Nordstrom to close some stores, including two in Florida. The retailer isn’t alone
Nordstrom, the service-focused fashion retailer founded in Seattle in 1901, plans to permanently close 16 of its full-line stores later this year — including two in Florida.
Business Insider reported the planned Nordstrom closings earlier this week and they include the Dadeland Mall location in Kendall and the Waterside Shops store in Naples.
Nordstrom defied South Florida’s sometimes-lax service norms when it opened in Coral Gables in 2002 and quickly grew a loyal following. Its original Miami store — at Merrick Park — and those in Aventura and Boca Raton are not named in the current action, which will leave 100 stores in its portfolio.
The move — representing about 14% of the Nordstrom holdings — affects its full-line fashion stores and not the 247 discount Nordstrom Rack stores, located locally at Sawgrass Mills, Midtown Miami and on Coral Way. Its three Jeffrey boutiques, two clearance stores, five Trunk Club clubhouses, and five Nordstrom Local service hubs were also not named.
“More than ever, we need to work with flexibility and speed,” CEO Erik Nordstrom said in a statement obtained by CNBC.
In March, Market Watch reported that Nordstrom and Chief Brand Officer Peter Nordstrom said they would take no base salary for at least six months, as the chain struggled with declining sales, an industry-wide problem brought about by changes in customers’ buying habits. But the closings were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic that temporarily closed most retail stores in March as people live under shelter-at-home orders in cities nationwide.
Sweet Tomatoes, buffets
The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly harsh lately.
This week, Souplantation, founded in San Diego in the late 1970s when “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” were the rage, announced it was closing all of its restaurants permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Souplantation is the parent company behind the buffets known as Sweet Tomatoes, long-time South Florida mainstays.
The San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurants, the parent company of Souplantation, shuttered 97 restaurants nationwide and laid off 4,400 employees.
Buffets have been favored by millions of Americans for generations as university cafeterias and on cruise ships, and some have grown into beloved standalone restaurants, such as national chain Golden Corral and local favorites Shinju Japanese Buffet near South Miami and POC American Fusion Buffet & Sushi in Coral Gables
But buffets may find it especially difficult to reopen, experts say, given the shared spaces and utensil involved. “It will take time for people to adjust,” Roxana Nicula, POC’s general manager, told the Herald. “It’s a different concept now. We had to switch it up.”
Coronavirus’ impact on other retailers
Earlier this week, J Crew announced it had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Dallas-based Neiman Marcus — with flagship stores locally in Merrick Park, Bal Harbour and the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale — also filed under Chapter 11, which allows companies protection from its creditors during reorganization.
Reuters reported this week that Lord & Taylor plans to liquidate inventory in its 38 department stores once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the company expects to enter bankruptcy. The high end chain, founded in 1826, has one remaining store in Florida, in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park.
J.C. Penney is expected to file for bankruptcy and close hundreds of stores within a week, Business Insider reported, citing Reuters. The department store chain, founded in Wyoming in 1902 and with 52 stores in Florida including in Aventura and Dadeland malls and Bradenton’s DeSoto Square Mall, is $4 billion in debt.
This story was originally published May 9, 2020 at 11:33 AM.
