Nordstrom Opens First Store in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio/PRNewswire/ -- Fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom, Inc. opened its first store in Columbus, Ohio today at Easton Town Center. 400 applauding store employees lined the aisles of the 172,000-square foot store to cheer the first customers through the door.

"We couldn't be more excited to get our doors open and welcome Columbus shoppers to Nordstrom," said Shea Jensen, store manager. "We have an outstanding team of people here who've been working hard to prepare for this day and can't wait to start taking care of customers. Our goal today is to make as many friends as possible and introduce them to what Nordstrom has to offer."

Easton Town Center is the retailer's 78th full-line store. It offers two levels of classic and contemporary shoes, clothing and accessories for men, women and children. The merchandise offering includes 75,000 pairs of shoes, 2,000 men's suits and sportcoats, 1,600 neckties and 2,400 dress shirts in 54 different sizes. The wide selection includes Nordstrom exclusives such as Faconnable, Classiques Entier, Halogen, Caslon and Talora. The store also offers complimentary personal shopping services, a Cafe Bistro restaurant, an Espresso Bar, an in-store alterations and tailor shop and a shoe shine stand.

Earlier in the week, Nordstrom celebrated its opening with a black-tie gala that raised nearly $200,000 for signature projects of the Junior League of Columbus, Inc., and the Columbus and Twin Rivers Chapters of the Links, Inc. In addition to a formal runway showing of fall fashions housed in a specially-constructed tent, guests enjoyed full bars and dinner and desert buffets catered by Simply Nanette and dancing to the Arnett Howard Creole Funk Band.

Nordstrom opened its first store in the state of Ohio in 1997 at Beachwood Place.

Celebrating 100 years of service, Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers, with 124 US stores located in 24 states. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 78 full-line stores, 40 Nordstrom Racks, three Faconnable boutiques, two free-standing shoe stores, and one clearance store. Nordstrom also operates 21 international Faconnable boutiques, primarily in Europe. Additionally, Nordstrom serves customers through its online presence at http://www.nordstrom.com and through its direct mail catalogs. Nordstrom, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

SOURCE: Nordstrom, Inc., 09/07/2001
CONTACT: Tracy LaCrosse, +1-630-218-7911, or Amy Jones, +1-206-373-3031, both of Nordstrom, Inc.
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Website: http://www.nordstrom.com
(JWN)