After pandemic delays, Nordstrom Rack set to welcome customers at Tacoma Mall
Tacoma’s long awaited Nordstrom Rack is finally opening for business on Tuesday (Sept. 14.)
Monday was a day of polishing clothing racks, floors, the entrance doors, mirrors, basically all elements on site, by masked employees. The store, fully lit with upbeat dance music piped through the location’s sound system, was stocked with filled racks awaiting its first customers.
It was a retail testament to before COVID-19 dominated the world.
The opening, the first for the chain this year, has been in the works for months. The store, 4502 S. Steele St., was originally set to open in fall of 2020.
“The community has been waiting for this for so long,” said store manager Frarielle Jasmin, who said the stocking and final prep took about three weeks. “So now we’re here, we’re done, we’re opening, the store’s full, we’re ready. We have product, so we’re ready to serve.”
Nordstrom Rack stores are meant to complement full-scale Nordstrom stores, offering customers up to 70% off on clothing, accessories, shoes and some home decor. The Tacoma store’s home department will include a “larger than normal” assortment of items, according to Meliz Andiroglu, media representative with Nordstrom.
Featured store brands in various departments include Nike, Kate Spade New York, Sam Edelman, Eileen Fisher, Steve Madden, Levi’s, Ted Baker London, Rebecca Minkoff and Bobbi Brown.
Andiroglu told The News Tribune in a store preview Monday that customers will be able to try more beauty products at reduced sizes.
“We essentially took from the best and most popular brands that we had at Nordstrom, worked with those partners to create many versions of the pieces so that customers could try beauty products before they committed to a full size product, which has really been successful for us,” Andiroglu said.
The pandemic has highlighted the need for businesses to adapt quickly amid changing scenarios, and the store’s design reflects that.
“The way we’ve structured most of our stores at any new store today is there’s no carpeting,” Andiroglu said, “so that we have flexible fixtures. All of our fixtures are on wheels. And that allows us to move and transition the store as we learn how our customers shop.
“So we can change departments, we can move apparel, depending on the season to if it’s a holiday, and we have a pretty big holiday store activation coming up.”
The store, next door to Total Wine & More, will normally operate 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. On Sept. 14, it will open at 9 a.m. with a pre-celebration starting at 8 a.m. that will include music and food treats and gift card giveaways through the day.
The new stores are part of the redevelopment near the former Sears at the mall, which closed in 2018 and was demolished the following year.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 2:13 PM.
