Dining With Design -- Nordstrom Finds Recipe For Success In Box Lunches

Nordstrom's exclusive fall line features a rich brown muffin-type bread, accented with fruit, nuts and cream cheese.

Not to be worn on the lapel.

The clothing retailer's latest venture is a food outlet called the Shoebox, the first of Nordstrom's eating establishments operated separately from its retail stores.

The Shoebox, at Fourth Avenue between Pine and Pike Streets, occupies a 280-square-foot niche in the Seaboard Building one block from Nordstrom's flagship store in downtown Seattle.

Nordstrom opened the Shoebox Sept. 11 as an outgrowth of its boxed-lunch catering business, which has been serving lunches under the name Shoebox Express for seven years.

The Shoebox isn't stocked to do the same volume in boxed lunches - 700 to 800 - that the Shoebox Express does each day. But the shop does sell boxed lunches, at $8.95 each, on a carry-out basis as well as other lunch and dessert items.

The Shoebox also retails Nordstrom's farmer's bread, a muffin-like loaf with fruit, nuts and cream cheese, and also is the first of Nordstrom's restaurant units to serve Starbucks coffee. Nordstrom aims to serve Starbucks exclusively in all its stores by June.

Manager Pam Nelson estimated that the store has been selling about 50 boxed lunches and 80 a la carte items at lunch time, with many more orders coming in at the close of the business day.

The food is prepared by Nordstrom catering in South Seattle on Airport Way and delivered two or three times a day to the downtown shop. Shoebox Express manager Ken Squier said Nordstrom might expand or duplicate the Shoebox at other locations, depending on customer reaction.

Food has long figured into Nordstrom's recipe for success. The youngest of Nordstrom's divisions, the restaurant and catering sector has been a growing source of revenue.

Since 1979, when Nordstrom took over management of the cafes in its stores from an outside company, the chain has opened 72 restaurants - primarily cafes, but also a few fine dining establishments, several pubs and 50 espresso bars, according to Anthony Powell, a regional merchandise manager for Nordstrom's restaurant division. About 95 percent Nordstrom stores have at least one restaurant unit.

Before Nordstrom's took over the restaurants, they offered primarily quick, unadorned sandwich and snack foods. The cafes now sell homemade soups, substantial sandwiches, gourmet desserts and other offerings that place an emphasis on quality and freshness, Powell said.

"Customers go to fuel up to have a fantastic shopping experience," he said. "We want to give them a fantastic dining experience, too."