Nordstrom earnings: Brick and mortar stores are hurting many retailers, but Nordstrom is pushing them as key to the company’s future

New York CNN Business — The growth of e-commerce has gutted many traditional retailers and led to the shuttering of brick-and-mortar stores. “Our market strategy is transforming our business model in how we’re serving customers,” Co-President Erik Nordstrom said in a release Thursday. “We achieved an important milestone with the opening of our New York City flagship store, significantly increasing our presence in the world’s top retail market.” The company is counting on that new market strategy to help turn the business around. Erik Nordstrom added on a call with analysts Thursday afternoon that in-store pick-up of online orders had driven half of the company’s digital sales growth in the quarter. “In our view, it does not do nearly enough to localize its offer and, in some stores, it has been slow to add services like restaurants which may help drive footfall.” Nonetheless, the success in big markets like New York City and Los Angeles “underlines the fact that Nordstrom remains a good retailer which is committed to high standards, even if it has not yet found a way to export some of this sparkle and magic to its secondary stores,” Saunders said.