Nordstrom (JWN) Announces Deal To Sell J.Crew Merchandise

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN) recently declared that it has inked a partnership with J.Crew Group to sell edited merchandise from the latter’s collection at select Nordstrom full-line outlets and Nordstrom.com. The deal will be effective from Sep 12. The merchandise will comprise women’s clothing and accessories, along with petites, available exclusively online.

J.Crew is a global omni-channel retailer of men's, women's and children's apparel and accessories in the U.S., and serves customers through its outlets, Madewell stores and online. The company’s recognized brand, Madewell has been in collaboration with Nordstrom since 2015, with assortments presently available at 76 Nordstrom locations and its website. Nordstrom is the only retail store in the U.S. to sell J.Crew’s and Madewell’s assortments, apart from their own outlets. Also, this deal forms part of Nordstrom’s long-term strategy.

The women’s fall 2016 merchandise will incorporate signature J.Crew styles, which include iconic classics like Italian cashmere, Regent and Rhodes blazers, Martie pants and outerwear.

The 16 Nordstrom outlets to feature these assortments are Downtown Seattle in Seattle, Bellevue Square (NYSE:SQ) in Bellevue, D.C.; Washington Square in Tigard, OR; Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, IL; Somerset Collection in Troy, MI; Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, AZ; NorthPark Center in Dallas, Houston Galleria in Houston, Barton Creek Square in Austin, Domain Northside in Austin, TX; Tysons Corner Center in McLean, VA; The Plaza at King of Prussia in King of Prussia, PA; South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA; The Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, NJ and The Mall at Green Hills in Nashville, TN. Among these, the Domain Northside Austin, TX store is slated to open doors on Sep 30.

Nordstrom offers a broad selection of over 500 brands, targeted toward the entire family, through a strong nationwide network of approximately 333 stores situated across 39 states. These include 121 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 204 Nordstrom Rack stores; 2 Jeffrey boutiques; and 1 clearance store. Also, the company serves customers through TrunkClub.com, along with 5 clubhouses.

Nordstrom has been making significant progress with respect to its customer-based strategy and is on track to reach its long-term sales growth target of $20 billion by 2020. Also, the company is persistently focused on its store-expansion strategy, and boosting e-commerce and digital networks, with supply-chain and marketing endeavors. We believe these efforts will help it to deliver sustainable growth over the long term.

Zacks Rank

Nordstrom currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably ranked stocks in the same industry include The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) , Tilly’s Inc. (NYSE:TLYS) and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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