Nordstrom Hires Callison Executive As Its Director Of Store Planning

Employees at Nordstrom Inc. and a Seattle architectural and interior-design company might be forgiven if they're quoting baseball wordsmith Yogi Berra these days.

In the ``deja vu all over again'' development, Nordstrom, for the second time, has stolen an executive from Callison Partnership Ltd. to be the retailer's in-house director of store planning.

Nordstrom has named Callison President David Lindsey as vice president and corporate director of store planning. He will oversee all new store design and renovations.

Lindsey succeeds Barden Erickson, who is retiring Dec. 1 after being in charge of store planning and construction for the Seattle-based retailer for nearly 15 years. Erickson, one of the founders of the Callison partnership in 1973, rose to the post of president of Callison before he joined Nordstrom in 1976.

For nearly two decades, Nordstrom has used Callison and its predecessor companies for all its architectural needs. The company has designed 50 full-line Nordstrom stores, 13 Rack stores, six distribution centers and all its corporate offices. Lindsey, who has specialized in shopping-center design, has been the principal in charge of all Nordstrom work at the company.

Lindsey became president of Callison in 1988 following the death of Tony Callison, one of the company's founding partners.

Callison has offices in Seattle and San Diego. With annual billings close to $20 million, it is Seattle's second-largest architecture company. Today, about 100 of its 325 employees work full time on Nordstrom business, said Gerry Gerron, one of the company's two directors.

Gerron said the partnership is in no hurry to name a new president and that he and David Olson, the company's other director, will continue to oversee day-to-day operations. He contemplates no changes as a result of Lindsey's departure. ``We're well positioned,'' he said.

Because of the size of its Nordstrom account, which several years ago was estimated to make up 25 percent of Callison's business, the company shies away from other retail clients. ``We maintain an exclusive relationship with Nordstrom,'' Gerron said.

Callison has designed the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, the Stouffer Madison Hotel, Pacific First Centre, all in Seattle, and Carillon Point in Kirkland. It is currently working on two large, mixed-use downtown Seattle projects, Harbor Steps and the ACT Block.

At Nordstrom, Lindsey will oversee a staff of 37 designers and planners. In the next five years, Nordstrom intends to open three to five stores a year.