Open for Business - Nordstrom - Story on Nightly Business Report Television Program

Explaining how diversity can work for better business in America. This transcript is from 12/1 and I will follow up with more details from the program on Monday 16/1/06 when the transcript is available...Sue Ellson

http://www.nbr.com/transcript/2006/transcript011206.html

1/12/06: "Open For Business"-Nordstrom
JEFF YASTINE: FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES SAID TODAY IT WILL PUT ITS LORD & TAYLOR DIVISION UP FOR SALE AS IT FOCUSES ON ITS MACY'S AND BLOOMINGDALE'S BRANDS SEPARATELY. TONIGHT WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT FEDERATED RIVAL NORDSTROM. IT'S ONE OF AMERICA'S OLDEST RETAILERS, AND IT HAS ONE OF THE BEST TRACK RECORDS IN THE INDUSTRY WHEN IT COMES TO DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE. AS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES "OPEN FOR BUSINESS," DIANE EASTABROOK TAKES US TO SEATTLE, NORDSTROM'S HOME BASE.
DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: NORDSTROM IS THE DEPARTMENT STORE CHAIN KNOWN FOR ITS ELEGANCE, ITS ATTENTIVE SERVICE...
MAKE UP ARTIST: SO WHAT I'M USING ON YOU IS THE LONG-WEAR GEL LINER.
DIANE EASTABROOK: AND ITS SHOES.
SHOE SALES PERSON: CAN I MEASURE BOTH FEET FOR YOU?
EASTABROOK: BUT THE SEATTLE- BASED RETAILER COULD BE KNOWN FOR SOMETHING ELSE AS WELL: ITS COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY.
BLAKE NORDSTROM, PRESIDENT, NORDSTROM INC.: AS OUR COUNTRY EVOLVES IT'S A PRETTY DIVERSE COMMUNITY OUT THERE, AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE'RE REFLECTIVE OF THAT.
EASTABROOK: NORDSTROM LAUNCHED ITS DIVERSITY PROGRAM NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO WHEN IT BEGAN RAPIDLY EXPANDING OUTSIDE OF WASHINGTON TO 26 OTHER STATES. THE RETAILER ASSESSES EVERY NEW MARKET IT ENTERS AND THEN SETS HIRING BENCHMARKS THAT REFLECT REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS. TODAY 40% OF NORDSTROM'S 50,000 EMPLOYEES ARE MINORITIES. 30% OF ITS MANAGERS ARE WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR.
DELENA SUNDAY, EXECUTIVE, VICE PRESIDENT OF DIVERSITY AFFAIRS, NORDSTROM: WE'RE IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY AND WE WANT TO SERVICE ANYBODY. WE WANT TO SERVICE EVERYONE, SO IN ORDER TO DO THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE FOR EVERYONE. SO WHEN OUR CUSTOMERS SHOP WITH US THEY NEED TO SEE PEOPLE WHO REFLECT THEMSELVES-- WHETHER THAT'S ETHNICITY, AGE, WHATEVER.
EASTABROOK: THE KINDS OF SHOPPERS NORDSTROM SEEKS TO ATTRACT ARE REFLECTED IN ITS CATALOGS. IT ALSO REACHES SHOPPERS THROUGH ADVERTISEMENTS IN MAGAZINES SUCH AS "LATINA," "BLACK ENTERPRISE," AND "ESSENCE." NORDSTROM ALSO USES ITS CLOUT AS A RETAILER TO BACK UP ITS COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY. THE COMPANY DOES BUSINESS WITH NEARLY 6,000 MINORITY-OWNED SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS. CLOTHING FROM ASIAN DESIGNER MISOOK TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN DESIGNER TRACEY REESE TO HISPANIC JEWELRY DESIGNER LIZ PALACIOS APPEAR IN MANY NORDSTROM STORES. THE COMPANY THINKS IT HAS BENEFITED FROM THOSE RELATIONSHIPS AS MUCH AS ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE.
