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Nordstrom December Same-Store Sales Increase 9.1%

SEATTLE, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) today reported preliminary sales of $941.8 million for the five-week period ending January 3, 2004, an increase of 12.2 percent compared to sales of $839.2 million for the five-week period ending January 4, 2003. Same-store sales increased 9.1 percent.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/NORDLOGO )

December same-store sales in full-line stores increased in all geographic regions and all major merchandise categories.

Preliminary quarter-to-date sales of $1.6 billion increased 11.4 percent compared to quarter-to-date 2002 sales of $1.4 billion. Quarter-to-date same-store sales increased 8.4 percent.

Preliminary year-to-date sales of $6.1 billion increased 8.2 percent compared to year-to-date 2002 sales of $5.7 billion. Year-to-date same-store sales increased 4.1 percent.

Sales Recording

To hear Nordstrom's prerecorded November sales message, please dial 402-220-6036. This recording will be available for one week.

GAAP Sales Performance

The additional information provided in this section is to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation G. The Company converted to a 4-5-4 Retail Calendar at the beginning of 2003. This change in the fiscal calendar has resulted in differences in the number of days included in the current period versus the same period in the prior year. Sales performance numbers included in this sales release have been calculated on a comparative 4-5-4 basis. The Company believes that adjusting for these differences provides a more comparable basis (4-5-4 vs. 4-5-4) from which to evaluate sales performance. The following reconciliation bridges 2002 GAAP sales to the 4-5-4 comparable sales.

                                                         %Change     %Change
     Sales                 Dec.      Dec.     Dollar       Total        Comp
     Reconciliation ($M)   2003      2002   Increase       Sales       Sales
       Number of
        Days GAAP           35        31
       GAAP Sales       $941.8     $789.1     $152.7       19.4%        15.8%
       Plus Jan.
        1-4, 2003 sales             $50.1
       Reported
        4-5-4 sales     $941.8     $839.2     $102.6       12.2%         9.1%
       4-5-4
       Adjusted Days        35         35

                                                          % Change    %Change
     Sales                  QTD        QTD     Dollar        Total       Comp
     Reconciliation ($M)   2003       2002    Increase       Sales      Sales
       Number of
        Days GAAP            63         61
       GAAP Sales      $1,573.7   $1,405.9     $167.8        11.9%       8.9%
       Less Nov. 1-2,
        2002 sales           --     ($43.2)
       Plus Jan. 1-4,
        2003 sales           --      $50.1
       Reported
        4-5-4 sales    $1,573.7   $1,412.8     $160.9        11.4%      8.4%
       4-5-4 Adjusted
        Days                 63         63

                                                          % Change    %Change
     Sales                  YTD        YTD     Dollar       Total      Comp
     Reconciliation ($M)   2003       2002    Increase      Sales      Sales
        Number of
         Days GAAP         337        334
        GAAP Sales    $6,133.0   $5,630.4     $502.6        8.9%        4.4%
         Less Feb. 1,
         2003           ($18.2)        --
        Less Feb.
         1-2, 2003
         sales              --     ($30.4)
        Plus Jan.
         1-4, 2003
         sales              --      $50.1
        Reported
         4-5-4
         sales        $6,114.8   $5,650.1     $464.7        8.2%        4.1%
        4-5-4 Adjusted
         Days              336        336

    Future Reporting Dates

Nordstrom's financial release calendar for the next several months is provided in the table below.

               January Sales Release              Thurs., February 5, 2004
               Fourth Quarter Earnings Release    Thurs., February 19, 2004
               February Sales Release             Thurs., March 4, 2004

Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers, with 148 US stores located in 27 states. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 92 full-line stores, 49 Nordstrom Racks, five Faconnable boutiques, one free-standing shoe store, and one clearance store. Nordstrom also operates 31 international Faconnable boutiques, primarily in Europe. Additionally, Nordstrom serves customers through its online presence at http://www.nordstrom.com and through its direct mail catalogs.

     SALES SUMMARY    Dec.     Dec.      QTD       QTD        YTD        YTD
    (unaudited;       2003     2002      2003      2002      2003       2002
      $ in millions)

     Total sales      $941.8  $839.2  $1,573.7  $1,412.8  $6,114.8   $5,650.1
     Total sales
      percentage
       change           12.2%    9.2%     11.4%      7.1%   8.2%       6.1%
     Same-store
      sales percentage
       change           9.1%     3.4%      8.4%      1.6%   4.1%       1.4%

     Number of stores (as of Jan. 3, 2003)
       Full-line         92      88
       Rack and other    56      55
       International
        Faconnable
        boutiques        31      23
     Total              179     166
     Gross square
      footage    19,138,000  18,428,000
CONTACT:
Investor Contact:
Stephanie Allen, 206-303-3262
Media Contact:
Shasha Richardson, 206-373-3038

Certain statements in this news release might contain "forward-looking" information (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involves risks and uncertainties, including anticipated results, store openings and distribution channels, planned capital expenditures, and trends in company operations. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from historical results or current expectations depending upon factors including, but not limited to, the company's ability to predict fashion trends, consumer apparel buying patterns, the company's ability to control costs, weather conditions, hazards of nature such as earthquakes and floods, trends in personal bankruptcies and bad debt write-offs, changes in interest rates, employee relations, the company's ability to continue its expansion plans, and the impact of economic and competitive market forces, including the impact of terrorist activity or the impact of a war on the company, its customers and the retail industry. Our SEC reports may contain other information on these and other factors that could affect our financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking information we may provide.

SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.