Blake Nordstrom

Taylor Knight is an associate content editor for Target Marketing and Total Retail. She enjoys writing and creating video content to interact with an audience.
Melissa Campanelli is Editor-in-Chief of Total Retail. She is an industry veteran, having covered all aspects of retail, tech, digital, e-commerce, and marketing over the past 20 years. Melissa is also the co-founder of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle.

In 2014, technology investments will account for more than 30 percent of Nordstrom's CapEx investment plan, up from roughly 20 percent in previous years. The retailer is also refreshing stores more efficiently by letting the customer experience — rather than the age of the store — drive the process. To keep pace with the ongoing evolution of retail, Nordstrom is also adjusting its investments to better support its multichannel growth strategy and achieve greater mobile execution. It's very clear that advancements in technology, specifically in e-commerce and mobile, are redefining the customer experience across all channels.

Following tests that showed mobile point of sale (POS) successfully sped up the checkout process in its Rack stores, Nordstrom will roll out approximately 1,500 of the devices to its 110 Rack units by the end of this year's third quarter. This deployment is in addition to the mobile POS technology already in use in Nordstrom's 117 full-line stores. "We are constantly adding to the functionality of our mobile point-of-sale devices and their use in our stores is increasing," said Nordstrom president Blake Nordstrom during a recent conference call discussing second-quarter financial results. 

Typically, department store retailers place their flagship locations in a major mall or prime downtown location. Discount outlets are often miles away in a complex housing other chains' or manufacturers' overstocks and irregular items. Well, not that it's new news, but Nordstrom is not your typical retailer. The company has proved that once again by opening one of its Rack stores a "crosswalk" away from its flagship in downtown Seattle. Blake Nordstrom, president of the chain, told The Seattle Times, "What we've learned is that our Racks do well when they're closest to our flagships." Geevy Thomas, president of

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