Will luxury shoppers buy electric cars at Nordstrom?

Store-within-a-store concepts built around vendor-retailer partnerships have grown popular recently, appearing everywhere from big name apparel retailers to big box electronics stores. Nordstrom Is no stranger to store-within-a-store concepts, but their latest partnership turns off the beaten path. Nordstrom has partnered with Tesla, manufacturer of electric cars, and has opened a Tesla boutique store in a Los Angeles Nordstrom location, according to USA Today. The store-within-a-store is in the men’s department and is slated to remain for the rest of the year. Nordstrom’s other experiments with in-store pop-ups have seemed more conducive to the store's settings. The retailer’s “Pop-In@Nordstrom” initiative has introduced a revolving lineup of stores-within-stores featuring designer fashions, skin care brands and other items geared towards a luxury shopper. Though it may initially look mismatched, Nordstrom may be showing foresight in piloting a pop-up for a manufacturer with Tesla’s tech bent. Technology is, after all, becoming more fashionable through the advent of wearable devices, the promise of “smart clothes” on the horizon and the increasing prominence of high-tech, high-priced IoT home appliances. One need look no further than Apple’s attempt to rebrand itself as a luxury retailer with newly-designed Apple Stores and high-priced Apple Watches to see the further blurring of the lines between high-end tech and high-end fashion. But whether the shopper seeking high-priced luxury fashions at Nordstrom will go in for a big ticket purchase like a vehicle, or whether people in the market for a pricey electric car will shop their way through a luxury department store to get there, remains to be seen. In a statement quoted by USA Today, Tesla appeared confident that the two types of luxury shoppers — tech and fashion — had interests that would dovetail. "The Nordstrom shopper embodies a lifestyle that parallels that of many Tesla owners –- people who are forward-thinking, savvy, and curious to explore the latest and best trends,” the statement read.

• You can now buy a Tesla at Nordstrom – USA Today
• What’s Nordstrom up to with its pop-in shops? This time, Italian brands sold only in Texas – The Dallas Morning News
• To draw customers, retailers invite other companies inside – Chicago Tribune
• Apple embraces its future as a very expensive luxury brand – Mashable
• Apple Unveils First Major Store Redesign In 15 Years – Vanity Fair