Nordstrom gets into wedding business
FOR BETTER or worse, the retailer invests $1.5 million in upscale registry The Wedding List to streamline gift buying.
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About the last things you'd expect to find in a full-line Nordstrom store are cooking supplies and linens. That, however, is about to change, thanks to the Internet and e-commerce - and Nordstrom's need to reshape its image and expand its customer base.
The 100-year-old Nordstrom yesterday announced a partnership with a 12-year-old company known as The Wedding List. Nordstrom, which doesn't sell wedding gowns, has invested $1.5 million in the upscale wedding and gift-registry company. Just in time for the spring bridal season, they plan to streamline online and some in-store wedding-gift shopping.
The alliance benefits The Wedding List by giving the little-known company - with stores in London, New York and Boston - up-front cash and access to Nordstrom's Web site, its customers and its company credit card. Nordstrom also will turn over to The Wedding List 500 to 2,000 square feet of space in three East Coast stores. If that works out, The Wedding List could expand into other Nordstrom stores nationwide.
The arrangement allows Nordstrom to offer more merchandise without giving up a lot of store space. It gives Nordstrom access to The Wedding List's purchasing expertise and its elite clientele, which includes members of England's royal family and English actress Elizabeth Hurley, who is to marry Hugh Grant this spring.
The deal is causing Nordstrom officials to reconsider the company's long-time resistance to selling wedding gowns.
"Our customers have been asking for this service for a long, long time," said Marty Wikstrom, group president of Nordstrom stores. "It's an enhancement to our stores, and it offers another service that Nordstrom can provide for its customers."
The companies' Web sites will be linked. What the in-store Wedding List merchandise would replace in Nordstrom stores isn't clear. It could eventually be folded into Nordstrom's gift section, which now includes some similar items suitable for wedding gifts.
The original Wedding List shop was opened in London in 1988 by Nicole Hindmarch. Last year, she sold the company to a newly formed American corporation with the same name. Since then it has opened stores in New York and Boston, and plans to open a fourth store in San Francisco in the fall.
The company made its reputation by providing personalized service. Salespeople meet with the bride and groom to determine their interests and tastes, and from that information tailor the gift registry and keep the couple apprised of what has been purchased.
The Wedding List initiated talks with Nordstrom last year.
Robert T. Nelson: 206-464-2996.
E-mail: rnelson@seattletimes.com