Blake W. Nordstrom, Co-President of Nordstrom, died early in the morning of Jan. 2 at the age of 58. Pete and Erik Nordstrom, Blake’s brothers, will continue as Co-Presidents of the company.
The retailer disclosed in December that Blake had been diagnosed with lymphoma, which Blake said at the time was treatable. He had expected to work through his illness.
Blake, the eldest of the three Nordstrom brothers, was an heir to a family-operated business that has operated for more than a century. The brothers’ great-grandfather, Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom, founded the namesake company (then named Wallin & Nordstrom) in 1901. The family turned a single store in Seattle into a company with hundreds of stores across the country and a market value of nearly $8 billion.
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“My heart goes out to the Nordstrom family and everyone at the company during this difficult time,” said Brad Smith, Nordstrom Chairman of the Board in a statement. “Everyone who worked with Blake knew of his passion and deep commitment to employees, customers and the communities we serve. We are fortunate to have continued leadership from co-presidents Pete and Erik Nordstrom.”
Despite being a publicly traded company, Nordstrom had largely stayed within control of the founding family, which owned 31% of its shares prior to Blake’s passing. The brothers’ father, Bruce Nordstrom, ran the retailer from 1968 until 1995, and resumed his position as Chairman from 2000 to 2006.
The founding family attempted to take the department store private last year in an effort to remove itself from the volatility of the stock market, but Nordstrom’s Board of Directors voted to reject its $8.4 billion bid.
All three brothers have served on the Nordstrom board since 2015, earning the same salary and holding roughly the same stakes in the company. Blake Nordstrom played more of a chief-executive role in recent years, overseeing corporate functions and the off-price Nordstrom Rack stores. In fact, Blake was named #89 in Glassdoor’s Top CEOs 2018, a ranking based on employee approval ratings.
Nordstrom Adapted When Others Couldn’t
Under Blake and his brothers’ leadership, the retailer managed to stay afloat at a time that hasn’t exactly been friendly to department stores. Their sustained success could be attributed to investments designed to keep Nordstrom relevant for consumers who have shifted their preferences to e-Commerce and off-price ventures. The retailer has continually expanded its Nordstrom Rack stores, and has leveraged acquisitions of fashion retailers HauteLook and Trunk Club to boost digital sales to a 30% share of total sales in 2018.
While other department store icons Macy’s and JCPenney have had to shutter hundreds of stores in recent years, Nordstrom has managed to keep its store count largely intact, and even continued to experiment with new concepts such as the inventory-free Local stores.
Most recently, the brothers had focused on one of their biggest projects: opening the chain’s first Manhattan stores, with the first Nordstrom Men’s store opening in April 2018 and the first full-line store expected to open across the street in Fall 2019.
“In retail, we have been blessed with thoughtful visionaries,” said Matthew Shay, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation in a statement. “They impact all of those who are touched by the industry — whether through employment, through giving back to communities they serve or through a personal and heartfelt belief that leadership is not a right, but an opportunity to make a positive and lasting impact for current and future generations of those that follow. Blake Nordstrom embodied that commitment. He was a servant leader and a friend to all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.”