NORSDSTROM: WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE FRESH PRODUCT THAT MAYBE YOU CAN'T FIND SOMEPLACE ELSE, AND SO AS MERCHANTS WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW THINGS.
EASTABROOK: BUT NORDSTROM'S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY OFTEN EXTENDS BEYOND WHAT CUSTOMERS SEE IN ITS MORE THAN 100 STORES. THE COMPANY OFTEN ACTS AS A MENTOR OF SORTS TO ITS MANY SUPPLIERS, HELPING THEM TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND THEIR BUSINESSES.
PHONE OPERATOR: GOOD MORNING, CHRIS. HOW ARE YOU?
EASTABROOK: ALLIANCE RELOCATION, A DIVISION OF THE AFFLUENCE GROUP, IS A PRIME EXAMPLE. BEFORE IT BEGAN DOING BUSINESS WITH NORDSTROM SEVEN YEARS AGO, ALLIANCE HELPED OTHER COMPANIES COORDINATE EMPLOYEE RELOCATIONS BY SIMPLY CONTRACTING WITH LOCAL MOVING COMPANIES. BUT NORDSTROM WANTED SOMETHING MORE. IT INSISTED ALLIANCE ALSO HELP RELOCATED EMPLOYEES SELL THEIR HOMES AND BUY NEW ONES. HERB STOKES, C.E.O. OF THE AFFLUENCE GROUP, SAYS NORDSTROM'S FAITH IN HIS COMPANY HELPED TO TRANSFORM IT.
HERB STOKES, C.E.O. OF THE AFFLUENCE GROUP: NOT MANY CORPORATIONS WOULD GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT REAL ESTATE COMPONENT, BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF EXPERTISE REQUIRED AND A LOT OF FINANCIAL INVESTMENT, AND WE COULDN'T DO THAT. NORDSTROM, HOWEVER, FELT THAT WE COULD IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY.
EASTABROOK: NORDSTROM'S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY SEEMS ALMOST IRONIC, CONSIDERING IT IS HEADQUARTERED IN A CITY WHOSE POPULATION IS MORE THAN 70% WHITE. STILL, THE COMPANY SAYS ITS COMMITMENT IS PART OF ITS HERITAGE. FOUNDER JOHN W. NORDSTROM WAS A POOR SWEDISH IMMIGRANT WHO ARRIVED IN THE U.S. IN 1887. HE OPENED HIS FIRST SHOE STORE IN SEATTLE IN 1901. BLAKE NORDSTROM SAYS IN A SENSE THE DIVERSITY PROGRAM CARRIES ON HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER'S BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY.
NORDSTROM: TAKING CARE OF EVERY SINGLE PERSON, GIVING THEM THE CARE AND RESPECT THEY DESERVE, THAT IS A KEY COMPONENT OF HOW THIS COMPANY WAS FOUNDED.
EASTABROOK: EXPERTS SAY WHILE DIVERSITY PROGRAMS ARE VERY COMMON IN RETAILING, NORDSTROM'S IS A CUT ABOVE THE REST.
MARY ANN ODEGAARD, MANAGEMENT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: THEY PRACTICE WHAT THEY SAY, WHICH I THINK DIFFERENTIATES THEM SOME FROM SOME OTHER COMPANIES THAT HAVE A POLICY, BUT IT ISN'T NECESSARILY EMBRACED BY EVERYBODY.
EASTABROOK: NORDSTROM SAYS IT IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE ITS DIVERSITY PROGRAM, EITHER IN ITS STORES, OR IN ITS CATALOGS OR THROUGH ITS SUPPLIERS.
SUNDAY: IT'S NOT ANYTHING WHERE YOU EVER REACH THE FINISH LINE. YOU NEVER SAY, "OH, MY GOSH, NOW WE CAN TAKE A DEEP BREATH" BECAUSE OUR CUSTOMERS WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE, THEIR NEEDS WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE, AND WE HAVE TO EVOLVE WITH THAT, AND SO WE'LL JUST CONTINUE TO TRY TO GET BETTER.
EASTABROOK: AND THAT, SAYS NORDSTROM, HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE KEY TO ITS SUCCESS. DIANE EASTABROOK, "NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT," SEATTLE.
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