Struggling US luxury retailer Nordstrom may go private due to industry sales slowdown

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View of a Nordstrom Rack store, an outlet branch of the US-American department store chain Nordstrom, on the 12th Street in Washington, DC. Members of the Nordstrom family are considering taking the Seattle-based fashion retailer private. Photo: DPA/Zuma Press/TNS

Published: 3:13am, 9 Jun 2017Updated: 3:13am, 9 Jun 2017

Department store operator Nordstrom said on Thursday that some members of the Nordstrom family were considering taking the company private as it struggles with an industry-wide sales slowdown.

Going private, which would involve raising debt, would be a risky but potentially profitable bet by Nordstrom’s founding family and largest shareholder bloc that the company can reshape itself and emerge from the retail meltdown stronger.

Shares of the Seattle-based clothing and accessories retailer were last up 10.5 per cent at mid-afternoon after having surged as much as 18 per cent in their biggest intraday percentage gain since February 2009. The company has a market value of about US$7.4 billion.

US malls have been struggling with slowing customer traffic and mall anchors like Nordstrom and Macy’s are trying to revive sales.

Nordstrom in May reported first-quarter same-store sales that fell short of estimates, triggering a drop in its shares.

A woman arrives at a Nordstrom luxury department store, at The Mall of San Juan, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Members of Nordstrom stores' founding family, including some top executives, say they're considering buying out the 70 per cent of the chain they don't already own and are considering going private. Photo: AP

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