiman's, Saks, etc. Their contemporary men's section is usually atrocious (mostly ed hardy, etc)
 

Cary Grant

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Funny- I'm sure it varies by store but I -always- thought the catalog stuff looked like that but I never saw any of it in the store... 'cept maybe some things at the Rail.
 

gnatty8

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I always suspected Nordstrom stocked based on shopping patterns or zip codes. For example, the shoe department of the Perimeter Nordstrom in Atlanta carries lower level Santoni and mainly Ferragamo Studio at best. Go to Phipps Plaza though, and they carry Canali shoes. Sounds like they are making a move downscale en masse.
 

Douglas

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Originally Posted by Zenny
I kinda like that
uhoh.gif


I like the jacket. The shirt looks like it has the sort of boring Nordstrom house brand collar but it's not abysmal. The Talbott tie is what's killing it for me. I used to be a big RT tie guy but then I grew up a little. It's not a bad tie as Talbotts go but just seeing it and knowing it's a Talbott makes me edge towards the door a bit uncomfortably.
 

Spatlese

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Originally Posted by gnatty8
I always suspected Nordstrom stocked based on shopping patterns or zip codes. For example, the shoe department of the Perimeter Nordstrom in Atlanta carries lower level Santoni and mainly Ferragamo Studio at best. Go to Phipps Plaza though, and they carry Canali shoes. Sounds like they are making a move downscale en masse.

Another example may be the stray Sartorio stuff that apparently made it into a few stores.
 

bluemagic

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So Barney's is the only somewhat SF-approved department store?
 

gnatty8

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Originally Posted by bluemagic
So Barney's is the only somewhat SF-approved department store?

I think you will find many also frequent Neiman Marcus, Saks, and probably Bergdorf Goodman as well.
 

james_gsx

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Originally Posted by gnatty8
I always suspected Nordstrom stocked based on shopping patterns or zip codes. For example, the shoe department of the Perimeter Nordstrom in Atlanta carries lower level Santoni and mainly Ferragamo Studio at best. Go to Phipps Plaza though, and they carry Canali shoes. Sounds like they are making a move downscale en masse.

The store managers talk to the buyers on a weekly basis, and the buyers have some pretty nice software to see what works and what doesn't. So each store carries completely different products based on the majority of customers that shop at that store.

But I will say for the most part, their mens selection is pretty bad. On the other hand, for most guys the selection is just fine as they don't view clothing the same way most people here do.
 

JR88

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. . . and plenty who can bear Nordstrom, too. Keep in mind however that with all of these chains, the selection varies immensely depending on what city you're in. Different clientele, different tastes.
 

Douglas

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Originally Posted by james_gsx
The store managers talk to the buyers on a weekly basis, and the buyers have some pretty nice software to see what works and what doesn't. So each store carries completely different products based on the majority of customers that shop at that store.

But I will say for the most part, their mens selection is pretty bad. On the other hand, for most guys the selection is just fine as they don't view clothing the same way most people here do.


+1 to all of this. It sounds like you're an insider, but I have noticed that Nordstroms stores vary dramatically from store to store, location to location. (As others have already posted.) I guess we at SF sort of scoff at this, but Nordstrom is a pretty finely tuned retailing machine and they know how to put stuff on shelves that's going to sell.

And for the vast majority of lawyers and doctors and businessmen who have a fair amount of money and want to stop in and find a blue blazer with more quality than they perceive can be found at Macy's, they reliably pop in to the local Nordy's.
 

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