Nordstrom Opens First Store in Austin

SEATTLE, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom, Inc. opened its first store in Austin, Texas today at Barton Creek Square. Over 330 applauding store employees lined the aisles of the 144,000-square foot store to cheer the first customers through the door.

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

"We couldn't be more excited to get our doors open and welcome Austin shoppers to Nordstrom," said store manager, Lisa Alexander. "We have an outstanding team of people who've been working hard to prepare for this day. Our goal today is to make new friends here in the community, serve them the best we can and introduce them to what Nordstrom has to offer."

Barton Creek Square is the retailer's 90th full-line store. It offers two levels of classic and contemporary shoes, clothing and accessories for men, women and children. The merchandise offering includes 1,200 men's dress shirts in 63 different sizes, 1,500 neckties, 2,000 handbags, 5,000 tubes of lipstick and 225 different men's and women's fragrances. The wide selection includes Nordstrom exclusives such as Faconnable, Classiques Entier, Halogen, and Caslon. The store also offers a complimentary personal shopping service, a Cafe Bistro restaurant, an Espresso Bar, in-store alterations and tailor shops and a shoe shine stand.

Earlier in the week, Nordstrom celebrated its opening with an evening gala that raised over $180,000 for various projects of the Junior League of Austin, the Town Lake and Austin Chapters of the Links, Inc., and SETON Healthcare Network. Guests enjoyed lavish buffets, live musical entertainment and a fashion show of American and European designer collections for fall.

Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers, with 146 US stores located in 27 states. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 90 full-line stores, 49 Nordstrom Racks, five Faconnable boutiques, one free-standing shoe store, and one clearance store. Nordstrom also operates 24 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. Nordstrom, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

    CONTACT:  Deniz Anders
    Pager:    877-693-5541


SOURCE  Nordstrom, Inc.
    -0-                             08/15/2003
    /CONTACT:  Deniz Anders of Nordstrom, Inc., 877-693-5541/
    /Photo:  NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/NORDLOGO
             AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, 1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840/
    /Web site:  http://www.nordstrom.com /
    (JWN)

CO:  Nordstrom, Inc.
ST:  Texas
IN:  REA
SU:



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