Nordstrom’s focus on its footwear roots this year is paying off.
On the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Pete Nordstrom, president of the Seattle-based department store chain, told analysts that its “Make Room for Shoes” campaign was one of the contributors to its growth in the period.
First announced in February, the Make Room for Shoes initiative comes to life through monthly partnerships with some of the industry’s top footwear brands. So far, the retailer has highlighted brands such as On, Birkenstock, Sam Edelman, Larroudé, Dolce Vita and Ugg.
Nordstrom’s focus on shoes this year also translated to other in-store activations. Earlier this month, Ugg took over The Corner shop space at Nordstrom’s New York City flagship for the holiday season. The Corner shop is part of an ongoing series of pop-ups and brand takeovers at the Nordstrom NYC flagship in a dedicated space on the corner of 57th Street and Broadway. Ugg takes over for Jordan Brand, which occupied the space from Oct. 3 through Nov. 10.
“From a total company perspective, the top-performing categories in the third quarter were women’s apparel, active, shoes and men’s apparel,” Nordstrom said. “The shoes category is an important one for us, given our company’s history, and it performed well in the third quarter.”
Nordstrom noted that the third-quarter strength in women’s shoes was fueled by notable sales increases from brands, including Stuart Weitzman, Veronica Beard and Vince.
Active, which includes apparel and shoes, continued its run as a top category at the Nordstrom banner, the executive added. Relevant brand offerings drove low teens growth, led by brands like On Running, Hoka and Vuori.
Over at the company’s off-price Rack division, Nordstrom noted that the active category sustained its double-digit growth, driven by active shoes. In men’s apparel, sportswear drove the largest volume gain. And rounding out the top categories in Q3 is shoes, which was led by casual sneakers, the executive said.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2024, Nordstrom reported that net sales increased 4.6 percent to $3.35 billion versus $3.2 billion in the same period in fiscal 2023. Company comparable sales increased 4 percent. Analysts were expecting less than a 1 percent sales gain.
During the quarter, Nordstrom banner net sales increased 1.3 percent and comparable sales increased 4 percent. Net sales for Nordstrom Rack increased 10.6 percent and comparable sales increased 3.9 percent.
Looking ahead, Nordstrom raised its sales guidance for 2024 overall. Now the forecast for revenues, including retail sales and credit card revenues, is flat to 1 percent growth versus the previous forecast for a 1 percent decline to a 1 percent gain.
