The store expansion plans of leading fashion retailer,
Nordstrom Inc.
(
JWN
), are in full swing. The Seattle-based retailer, yesterday,
announced that it has two new Nordstrom full-line stores in the
pipeline, scheduled to be opened for the public in fall 2014.
These new namesake stores are planned to come up in The
Woodlands Mall in The Woodlands, Texas and St. Johns Town Center in
Jacksonville, Florida. The new Nordstrom stores will be two-level
stores.
The Woodlands store will be located in the current
Sears Holdings Corporation
(
SHLD
) site in the mall, encompassing an area of 138,000 square-feet.
Located north of Houston, The Woodlands Mall is the property of
General Growth Properties Inc.
(
GGP
) with a total retail space of 1.3 million square-feet. The mall
also houses leading departmental stores like
Macy's Inc.
(
M
),
Dillard's Inc.
(
DDS
), and
J. C. Penney Company Inc.
(
JCP
).
Nordstrom's new full-line store in The Woodlands Mall will mark
the opening of the company's fourth store in the greater Houston
region. The company opened its first full-line store in the region
at the Houston Galleria in Houston, in 2003.
Apart from this, the company has opened two Nordstrom Rack
stores - one, at The Centre at Post Oak in Houston and another, at
the Market at Town Center in Sugar Land.
The company's Jacksonville store will cover an area of 124,000
square-feet, catering to customers throughout the Northeast Florida
region. Centrally-located St. Johns Town Center is an open air
shopping center spread over an area of 1.1 million square-feet.
The shopping center is the combined property of
Simon Property Group
(
SPG
) and Ben Carter Properties. The new Nordstrom store will anchor a
new wing on the southwest side of this popular shopping center.
Last month, the company had announced its plans of opening a new
two-level Nordstrom Rack store at The Newbry in Boston,
Massachusetts, which is scheduled to be inaugurated in spring 2013.
The store will include a wide selection of apparels, accessories
and shoes of the Nordstrom Rack store.
Additionally, in June 2012, the company had announced the
opening of two new Nordstrom Rack stores -- one in its hometown
Seattle, Washington, and the other in El Paso, Texas. The
Seattle-based store is expected to open in November 2012, while the
El Paso store is expected to start operating by the fall of
2013.
Nordstrom's latest store openings signify the company's
commitment to expand its store network with the aim to drive its
top-line growth. As of August 2, 2012, Nordstrom operated 117
Nordstrom full-line stores, 110 Nordstrom Rack, 2 Jeffrey
boutiques, 1 treasure&bond store and 1 clearance store, thus
bringing the total store count to 231.
Moreover, the company has targeted to open 16 new stores in
fiscal 2012 consisting of 1 full-line store and 15 Nordstrom Rack
Stores. The company has also planned to add 24 new Rack stores in
fiscal 2013 and intends to operate 230 Rack stores by the end of
2016.
Nordstrom currently maintains a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates
into a short-term Buy rating. However, our long-term recommendation
on the stock remains Neutral.
DILLARDS INC-A (DDS): Free Stock Analysis
Report
GENL GRWTH PPTY (GGP): Free Stock Analysis
Report
PENNEY (JC) INC (JCP): Free Stock Analysis
Report
NORDSTROM INC (JWN): Free Stock Analysis Report
MACYS INC (M): Free Stock Analysis Report
SEARS HLDG CP (SHLD): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SIMON PROPERTY (SPG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research