The store has no items – Business News

Photo: The Canadian Press

Nordstrom Stores President Jamie Nordstrom, left, Shea Jensen, Nordstrom's SVP customer experience, center, and Nordstrom co-President & CEO Erik Nordstrom posing for a photo at the Nordstrom Local store, in New York Upper East Side, Thursday, September 5, 201[ads1]9.

Nordstrom opened a new store in Manhattan Thursday – without any goods.

Instead, the store offers services such as tailoring and allows customers to pick up or return goods, including online orders from any retailer.

The pressure to open these local hubs comes as Nordstrom, like many department stores, tries to reinvent itself because it sees customers shop more online.

"We believe this is our model for the future," said Erik Nordstrom, the retailer's co-president. "So we have to figure it out and refine it. The more we engage our customers, the better."

The location on the Upper East Side is the first Nordstrom "mini-store" in New York. The company opened three others in Los Angeles and is planning another in New York's West Village later this month. The company's co-president declined to say how many Nordstrøm will open in total.

Last month, the retailer trimmed revenue and sales prospects for the current fiscal year after reporting second-quarter earnings and sales declines. Sales in stores at full price fell 6.5%.

At Nordstrom mini-stores, which average around 2000 square meters, customers can get accessories and modifications from tailoring on condition, even if they buy the clothes elsewhere. The stores will also accept not only returns of goods purchased at Nordstrom, but from any online retailer. Customers bring the packaging, with or without the pre-printed labels, and a seller will ship them out. There is no service charge.

Each local store is tailor made for the neighborhood it is located in. For example, Los Angeles stores offer manicures while the Manhattan Upper East Side store has an area where parents can drop off their prams to be cleaned for a fee.

Nordstrom told The Associated Press that the local strategy focuses on gaining share in the company's key markets by making customers more engaged through the services it offers. The dealer has said that the business is highly concentrated in the top markets, and the top ten account for 60% of total sales.

So far, Nordstrom is seeing success with its local stores in Los Angeles. Customers spend two and a half times more on average. In addition, the product returns will come in eight days faster than usual, giving Nordstrom a better chance of reselling them.