Nordstrom is cutting back. The department store chain announced yesterday that it will eliminate up to 400 jobs at its headquarters and regional offices in an attempt to cut about $60 million in annual costs.
The company said it will seek to minimize the number of people losing jobs as the first job cuts will be in currently open positions. Those who are let go will receive separation pay and benefits. In recent years, Nordstrom has been concentrating more of its efforts on enterprise technology enhancements in an effort to keep pace with a changing consumer base.
"We will never change our commitment to serving customers, but recognize how they want to be served has been changing at an increasingly rapid pace," said Blake Nordstrom, co-president, Nordstrom, Inc., in a statement. "Meeting our customers' expectations means we must continually evolve with them. We see opportunities to create a more efficient and agile organization that ensures we're best positioned to achieve our goals."
While Nordstrom said the company continued to gain share in both its full- and off-price businesses for its 2015 fiscal year, its business has clearly slowed. For the fourth quarter, Nordstrom announced total sales were up 5.2 percent, but same-store sales improved only one percent.
The newly announced job cuts comes a month after Nordstrom confirmed to GeekWire that it had cut 130 technology-related positions. Nordstrom employs more than 7,000 at its headquarters and around 70,000 worldwide when you include part-time positions.
- Nordstrom Announces Operating Model Improvements to Better Support Customers' Changing Expectations - Nordstrom, Inc.
- Nordstrom eliminating up to 400 jobs in cost-cutting move - USA Today
- Nordstrom Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2015 Earnings In-Line with Expectations - Nordstrom, Inc.
- Nordstrom to cut up to 400 more jobs, just one month after slashing 130 tech-related positions - GeekWire