Nordstrom 2000 Annual Report Download - page 11

In today’s highly competitive and constantly evolving retail environment,
we need to provide our people with the tools they need to compete. A top
priority in the company today is our perpetual inventory management system.
When fully operational, it will enable a salesperson to track down an item for
a customer from anywhere in the company in the time it takes to ring up
the sale.
Without a doubt, there are plenty of opportunities to improve our
performance within our existing operations. We are currently coordinating
our efforts behind the scenes to maximize efficiency. And in keeping with our
plan to direct our attention and energies to the point-of-sale, some of the
savings realized behind the scenes will be funneled back to the sales floor. In
effect, reinvesting in our people and level of service they provide, thus
reinforcing our primary point of difference.
“It’s no secret that Nordstrom’s customer
service ethic is what built this company’s
reputation. And, after all, without that
reputation we would be just another store.”
Bruce Nordstrom, excerpt from employee newsletter, spring 2000
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Looking ahead, there are a number of new opportunities to explore; all will be
scrutinized from a more strategic and financial perspective. This past year, we
had several successful full-line store openings, topped by our store on
Michigan Avenue in Chicago, which achieved the highest first-day sales in the
history of Nordstrom. Already in 2001, we opened a new store at North East
Mall in suburban Dallas and replaced our Valley Fair store in San Jose. This
fall brings new full-line stores to Columbus, Ohio; Tampa, Florida and
Chandler, Arizona.
Shelton Cole works in our
Men’s Clothing department
at Tacoma Mall, but his
career at Nordstrom has
taken him to both Chicago
and Las Vegas as a four-
time winner of the Hart
Schaffner & Marx annual
contest as the company’s
number one seller of their
suits. He also took part in
an international clothing
seminar in Taiwan at the
request of one of his loyal
customers. Shelton has
twice been honored as a
Customer Service All-Star.
Like many Nordstrom
employees, David Ben Ami
often receives letters from
customers grateful for the
service he provided. What
may surprise you, however,
is that David works in our
Credit Office — and the
letters he’s gotten are from
people he called because
they were behind on their
payments or had other
issues with their accounts.
They wrote, in short,
because David showed
compassion for the
situation and conveyed a
sincere desire to help.
Regardless of the
challenge, David’s sense of
fairness and compassion
always come across loud
and clear.