Nordstrom 2008 Annual Report Download - page 32

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32
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Nordstrom, Inc.
Seattle, Washington
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Nordstrom, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 31, 2009, based on
criteria established in
Internal Control — Integrated Framework
, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting
. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was
maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that
a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for
our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the company’s principal executive and
principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by the company’s board of directors, management, and other
personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. A company’s internal control over financial
reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly
reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as
necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could
have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of the inherent limitations of internal control over financial reporting, including the possibility of collusion or improper management
override of controls, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Also, projections of any
evaluation of the effectiveness of the internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 31, 2009,
based on the criteria established in
Internal Control — Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated
financial statements and financial statement schedule as of and for the year ended January 31, 2009, of the Company and our report dated March 20,
2009, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements and financial statement schedule.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Seattle, Washington
March 20, 2009