In this episode we're sharing a special live recording of The Nordy Pod from on stage at a conference for the International Council of Shopping Centers. My guest: innovative retail mall developer and operator, Rick Caruso. Now, if you've ever actually visited any of Rick's properties, you've likely noticed that there's something different about them. Rick and his team at Caruso are extremely mindful about creating environments that transport you to a better, and definitely safer place. Caruso is responsible for some of the most incredible shopping centers in California, including The Grove at the iconic Farmers Market in Los Angeles, The Americana at Brand in Glendale, The Commons at Calabasas, The Promenade at Westlake, The Lakes at Thousand Oaks, Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades and the Rosewood Miramar Beach in Santa Barbara. Nordstrom has had a great relationship with Caruso as they've been very hospitable hosts for several of our stores. I'm super grateful that Rick agreed to come chat with me at the ICSC conference. He has a really unique and valuable perspective on some of the big hurdles we face today in our industries. I think you're going to learn a few things from this conversation.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 52. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation! And, be sure to follow us on Instagram @thenordypod to stay up to date on new episodes, announcements and more.

To kick off the new year we thought it would be fun to take a little stroll down memory lane and look back at some of our favorite Nordy Pod moments from 2023. We've had a lot of fun making this thing and chatting with all the fascinating people that have agreed to come on the show. Fashion icons like Domenico De Sole, Anna Wintour and Will Welch, incredible fashion designers like Simone Rocha and Erdem, successful brand partners like Gucci Westman and David Neville of Westman Atelier, Caspar Coppetti of On running shoes, Anastasia Soare of Anastasia Beverly Hills and Ben Gorham of BYREDO. We've also had the great pleasure of chatting with a slew of really amazing athletes and entertainers like former NFL wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks Doug Baldwin, former NBA All Star of the Chicago Bulls Bob Love, Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Macklemore and TV and film star Joel McHale. We're proud to highlight some of our employees that have used Nordstrom as a platform to build really impressive careers. For example, three of our very best salespeople: Jesse James Barnholdt, Gregory Clark and Jeffrey Ola. This year has also taken us out of the studio and into some really interesting places, like our distribution and fulfillment centers and to the very end of our merchandise food chain, to our Last Chance stores. We've also shared several really great customer experiences on The Nordy Pod, including a bit of negative feedback. Overall, it’s been a really fun year and we're really proud of what we've been able to put together, so we hope you enjoy this special look back at The Nordy Pod in 2023.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 51. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

Core to Nordstrom's values is our commitment to leaving the world better than we found it. We're proud to partner with a number of different organizations that help us do this. In 2023 we will donate over $12M to 350+ different charity organizations in communities we serve across the United States. So, in the spirit of the giving season, we're using this episode to highlight some of the folks involved with two important causes we've supported over the past several years: Operation Warm and Shoes That Fit.

First, we'll hear from Heather Connolly, the VP of Partnerships at Operation Warm, about how the organization provides brand new coats to children in underprivileged communities all across the country. Then we'll catch some of the excitement at an Operation Warm distribution event in the Seattle area with our very own field correspondent, Kent Worthington.

After that we'll hear about our second giving partner from Amy Fass, the Executive Director and CEO at Shoes That Fit. Similarly, Shoes That Fit provides new name-brand athletic shoes to kids in need in all 50 states. 2023 marked our 13th year partnering with Shoes That Fit, and together with our customers, we raised more than $1.1 million and donated more than 50,000 pairs of shoes to kids in our local communities. To top it all off we'll hear from loyal Nordstrom customer and Shoes That Fit supporter Kenji Morinaga. This episode is chock-full of good feels and great people, and we hope it adds a little extra warmth to your holiday season.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 50. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

In this episode, we're opening up a time capsule from the year 1998. Placed in the wall near our front entrance, it commemorates the grand re-opening of the new flagship store in downtown Seattle. That year would also hold another huge milestone moment for Nordstrom that would change the way we do business forever: the creation of Nordstrom.com. Listen as we dive deep into the origins of our digital storefront with one of the founding leaders of Nordstrom.com, Bob Schwartz. We'll also explore the continued evolution of this digital landscape and where Nordstrom.com stands today with our current President of Digital and Customer Experience at Nordstrom, Miguel Almeida.

But before all that, you'll hear from one of our brand partners that just happened to be visiting us recently from Germany, Carl Seibel of Josef Seibel shoes.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 49. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

In this episode we're on a bit of a field trip out to my alma mater, the University of Washington. We were invited here to the Foster School of Business by Dr. Marty Matthews who's a professor of marketing—and she also happens to be a Nordy Pod listener. She emailed me awhile back letting me know that she's actually been assigning Nordy Pod episodes as homework in a few of her classes. So, we thought it might be a fun idea to go in person and speak to her students for the show. First, we sit down with Professor Matthews herself to learn a little bit about her background and then we head over to the classroom to meet with her marketing students. And I've got to say, I love whenever I get the chance to hear from young people about their experience with Nordstrom. They've always got interesting stuff to say, and I often gain useful insights that I can take back and share with our team. So, we're super excited to get the opportunity to get a glimpse into these bright young minds, eager to dive into the wide world of business.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 48. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

Ben Gorham has had a particularly interesting journey to entrepreneurship. Having spent his entire young life pursuing a career in basketball, it may come as a surprise that he ended up creating a super successful luxury and fragrance brand. But Ben's ambitions to play basketball were stifled by a technicality in international contracts, cutting his professional career short. Then, by a chance meeting Ben turned to an entirely different industry. Since setting the groundwork for a fragrance business, experimenting with smells through candle making out of his own kitchen, Ben's obsession has grown into a massive luxury brand found in huge retail stores across the globe. Nordstrom has had a lot of success doing business with BYREDO for a long time now and we're super excited that he's come to Seattle to visit and talk with our teams about even more growth. And since he was in the building, I asked him to come into my office to chat with me on the podcast.

After my conversation with Ben, we're going to do something that we always talk about at the end of every episode, but we’ve yet to actually feature on the show, which is to address some of the negative feedback that we sometimes get. Former employee and long-time customer of Nordstrom, Vicki Redding, has agreed to come on the show and share her perspective on the ways in which Nordstrom has changed—and not for the better.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 47. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

In this episode, we're doubling down on my conversations with the Nordstrom Board of Directors to uncover more invaluable insights from this prestigious group of business leaders. In part one, we heard the unique backstories of each board member and followed their incredible career journeys to the point in which they were considered for the Nordstrom board. For part two, we're going to dig a little deeper to learn about how boards have evolved over the years and what makes them different today. We'll talk about some of the unique challenges that we face as a group. We'll discuss what each board member has learned from their experience on our board. And, though I often get advice from them directly, we'll share some of their thoughts on how Nordstrom can improve. If you haven't listened to part one, what are you waiting for? Go back now and listen! If you're all caught up, let's get into it!

Thanks for tuning in to episode 46. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

In the next two episodes we’ll be taking a special in-depth look at a group of incredibly talented individuals with uniquely impressive professional backgrounds. What do all of these people have in common? They're all members of the Nordstrom Board of Directors. Stacy Brown-Philpot, Jim Donald, Mark Tritton, Kirsten Green, Brad Tilden, Amie Thuener O'Toole, Atticus Tysen, Glenda McNeal and Eric Sprunk all bring invaluable expertise and a diverse set of skills from their leadership positions at some extremely successful companies. In part one of our two-part series about the board of directors we'll be getting to know each member, learning about their personal and professional backgrounds and what makes each of them such valued additions to our team. You'll also hear their perspectives on what exactly it is that a board of directors does, and what qualities make for a highly effective board.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 45. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

In this episode we’re shining a light on one of our industry's most exciting events of the year, and that's London Fashion Week. We're kicking the show off by speaking with someone who knows a lot about this subject: Nordstrom Women's Designer Fashion and Editorial Director Rickie De Sole. Rickie then takes the helm and chats with Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, about her role in supporting emerging designers and established fashion houses throughout this massive event. In advance of London Fashion Week, we were super fortunate to talk with esteemed British fashion designers Simone Rocha and Erdem, who had two of the most acclaimed collections from the event. WWD wrote that Simone Rocha's show "cast a romantic spell"; Harper’s Bazaar called her collection "extremely covetable." British Vogue lauded Erdem’s collection's "historical significance and mind-blowing sense of resourcefulness." We'll be digging into the designers' creative muses and exploring their unique backgrounds to discover how they've earned such revered reputations in the London fashion scene and around the world. London Fashion Week is a very important time for us, and a lot of fun for our teams that get to travel and see some incredible fashion shows. So, we've decided to bring a little bit of that excitement to you through The Nordy Pod!

Thanks for tuning in to episode 44. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!

For this episode Pete's taking the hot seat and fielding questions from The Nordy Pod editor, Nathan Shields, and co-producer, Kent Worthington. They discuss Pete's trajectory from stock boy to president, the likelihood of career detours, and important lessons in humility, authenticity, loyalty and hard work passed down directly from his father, Bruce Nordstrom. Pete also talks about the benefits of starting The Nordy Pod and how it's aided in expanding his curiosity in ways that help him to be a more effective leader. You'll also hear an incredible service story from Kent, who has held many different jobs within the company, which exemplifies some of the core values that make Nordstrom a lasting business. So much so, that Pete is confident that the integrity of the brand will endure long after he hands off the reins to the next generation of leaders. Reluctant to take credit for his own influence, Pete expresses great pride in every Nordstrom associate across the company that continually strives to exceed customer expectations day in and day out.

Thanks for tuning in to episode 43. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you know that YOU can be on The Nordy Pod? This show isn't just a one-way conversation. We want to hear about what Nordstrom looks like through your eyes. Share your Nordstrom experience, good or bad, by giving us a call and leaving a voicemail at: 206.594.0526, or send an email to [email protected] to be a part of the conversation!